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An audacious action plan
Ambitious and audacious. That’s what the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP) was called as soon as it was launched by the Quebec and Canada Environment ministers Lise Bacon and Lucien Bouchard, as well as by Quebec’s Minister of Loisir, de la Chasse et de la Pêche (Recreation, Wildlife and Fisheries), Yvon Picotte, on 8 June 1989. This four year program was born out of the first Canada-Quebec harmonisation agreement on the St. Lawrence, signed by the three ministers on that day; an agreement itself resulting from the cooperation agreement made between the two governments one year earlier.
And, indeed, the SLAP did not fail to capture imagination by its ambitious objectives: it planned, during the four years which would follow, to reduce the toxic liquid discharge of 50 of the most polluting plants of the St. Lawrence by 90%. In addition it planned to protect 5000 ha of natural habitats and wanted to form the basis for the creation of a marine park at the Saguenay mouth, specifically to protect the St. Lawrence Beluga.
Such management, based on the achievement of concrete and measurable results with quantified commitments and a promise of transparency through regular reporting to the public, did not just show its audacity. It proved completely innovative for a project of this scale within the government apparatus.
On 8 June 1989 there was no lack of sceptics among onlookers. But the sceptics were well and truly confounded! Not only was the 90% reduction objective achieved; it was even surpassed, with a result of 96% and the addition of 56 new plants to the program, after the renewal of the agreement in 1993. As for protected habitats, there were more than 100,000 ha at the end of the third phase, and the first marine park in Canada, the first park managed jointly by federal government and Quebec, has become a reality, less than 10 years after the signing of the SLAP.
Date modified: 2008/06/03 – Important Notices
