Image

Wallaceburg area man fined $200K for damaging wildlife habitat along Lake St. Clair

January 13, 2023

A Wallaceburg area man will pay $200,000 to Duck Unlimited after admitting to endangering wildlife by building dikes in a significant wetland along Lake St. Clair.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says in January 2015, Jean Marie Laprise constructed a dike system to remove three acres of marsh habitat. He also created other partitions within the 300 acres of wetlands – formerly the St. Luke’s Hunt Club – which he purchased along Lake St. Clair.

There are several hunt clubs along Lake St. Clair in Dover Township. St. Luke’s was considered one of the most two most significant wetlands in all of Ontario.

Laprise – in an interview with The Wallaceburg Courier Press in 2015 – admitted he might turn some of the property into farmland, although he maintained at least 50 per cent of the property would remain wetlands. The price of farmland was rising at the time and the land along Lake St. Clair is considered among the best land in Ontario for growing vegetables.

But both duck hunting guides and Ducks Unlimited voiced concern about the plan.

The removal of the three acres of wetland, says the MNR, impacted the endangered Spotted Turtle, and the Blanding’s Turtle and the Least Bittern, which are both listed as threatened.

Charges were laid two-and-a-half years later and the case was resolved Dec. 7 with Laprise’s guilty plea.

He was fined $200,000 with the money going to Ducks Unlimited Canada which protects and creates wetlands for wildlife.

In November 2020, Ducks Unlimited – which hoped to buy the property when it first went up for sale years earlier – purchased the nearly 500 acres of the marshland property to make sure it remained a wetland.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Bluewater Health receives $125K donation

April 17, 2025

Matt Gordon says a $125,000 gift from The Gordon Foundation and Kel-Gor Limited to Bluewater Health is, in part a recognition of a “few exceptional individuals.” The Bluewater Health Foundation announced the gift Thursday. “We are proud to make this donation to Bluewater Health, not only to support the hospital’s continuedexcellence but also to recognize a few exceptional individuals whose

Read More

Image
Front Page

Easter Bunny break in Petrolia

April 17, 2025

The Independent It appears the Easter Bunny is taking a little break in Petrolia before his big weekend. He was seen Thursday morning on Petrolia Line in front of St. Paul’s United Church greeting cars and people alike.

Read More

Image
Front Page

Strategic voters say they want to oust Marilyn Gladu

April 16, 2025

Cathy Dobson/The Independent Several members of a new group organizing to defeat incumbent MP Marilyn Gladu were among the audience of more than 120 packing the room for an all-candidates meeting Tuesday. They are willing to abandon their traditional party loyalties, they say, if it will mean Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong will be represented in Ottawa by someone other than the CPC candidate.

Read More

Image
Front Page

Plympton-Wyoming will hook into Huron Shores transit

April 15, 2025

Residents have been asking to be involved in the rural transit system since it started Heather Wright/The Independent Rural transit is coming to Plympton-Wyoming. The town will soon partner with Lambton Shores, Bluewater and Kettle and Stony Point with the Huron Shores Transit System. The buses began running the roads of North Lambton in 2020, taking residents into Sarnia for

Read More