Great Whale may be beached, but it's not dead

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Down but not out. Gone but not forgotten. Great Whale. Quebec's mega-hydroelectric project, named for the community it was bent on destroying, has been, for the moment, shut down. Time to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Time to congratulate the project's opponents on a job well done. Time to put the Whale to rest - for now.

The news that Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau had put a halt to the project came as a shock to all who have been following the story. The former provincial Liberal government had clung stubbornly to the project's tail, insisting on its need to be built. This despite the devastation it was to wreak over Cree and Inuit lands. This despite a $13-billion price tag.

But now, within months for the parti Quebecois taking control of the province, the project was being iced. It was incredible. What a difference a day makes. Gone were the big, bad liberals, and in were the separatists.

At first glance, Parizeau looked like a conciliatory friend of the Aboriginal environmental fight. It was a courageous move, said Grand chief Matthew Coon Come of Parizeau's announcement. At first blush, we would accept the demise of the project at face-value. But upon further consideration we had to question the PQ's motivation.

The environmental and social impacts the project would have on the people of the North, the international public opposition to the project, the lack of demand for the project's energy (in 1992, New York cancelled a $17-billion contract to purchase the power) could have each of themselves been enough to beach the Whale, but it was the bottom line that was the PQ's determining factor.

Some might argue that whatever the motivations were, the final result is, Whale is gone. But is it? The hydroelectric project is, in fact, only on the shelf. Its stopped, but the project can be started up again as fast as it was halted. There has been no order-in-council by the Quebec government to wipe away Whale completely. There has been only the word of a politician that the project would not advance - for now. Again, Parizeau is promising the moon, but delivering only a plate of green cheese. He doesn't seem to feel the need to back up his words with the actions it takes to make them truly mean something.

So, the fight is not over for the opponents of Great Whale. It only lies dormant. Yes, we should rejoice for a while, and then it's back to business. While we are not building dams, we should be building brides, near and abroad. Making the world see that there is still a black cloud that hovers over Quebec's north. That the shadow of

Great Whale looms and will govern the dealings between Aboriginal people and the rest of the province for years to come.

Let's not be fooled into believing it's time to let our guard down. The was has not been won. It has become a battle of a different kind. A battle that can only be won through a clear thinking and determination.