Hydro-Québec promises cash, Inuit involvement

TASIUJAQ — Hydro-Québec will give Makivik Corporation $50 million over four years to study Nunavik’s hydroelectric potential, according to an economic development agreement signed on Tuesday.

It’s the first step in opening up Nunavik’s enormous power-producing potential — what Hydro-Québec president André Caillé called “a new horizon.”

Dams to harness the power of the region’s mighty waterways could eventually produce 2,000 jobs and billions of dollars in potential revenue over 25 years.

When any hydroelectric project is developed in Nunavik, the Quebec government pays Inuit 1.25 per cent of the sale price of electricity through its power company, Hydro-Québec, in Canada and the United States.

This revenue-sharing could easily be worth more than $400 million to Nunavik over 25 years.

The rivers that have the most hydroelectric potential are the George River, the Caniapiscau River, the Whale River and the Payne River.

According to the deal, even the development of only one river, such as the Caniapiscau River, would generate up to $28 million in revenue a year for the region.

Because of the Cree opposition to the Great Whale hydroelectric project, Quebec government officials said that project is “dead” — for now.

Under the terms of its new deal with Makivik, Hydro-Québec will determine the other rivers above the 55th parallel that could be easily developed before 2006.

“This agreement opens up a whole new world,” Caillé said. “Hydro-Québec will work closely with the Inuit community of Northern Québec. The community wants to develop the hydroelectric potential of the territory. This is why we will assess together whether the projects are environmentally acceptable and profitable.”

Caillé said Inuit would be involved from the start in the study of potential hydroelectric project sites — which was not the case when studies on the James Bay region were carried out some 30 years ago.

“It’s a new approach,” Caillé said.

Any projects eventually developed will still be subject to the complex environmental process outlined in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

In Tasiujaq, Hydro-Québec also agreed to spend $3 million to look at the feasibility of building a transmission line that would link Nunavik’s communities.

“When we open up a territory to hydro electricity it’s natural to think we could feed the local communities,” Caillé said.

Nunavik receives its electricity through diesel-burning generators, although the region is closer to the La Grande project than southern Quebec.

A transmission line would also make it possible to install a fibre-optic telecommunications network linking Nunavik to the provincial network.

The transmission line could also be tied in with hydroelectric projects that could meet local needs and feed surplus to Hydro-Quebec’s network.

According to the agreement signed this week in Tasiujaq, a transmission line in Nunavik could meet regional electric needs at a better price, promote mining exploration, improve communications, including the use of telemedicine, and contribute to the development of Nunavik’s hydroelectric potential.

The study will also examine the feasibility of constructing a railroad or road link to Kuujjuaq and a road to Kuujjuaraapik.