Grande-Baleine project-Wikipedia

The Grande-Baleine project is a project to build three hydroelectric power plants offered by Hydro-Québec towards the late 1980s. The construction of the complex whose total installed capacity amounted to 3,212 megawatts was canceled in November 1994 , due to the strong opposition of the cries of the region and of Canadian and American environmental groups and the cancellation of firm electricity sales contracts in New York.

During the construction of the second phase of the James Bay project, the Quebec government and Hydro-Quebec announced their intention to proceed with the construction of the Grande-Baleine complex , centered on the large whale river, the small whale river and the Coast river, in Nunavik, north of the James Bay region. Planned by name in the James and Northern Quebec Convention in 1975, the Grande-Baleine complex includes the development of three power stations on the large whale river, which has a drop of 400 m over a distance of 370 km , the derivation of the waters of the small whale river and the Coast river towards the watershed of the large whale river and the creation of four hydraulic tanks. The two watersheds have a total area of ​​59,000 km ² , 20% of which is covered with fresh water. The creation of tanks, including the enhancement of the level of Lake Bienville, would have flooded approximately 1,667 km ² of territory, or 3% of the area of ​​the two watersheds ^{[ first ]} .

The hunters and fishermen Cris and Inuit of the twinned villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik, at the mouth of the large whale river, would have lost certain bordering hunting territories, but the opening of new roads would have facilitated access to zones interior hunting and would have enabled them to better distribute their hunting and fishing activities throughout the territory. In 1993, around 30% of the food supply of the inhabitants of the region still came from hunting and fishing.

With an installed power of 3,210 megawatts, the three power stations in the Grande-Baleine complex would have produced 16.2 TWh energy annually, including 11.1 TWh at the Grande-Baleine-1 power station at some 40 km Villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik. The total cost of preliminary studies and environmental impact studies carried out by Hydro-Québec and its subsidiaries amounted to more than 250 million Canadian dollars.

The cries of James Bay, which were still equating massive cultural and economic changes associated with the opening of the James Bay Road in 1974, were concerned about the impact of the road extension From Radisson to the village of Whapmagoostui and the resumption of major construction sites in the region. From the beginning of the 1980s, the natural flow of the Great River and the Eastmain, Opiniciscau rivers had suffered significant changes and around 4% of the traditional cries hunting territories had been flooded by the reservoirs, including 10% of the territories Hunters from the village of Chisasibi. At the same time, access to the distant territories of the region of the Caniapiscau tank and the border of Labrador, was greatly facilitated by the opening of the James Bay Road, the creation of large reservoirs, and use More and more intensive of snowmobiles and bush planes by Cris hunters.

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The cries of James, whose cries of Whapmagoostui, and the Inuit of the village of Kuujjuarapik firmly opposed this new project, fearing the impact on their communities and the environment. The Grand Council of Cris, led by Matthew Coon Come, brought several remedies against Hydro-Québec, Quebec, Canada and several American states, in order to stop the project or make Quebec electricity exports stop towards the UNITED STATES. These prosecution before the National Energy Office, the Superior Court of Quebec and the Supreme Court of Vermont have been dismissed ^{[ 2 ] , [ 3 ]} .

In addition to legal action, Cris leaders launch an aggressive public relations campaign, attacking the Grande-Baleine, Hydro-Québec and Quebec project in general. They find allies among the major American environmental groups including Greenpeace, Audubon and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in whom the son of the former American Minister of Justice Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Particularly active, the NRDC uses the Grande-Baleine project to raise funds from its members and sympathizers by accusing Hydro-Québec, and by extension the government of Quebec, of xenophobia, of “Ecological Armageddon” ^{[ 4 ]} and deliberate poisoning of mercury cries ^{[ 5 ]} .

For its part, the Canadian organization Probe international was accused by the Amsterdam International Water Tribunal of having distorted a judgment to date from the February 20, 1992 which made reservations compared to the Grande-Baleine project, in order to blacken the reputation of Hydro-Québec ^{[ 6 ]} .

The Cris and its Canadian and American allies campaign, led by drum, beating in the United States and Europe, even exasperates Quebec environmental groups more nuanced with regard to the project. They denounce the “rudeness” of the NRDC ^{[ 4 ]} , considering them as “environmental imperialism”, according to the environmentalist David Cliche ^{[ 7 ]} .

Matthew Coon-Come admitted during a public conference in mars 1994 That Hydro-Québec was a “minor problem” and that his true concern was rather linked to the political status of indigenous communities. “I want a real partnership, not just a contract with Hydro-Québec. We want to live from our natural resources and not from the charity of governments ”, an opinion shared by the president of Hydro-Québec, Armand Couture ^{[ 8 ]} .

Cries and their American allies will succeed in forcing the New York Power Authority To cancel a contract of US $ 5 billion which she had signed in 1990 with Hydro-Québec. The contract provided for the firm delivery of 800 megawatts of electricity to this American state between 1999 and 2018 ^{[ 9 ]} .

On November 18, 1994, Prime Minister Jacques Parizeau announced at a press conference that the project was canceled. He justifies this decision by the estimated costs of the project, between 13 and $ 14 billion. The imminent holding of the referendum on Quebec sovereignty would also have motivated its decision ^{[ ten ]} .

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