Plan St-Laurent - Pour un développement durable

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For a St. Lawrence River accessible to all

“Thirty years ago, we realized that we had turned our backs on the river. Swimming was minimal, highways cut off access to the banks—which were often covered with huge oil tanks—and wharves fell into disuse. But today we are working together to return the St. Lawrence to its former glory.”

This comment on a sad reality, which finally has a positive outlook, was made with one voice by Claude Gonthier and François Duchesneau, the Canada and Quebec co-chairs of the Riverbank Access Coordination Committee for the St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development (SLP).

The reappropriation movement is in full swing. The latest survey (2002) on the use of the St. Lawrence showed that 20 percent of shoreline residents use the banks to go walking, observe nature or relax; more than a third would like to use it for swimming; almost a quarter use row or motor boats; and between 7 and 18 percent of shoreline residents fish, depending on the area. In all cases, however, the users mentioned there was difficult or no access to supervised beaches, wharves, marinas or boat launches, or, in cities, fishing spots or simply places to walk.

There is therefore a need to increase the number of river access points and to improve those already in place. Considerable progress has been made in this area in the past few years. The federal government, in particular, has transferred many of its wharves to municipalities, after first rebuilding them. The Quebec government has also played a role, in partnership with municipal corporations. But the work is far from over. Several projects are underway and many others will be undertaken before the end of this phase of the SLP in 2010.

Wharf makeovers

For the past 20 years, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has rebuilt or repaired no less than 12 wharves and 18 breakwaters, and retroceded approximately 20 shoreline lots along the St. Lawrence. The federal government has carried out this work in order to transfer these properties for a symbolic fee, most often to the municipalities in which they are located, so that the municipality assumes control and maintenance for the area thereafter. This is how the Grande-Rivière, Marsoui, Matane and Berthier-sur-Mer wharves, to name but a few, became municipal facilities that are now well equipped and open to the public.

Four other PWGSC projects are still underway: two at Bonaventure in Chaleur Bay, one at Rivière-Madeleine (wharf and breakwater) on the north shore of the Gaspé peninsula and one in the Magdalen Islands (Baie de Plaisance). These four projects, which are scheduled to be completed by spring 2008, will have required an investment of $350,000 from PWGSC. As Claude Gonthier notes, these four areas and three breakwaters will become significant recreational sites.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is also rebuilding and transferring smaller wharves, for small craft, generally higher up the St. Lawrence. Of the 14 projects currently underway, which are also scheduled to be completed in 2008, 4 are on the Richelieu and 6 are upstream of Île d’Orléans. The amount committed by Fisheries and Oceans is $250,000.

Parks Canada is working on three projects on the north shore of the estuary. These are not transfers because the Agency still owns the infrastructure. At Escoumins, the work includes rebuilding a diving site, including two exhibition rooms. The project at Port-au-Persil includes the rebuilding of a wharf and the development of an interpretive trail. At La Malbaie, the project involves the construction of the Saint-Fidèle orientation and welcome centre along Highway 138.

For fishing

At the provincial level, projects related to fishing involve primarily the ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF), in partnership with municipal corporations. Between 2004 and 2008, eight projects will have been conducted, mainly to enable access to fishing sites. Investments will reach over $1 million, in an overall 60–40 split between the MRNF and the various participating municipalities.

Three of these projects have already been completed:

• the construction of an access ramp and purchase of a wharf at the mouth of the Saint-François river in Pierreville, a $58,000 project achieved through the Corporation de développement du Bas-Saint-François
• digging at the mouth of the Rivière du Loup at Lake Saint-Pierre, which cost $253,000, completed in co-operation with the city of Louiseville and the Action plein air corporation
• the installation of breakwaters, stabilization of banks and construction of an access ramp and a path on the foreshore of Île-aux-Grues, a $128,000 project completed with the municipality

Construction of an access ramp and a path on the foreshore of Île-aux-Grues

Three other projects are underway at Lake Saint-Pierre:

• the development of a parking lot, a bird-watching trail, and a walking trail on pilings, as well as the construction of a $50,000 observation deck in Yamachiche
• the dredging of a channel to restore boat access to the river at Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville, a $175,000 project involving the participation of the municipality and National Defence, which operates a base adjacent to the lake, to the west of Nicolet
• the mine sweeping (due to the possible presence of shells) and dredging of a channel to restore access to the river at Baie-du-Febvre, a $450,000 project that requires a federal-provincial impact study

Development of a parking lot

The last two MRNF-municipal projects are taking place in Québec and Lévis. On the north side of the river, the first of these projects is taking advantage of the construction of the Samuel-De Champlain esplanade to make the infrastructure of the former Irving quay accessible, and to build three other access points along this major artery, in the areas where inventories of aquatic fauna were taken. In Lévis, an MRNF-municipal project costing over $3 million is allowing an old wharf to be redeveloped to promote fishing at Davie-Wilson Cove.

Strengthening weaknesses

The Riverbank Access Consultative Committee, which was implemented at the start of this phase of the St. Lawrence Planin 2005, is analyzing the demand for and offer of access to the St. Lawrence, which will allow it to take stock of the situation and identify the deficiencies in each type of use depending on the section of the river. “For example,” explains Claude Gonthier, “we will be more aware of the lack of swimming areas in urban centres such as Québec and Montréal, which areas have the highest need for wharves, which areas need more access ramps to the water or walking paths along the river, etc.”

This snapshot could be available in early 2008. The needs expressed will then need to be addressed, not only by consultative committee members (federal and provincial departments and some environmental groups), but also by users of the St. Lawrence River, to determine new projects.

“Among other things, we want to talk to municipal people (cities, regional county municipalities, urban communities) who, in general, want to return to the banks,” notes François Duchesneau. “We are not here to impose projects on them or to tell them what to do and how to do it,” said the co-chair for Quebec, “but to look at existing possibilities with them in relation to their needs and to do things together, as in the eight projects mentioned earlier.”

“The advantage of this,” added Claude Gonthier, “is that it will create a synergy that would not otherwise exist. For example, we could get departments that own surplus land to transfer these lots to provide access to the river or find a partner for a project in an area with an identified weakness.”

Equity and sustainable development

An evaluation sheet to establish an order of priority must be completed by fall 2007. However, we have determined that the projects will be chosen fairly, taking all types of usage and all parts of the St. Lawrence into account. The decisions must also be made by considering as often as possible the three aspects of sustainable development: environmental, social and economic. The design of developments must always be as ecological as possible. “The concrete walls encasing the Saint-Charles River in Québec City, which are in the process of being replaced by natural banks, are a clear example of a non-ecological design,” said François Duchesneau.

Will there be considerably more access to the river by the end of the fourth phase of the St. Lawrence Plan in 2010?

“But let’s face it,” responded Mr. Duchesneau, “this type of project generally involves huge infrastructure and cannot be completed in a year or two. It sometimes takes five, six or even seven years if impact studies are required.”

“However, by 2010,” continued Claude Gonthier, “we will have developed a good frame of reference, identified new partners, increased dialogue, and developed and started projects that will ultimately add to the facilities already in place.”

“Yes,” both co-chairs agreed, “there is already greater access to the St. Lawrence than when Quebec realized how far it had distanced itself from the river, some 30 years ago. And it will only increase in the decades to come!”

For more information:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Claude.gonthier@tpsgc.gc.ca

Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec
Francois.duchesneau@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca