Peace and Environment News* September 1997
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Peace and Environment News * September 1997 |
by Dianne Murray
Two years ago, when the James Bay project was put "on ice," Matthew Coon-Come, Grand Chief of the Quebec Crees, quipped "Ice can melt..." His words have proved prophetic. James Bay is back and it's just the tip of the iceberg.
Now Hydro-Quebec plans to divert the Rupert and La Grande rivers towards the south. But Southern Quebec and Labrador won't be spared. The previously protected rivers that feed the Moisie River's Atlantic salmon fishery are now slated for diversion.
More diversions on North Shore rivers are also planned. The new projects threaten wildlife, especially fish. And they will disrupt the native economies of Ntassinan and Iiyuuschii—the Crees' name for their nation.
Dr. Michael Rozengurt and Hans Neu, estuary experts affiliated with OPIRG-Carleton's Dam-Reservoir Working Group (DRWG), fear the new projects will further starve Maritime fisheries of critical freshwater runoff during the spring and summer. More than the salmon are at stake: studies show Atlantic and St. Lawrence fisheries and phytoplankton are under the hydro gun.
Activists were disgusted to learn of the new plans from press reports. The Montreal Gazette erroneously said the Crees were "hailing Bouchard." The Globe and Mail claimed the Crees had no problem with new projects. But reports from Cree sources tell a different story. Cree Grand Chief Coon-Come says reporters were absent from the meeting they reported on.
In a landslide referendum July 29, Whapmagstooi (Great Whale River) Crees vowed to oppose any changes to the river that sustains them. Under the planned diversions Lake Bienville, sacred to the Cree people and calving ground for the caribou, is slated for flooding. Many traplines will be destroyed and Crees thrown out of their livelihoods.
Boston-based energy analyst Ian Goodman says Quebec sold power to the USA below cost for too many years running. Now the southern reservoirs are at 21 percent of capacity—dangerously low. Hydro-Quebec plans to divert the Rupert, Great Whale, Aux Pekans, Carheil and other Quebec rivers to make up the shortfall. They claim they'll lose more money if they can't build the diversions.
But why would a utility with a world-wide reputation for engineering excellence sell power below cost? Did they merely miscalculate how much water they could safely use to generate power? Or is there something more sinister going on? Activists have long suspected it's not economics but political imperialism that drives the Quebec government's urge to build dams all over Iiyuuschii and Ntassinan. To find the missing puzzle piece, consider Bouchard's words at a press conference in Chibougamou, during his recent visit to Iiyuuschii:
"More and more, the Quebec government has the obligation to have its flag planted in this land of destiny. To do this we will inevitably have to populate this territory and give its inhabitants the means of developing its riches in harmony with the Natives who also live there," said Bouchard to Quebecois journalists in Chibougamou, according to the James Bay Cree magazine, The Nation.
The statement came on the heels of Bouchard's polite but frank meeting with Cree chiefs in Waswanipi where he and Grand Chief Coon-Come agreed to disagree. The Crees protested new hydro projects at one of Bouchard's northern appearances.
Because of the timeline, protecting the Moisie tributaries and their flow is now the most pressing issue, followed by protecting the Bersimies and other North Shore rivers and the Rupert and La Grande Rivers, in Iiyuuschii.
Quebec's 1995 Bureau d'Audience Publique de l'Environnement concluded the Sainte-Marguerite 3 project shouldn't be built at all. Ignoring their advice, Quebec went ahead, but forbade the diversion of the Carheil and Aux Pekans rivers. Expert advice had shown them to be crucial and irreplaceable to salmon spawning grounds.
In April 1996, Atlantic Salmon Federation experts testified that the Aux Pekans and Carheil Rivers are critical for the salmon's survival. They recommended against the diversions in their report to the federal-provincial team studying the Moisie's River's salmon run. This July, David Cliche, Quebec's Minister of Environment and Wildlife, and Guy Chevrette, Minister of Natural Resources, reneged on the decision to protect the tributaries, sealing the salmon's fate.
Quebec activists and Canadian wildlife need our help. Tom Holzinger with the newly-formed Coalition Contre le Dénationalisation d'Électricité (CCDE) has been sending out updates and bulletins on the Internet, which are being posted on DRWG's Dam-Reservoir Impact & Information Archive at www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams./
The CCDE is composed of environmental and consumers groups and trade unions. At CCDE and Friends of Ntassinan's well-attended July meeting in Burlington, Vermont, activists renewed ties, shared resources, and planned strategy. The fight is on!
To get involved, contact the DRWG at dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca or call 520-2757. CCDE wants to network with dam activists in other cities, too: email Tom Holzinger at t.holzinger@netaxis.qc.ca.
Dianne Murray is with the Dam-Reservoir Working Group at OPIRG-Carleton.
Converted January 28, 2000 - Lg
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