Atikamekw Band Councilor Roger Chachai says his community is currently in discussion with Hydro-Quebec over the proposed Mégiscane River diversion.
Chachai said the Atikamekw, like the Algonquins, are participating in the impact studies, but his community doesn’t yet have a position on the project. Chachai said they are studying all the options, including some form of partnership with Hydro-Quebec.
He claimed most of his people are for the project, but there are a few against it as well.
So far, the Crees haven’t agreed to participate in the impact review of the project. Instead, they are considering taking Hydro-Quebec to court.
The Quebec government refuses to submit the Mégiscane project to an impact review under the committees set up by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement for review of development projects.
When asked what he felt about the lack of aJBNQA review of the project, Chachai simply said his people were never consulted before the JBNQA was first signed in 1975 and he didn’t wish to make any comments concerning the agreement.
Oceans and Fisheries Canada will be a deciding factor on whether or not Hydro-Quebec’sMegiscane River diversion will undergo a federal environmental review. To date. Fisheriessay they have received only the description of the project.
Oceans and Fisheries spokesman Daniel Hardy says a review is likely to happen. “But we don’t have all the information yet to make a final decision under the Canadian Environmental Act,” he said.
Hardy said sturgeon have been identified by Hydro-Quebec as a species that may be affected by the project. He said it isn’t the only fish species Hydro is concerned about and named pike, whitefish and walleye.
“We informed Hydro-Quebec that we wanted to do an analysis under the Fisheries Act, but we didn’t identify sturgeon as the only species,” Hardy said.
“We always ask for all information on all species, all impacts on spawning habitats and fish migratory routes. Everything that has an impact on fish.”
Hardy said his department would consider the impacts on the other rivers in the system. Hydro-Quebec has told Fisheries it will have an impact-assessment report out by February 1999.
“When we will receive the impact assessment from Hydro-Quebec we’ll have the information to decide a review is required,” Hardy said.
“It might be possible before, but this depends on the information we receive from Hydro-Quebec.”
Under the federal Mitigation Protection Act, any navigable river that has a dam ordiversions planned that may change the river requires authorization and
review, said Hardy.
