One of the new ministers in the Ontario government faces a court date in September over allegations of violating the province's endangered species law during his time as mayor of a rural town.

Graydon Smith, who was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry on Friday, was the mayor of Bracebridge for nearly 12 years until he won as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the provincial election on June 2.

Smith is accused of harming or harassing Blandings turtles, which Ontario has classified as endangered species, and damaging or putting the turtles' habitat at risk. The municipality of Bracebridge and two senior municipal officials face similar charges.

The charges were laid by a local resident, and last Tuesday, three days before Smith took the constitutional oath, a justice of the peace signed the charges and ordered the case to be referred to court on September 21.

The city and its officials are alleged to have disturbed the turtles and damaged their environment by carrying out settlement works between June and August 2021 on Peace Valley Road, about 15 kilometers northeast of downtown Bracebridge.

Michael O’Bara, one of the residents who laid the charges, said he and his supporters emailed and contacted municipal officials to warn them of the turtle nesting site along the road, but the city continued the project.

The Blandings turtle is listed as threatened in Ontario and classified as "threatened," meaning it is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to protect it.

O’Bara said in an interview: "We tried for over two years to alert the municipality. They insisted on paving more than 60 meters of the road, including turtle nesting areas, and it reached the point where we had enough to bring charges to court."

A ministry official said in an email: "[Bracebridge] council listened to the concerns raised and sought to take risk mitigation measures before proceeding with the project." The Bracebridge town lawyer said on Monday that she was confident the charges would be dropped.

Graydon Smith, former mayor of the Bracebridge municipality, won the Barrie-Sound Muskoka seat for the Progressive Conservatives by a majority of 2,114 votes over the Green Party candidate in the June 2 election.

Sarah Han, a partner at Barriston Law, said: "The fact is the municipality acted diligently and appropriately in completing the necessary road works near the turtle habitat, and the evidence will show that."

Han added in an email, "It is unfortunate that city resources must now be used to respond to these baseless charges."

David Donnelly, an environmental lawyer in Toronto, said the justice of the peace's decision last week to set a court date for the case lends legitimacy to the charge. Donnelly added, "There are basically sufficient grounds to proceed to trial."

Meanwhile, Michael Appleby, head of the South Bracebridge Environmental Protection Group, a nonprofit established three years ago, said residents across Muskoka are very concerned about the threatened species.

Appleby added in an interview: "We support holding the municipality accountable and will follow this case as it proceeds."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair