La participation publique dans la gestion des forêts du Québec : Réorganisation de la concertation régionale dans un contexte institutionnel en transition

Abstract

RésuméLa gouvernance forestière au Québec a subi de multiples mutations au cours des dernières décennies. D'un régime forestier qui favorisait les acteurs industriels, le gouvernement québécois a progressivement intégré toute une variété d'acteurs locaux et régionaux. Au printemps 2015, le gouvernement adoptait cependant un projet de loi entraînant l'abolition de plusieurs structures de développement régional, notamment les Conférences régionales des élus (CRÉ) qui étaient investies de responsabilités en ce domaine. Cet article présente les résultats d'une étude visant à mieux comprendre les impacts de cette décision sur la participation publique au sein des lieux de concertation propres au milieu forestier. La recherche s'appuie sur une analyse documentaire ainsi que sur 37 entretiens semi-directifs réalisés dans quatre régions du Québec. Parmi les constats qui émergent, mentionnons le désir quasi unanime de maintenir une concertation régionale autour des enjeux forestiers et la confiance limitée des intervenants quant à la volonté et la capacité des acteurs municipaux de reprendre le flambeau. Si de nombreux mécanismes demeurent en place pour assurer la participation des intervenants forestiers et de la société dans son ensemble, l'abolition des CRÉ restreint dans certaines régions les canaux de participation et de communication.Mots clés: participation publique, gestion des forêts, décentralisation, lieux de concertation, Québec, CRRNT, Tables GIRT, loi 28 AbstRAct Forest stewardship in Québec has gone through several mutations during the last decades. From a forest regime that favoured the industrial stakeholders, the Government of Québec has progressively integrated a large scope of local and regional stakeholders. However in the spring of 2015, the Government of Québec adopted a legislation resulting in the abolition of several regional development structures, in particular the regional conferences of elected officials (CRE) which were invested with specific responsibilities in this matter. This article presents the results of a study carried on to better understand the impacts of this legislation on public implication in consultation forums dedicated to the forest. The research is based on a literature review and on 37 semi-structured interviews made in four regions of the province. The findings indicated a quasi unanimous desire to maintain regional consultation on forest issues and a limited stakeholders confidence regarding the willingness and the ability of municipal stakeholders to take up the torch. Even though numerous mechanisms are still in place to ensure forest stakeholders participation and the implication of the community in general, the CRE abolition is restricting in several regions the participation and communication channels.

Est-ce que l'on est sorti du bois ? L’État québécois face austapleforestier

“…Les CRÉ veillent donc à la composition des CRRNT et au bon déroulement de ses travaux. Dans presque toutes les régions, les CRÉ ont choisi d'ouvrir la participation aux acteurs concernés par l'aménagement des territoires publics et des élus locaux qui vont y participer de façon soutenue (Tardif, Bissonnette et Dupras, 2017). Un des rôles principaux des CRRNT est de développer un plan d'aménagement pour les diverses ressources naturelles (bois, faune, mines, eau, énergie, etc.)…”

Public engagement in forest governance in Canada: whose values are being represented anyway?

“…In Quebec, for example, new forest legislation in 2013 made FACs mandatory and placed them under the responsibility of regional government agencies. Two years later, in 2015, these regional agencies were abolished and the responsibility for FACs transferred to another level of regional government (Tardif et al 2017. ) This meant that the list of contacts provided for each administrative region proved out-of-date in many cases.…”

“…Across provinces, the most-often stated reasons for non-participation were (in order) "not currently functioning", "just established and not ready", or "not interested". In Quebec, a major reason for committees not participating was the disruption they had experienced following change in their governance structure in 2015 (for more information about those changes see Tardif et al 2017).…”

“…In addition, the recent transition in forest management in Quebec may affect group processes in ways that are unique to the region. As pointed out by Tardif et al (2017), despite improvements in public participation related to forestry, the provincial government has still not moved beyond consultation towards collaboration in Quebec. Some of the dissatisfaction voiced by Quebec's FAC members might be from a perceived lag between the public participation goals stated in the province's SFM Strategy (Ministère des forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, 2015) and their experience as FAC members so far.…”

Assessment of a Public Participation Tool by Experts: A Case Study of Quebec, Canada

“…The arrows indicate the direction of communication between the structures (Photo reference: Rémi Orts, https://pixabay.com/fr/photos/canada-landscape-nature-couleurs-3698265/, accessed on 04.07.2020). public participation tools[32] [33][34] without necessarily focusing on ILRM implementation, but rather by focusing on local governance in general[35]. It is in this context that the present study aims to assess the implementation of the ILRM process from the perspective of the professionals having the mandate to carry out the implementation.…”