Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is once again threatening to invoke federal powers to protect Quebec’s endangered woodland caribou.

Guilbeault says in a letter to his provincial counterpart dated Friday that Quebec has until May 1 to release its long-delayed caribou protection strategy.

He writes that he is concerned about the delays and says that if he concludes the animals are in danger of extinction, he could seek a federal decree to protect them.

In an interview this month, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette declined to give a timeline for the release of the strategy — which was originally scheduled to be published last June.

It has been nearly two years since Guilbeault first said he would seek a cabinet decree to protect Quebec’s declining caribou population if the province didn’t act.

Quebec’s woodland caribou population has declined as a result of habitat destruction, industrial activity and increased predation, with a provincial commission estimating in 2022 that there were about 5,200 of the animals left in the province.

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Splatsin concerned after study finds accelerating woodland caribou habitat loss

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