Across the country, Environment and Climate Change Canada's enforcement officers work to enforce the acts and regulations that protect and conserve wildlife and its habitat. Their work aims to reduce threats and damage to biodiversity for the benefit of all living things.
On March 10, 2025, at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse, Joey Proulx, a resident of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, after hunting snow geese without a permit. Proulx also pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, after deliberately hindering the actions of an enforcement officer in carrying out their duties. Proulx was convicted by the Court of Quebec and fined a total amount of $20,000, which will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund. Proulx was also prohibited from applying for a Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit and from hunting migratory birds until March 10, 2031.
On March 31, 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers, accompanied by wildlife protection officers from the Quebec ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs intercepted a group of hunters that included Proulx. He was hunting snow geese, a migratory game bird species, and did not have a valid hunting permit. In doing so, Proulx committed an offence under subsection 27(1) of the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, which is punishable under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. In addition, on March 31, 2023, he deliberately hindered the actions of an enforcement officer in carrying out their duties, by showing an invalid, illegally obtained hunting permit. Proulx thus also committed an offence under subsection 5.2(c) of the Iaw.
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