SAINTE-ANNE-DES-MONTS, QUE.—A Quebec company has been fined $12,500 for destroying the nests of Bank Swallows, a threatened species.
Les Entreprises Énia Lafontaine was recently ordered by the Court of Québec to pay the fine at the Sainte-Anne-des-Monts courthouse.
The company pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Species at Risk Act and the fine will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada. The charge stems from actions that damaged or destroyed Bank Swallow nests.
In June 2022, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers received a report from Quebec’s Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs indicating a Bank Swallow colony was threatened by excavation work carried out below their nests in a sandpit, indicates a release.
Officers went to the site and found heavy machinery was removing material at the base of a sand wall where swallows were nesting. At the site, the officers saw the walls collapse, destroying the Bank Swallow nests in the process, states the release.
The investigation determined that Les Entreprises Énia Lafontaine was responsible for the work done that damaged or destroyed the nests. In so doing, they committed an offence under section 33 of the Species at Risk Act.
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