Four Quebec residents fined $5,000 in Cochrane for Kesagami offences

Four Quebec residents were fined a total of $5,000 in Cochrane court after pleading guilty to possessing excess walleye in the Kesagami Lake area or landing a helicopter without authorization in Kesagami Provincial Park, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources. The case was heard Sept. 1, 2026.

The penalties also included Ontario fishing bans for two of the men and a two-year restriction on aircraft landings in Kesagami Provincial Park for another.

A conservation officer found four helicopters from Quebec during compliance inspections in the Kesagami Lake area on April 11, 2026, the court heard.

An investigation found that Maurice Poirier, Jocelyn Boudreau and Yves Boudreau had been fishing as a separate group of three and possessed 25 walleye. That exceeded their combined legal sport fishing limit by 13 fish, the ministry said.

Jocelyn Boudreau, of La Sarre, pleaded guilty to possessing an overlimit of walleye. He was fined $1,500 and prohibited from fishing in Ontario for three years.

Yves Boudreau, of Roquemaure, also pleaded guilty to possessing an overlimit of walleye. He was fined $1,250 and prohibited from fishing in Ontario for one year.

Maurice Poirier, of Roquemaure, pleaded guilty to the same offence and was fined $1,250.

Steven Labranche, of Rouyn-Noranda, pleaded guilty to unlawfully landing an aircraft in a wilderness-class provincial park. The inspection found he lacked a valid authorization to land in Kesagami Provincial Park, the ministry said.

Labranche was fined $1,000 and prohibited from landing an aircraft in the park for two years, except for landings authorized in an emergency or to support wildland firefighting.

Justice of the Peace T. Leonard Ellery heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cochrane.