Anishnabeg communities challenge the boreal caribou deal in court

Caribou left in the Val-d'Or pen

8 caribou

Eight boreal caribou now live in a 14-hectare pen near Val-d'Or, Quebec, after a male from the Charlevoix herd joined them in late September.

The Val-d'Or herd fell from about 80 animals in 1955 to seven within a few decades. At least 75 per cent of its habitat is disturbed by logging, and survival is at risk from 40 per cent.

This summer Ottawa and Quebec agreed on $25 million over five years for Quebec and $15 million for Indigenous communities. Lac Simon sued on Jul 30, and Long Point and Kitcisakik also went to court, asking for a protected habitat zone and a halt to logging permits across 5,000 km².

"Penning caribou in an enclosure is not how you let them thrive," says Lucien Wabanonik.

— Lucien Wabanonik, chief of Lac Simon