Equivalent Wetland Dedication Is Expropriation?

The Quebec Court of Appeal will soon decide an appeal on whether applicants to destroy wetlands can be required to dedicate offsetting lands to become protected areas. However, the trial decision has already been overruled by the National Assembly.In Atocas de l'érable inc. c. Québec (Procureur général) (Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs), a Quebec Superior Court ruled that the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks could not require dedication or equivalent protection of private lands as a condition of permission under the Environment Quality Act to develop a cranberry plantation in a bog. Judge Dallaire ruled that this demand amounted to an illegal expropriation, contrary to the fundamental right to own private property under the Civil Code and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. In part, he objected to the regulatory calculations of the compensation ratio for replacement lands, because it is