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Steve Desroches, ward councillor for Gloucester-South Nepean, wants Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre to get his facts straight before he continues blaming the city for delaying the building of a south-end high school.
Poilievre has publicly criticized Desroches, trying to hold him responsible for delaying the construction of a Catholic high school in Riverside South.
The high school won’t open until Sept. 2009 because the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, a regulatory arm of the provincial government, has discovered evidence of a vital fish habitat that is important to the area around the site proposed for a $33-million Catholic high school.
Desroches said that Poilievre should read his government’s own strict regulations on maintaining fish habitats.
“I assume he’s read it,” said Desroches. “We can’t ignore our obligation under the fishery regulations. He’s (Poilievre) is trying to download the blame onto the municipality.”
Desroches wasn’t on council at the time the site was chosen to build the school but has been working with the Catholic board and provincial and federal governments to ensure roadblocks to the construction are lifted.
Desroches recently had a motion at city council pass unanimously requesting the city write to the senior governments to underline the importance of consultations with municipalities and how all agencies can better communicate fishery regulations.
“This will lead to better planning because all players need to understand the rules.”
Administration of the fish habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act states that “no person shall carry on any work or undertaking that results in the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat,” unless authorized by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Section 2.2 of the Act also states “a key element of the Habitat Policy is the guiding principle of ‘no net loss of the productive capacity of fish habitat’. This principle, which supports the conservation goal, is applied when proposed works and undertakings may result in a harmful alteration, disruption or destruction (HADD) of fish habitat.”
“We have no choice but to comply with the regulations,” said Desroches, adding the city will be up against the DFO regulations again soon as Ottawa is facing several similar situations.
Ottawa Sun