For weeks, Angus Culley has been an unofficial guide on Brome Lake, bringing friends aboard his boat to see a treeline that’s become the talk of Knowlton, Que.
Creeping closer aboard Culley’s pontoon, he points across the lake at the tops of some 90 trees — laterally cut seemingly in a straight line that’s now level with the windows of a house located on the ridge.
He’s among the residents saying the work was done entirely to improve the view of the home just behind the walking and cycling path. The home belongs to Pierre Beaudoin, chairman of the board of directors for Bombardier.
“People are generally aghast,” said Culley.
“When someone goes and cuts the trees in a straight line across an entire island, you assume that the authorities or someone in authority has some say over what’s going on,” he said.
The tree cutting has sparked controversy in the small, Eastern Townships community. Months later, residents still question who should be held accountable for the damage.
The work was completed in December by a local tree maintenance company which claims to have had proper authorization from the city. The mayor says they weren’t aware, nor did they approve the work.
Now, the city and Beaudoin are at an impasse, and backlash has grown so strong that Canada’s leading public relations firm, National, is issuing communications on behalf of Beaudoin and the tree maintenance company.
Ever since Town of Brome Lake resident Marc Pelletier posted a photo of the trees to a local Facebook group in Knowlton last month, there has been a steady debate and a shared sense of outrage over what he calls “a massacre.”
Part of the problem, he says, is it’s not the first case of unauthorized tree cutting.
“There’s been several abuses all along our path,” he said. “We own the land since it belongs to the town.”
But he says fines issued to homeowners do not sufficiently deter those with deep pockets from clearing trees to improve their view and possibly property value.
“I’ve been hoping that it’ll go a lot further this time,” he said.
He’s trying to keep this latest incident in the public eye, particularly since he says there is a chance many of the trees will eventually die on the island.
But the company who performed the cutting stands by its work.
The tree cutting was done in December, after Beaudoin was issued a permit by the city.
But the permit posted online by a resident and viewed by CBC News specifies “riverbank work,” without any reference to the municipal property.
CBC News reached out to National public relations for comment from Beaudoin. In an email, the firm said Beaudoin will not be issuing a statement on this matter. Then, in a subsequent email, National would not confirm Beaudoin is its client.
CBC News has emailed Bombardier requesting to be put in contact with Beaudoin. In an emailed statement, the company said it is unable to assist directly with the request as this is not a company matter.
In an emailed statement from National, it says contractor Éric Harton from EGH Inc. “clearly explained the nature of the work he wanted to do on the island.”
The firm also shared a video filmed by Harton, which it says was sent to the inspector of the Town of Brome Lake before a permit was issued. The video details Harton’s plans for the trees on the municipal path.
A statement from EGH Inc., sent by the firm, also highlights that the permit to cut was issued “without conditions or restrictions.”
It argues that the work lasted a week and was done with the co-operation of the municipality — with a city worker opening a metal barrier to allow for them to pass through.
Richard Burcombe, mayor of the Town of Brome Lake, confirmed to CBC News a town employee did open the gates to the municipal property for the contractor to pass through.
He said he has heard about the video Harton made outlining plans for the work but says he has not viewed it and cannot comment on it.
“The town doesn’t issue permits to cut on town land. We cut on town land ourselves or we hire a contractor ourselves,” said Burcombe.
“They (the company) believe that they had the necessary authorization … the town believes otherwise.”
Right now, the town and the property owner are at an “impasse,” says Burcombe, and lawyers may get involved, possibly to mediate. He says legal action is being considered and that he shares residents’ frustrations over the situation.
“It’s not the first time it has happened … with other people along the [path]” he says.
Looking at the state of the trees, arborist and forestry technician Shawn Danaher says this work consisted of “pretty intense cutting.”
By the width of some of the trees’ stumps, he estimates the pines ranged between 13 to 18 metres before they were cut. Now there’s just over six metres left, he says.
“Most of these trees that I’m looking at were obviously perfectly healthy,” he said.
“Whoever is in charge of the operation and whatever happened here, obviously there was more than should have been allowed from what I can see.”
When the top of a tree is cut, the tree is put at risk, says Janani Sivarajah, assistant professor of urban forestry and research chair of urban trees and their environment at Université Laval.
“New tissue is being exposed… to insect invasions and also sunburn,” said Sivarajah. “It will be more detrimental in the long term.”
Compromising tree health means the trees may fracture and pose a risk to pedestrians or road down the line, she says.
Viewing drone visuals and photos of the trees located on the island, from a tree perspective, she says this is a clear example of tree topping.
“Tree topping is usually done for security and conflict with infrastructure,” she said. “We could have done pruning, lateral prunings of trees to try to get more visibility, but tree topping is definitely not the ideal situation here.”
Alan Gauthier, a resident who recently threw his hat in the race for mayor, says this incident highlighted “lack of teeth to protect the environment.”
“It’s easy for the most affluent to write a check for $5,000. It’ll hurt the guy living in a cabin, but it won’t hurt a guy living in a mansion… they both would end up paying the same,” he said.
A local business owner and the administrator of a Knowlton Facebook page, Gauthier had a front-row seat to the online discussions surrounding the tree-cutting incident.
As of late, he says the whole debate has “spun out of control” and become about the rich against the poor, and “distracting from the actual fact.”
“You know, at the end of the day the trees are still alive. They’re shorter. He has a view,” said Gauthier.
“It’s an emotional subject, the environment here. We take our lake very seriously. It’s our name.”
While he says people are pointing fingers at the contractor, Gauthier says the contractor was ultimately the “middleman.”
“Everybody’s trying to evade their responsibility. There’s a bunch of people that dropped the ball,” he said.
