James Bay Cree claim victory

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Crees from Northern Quebec say they've won a major court battle against the development of future hydroelectric projects in the James Bay region.

In a unanimous decision Feb. 24, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a Federal Court of Appeals' decision allowing Hydro Quebec to export power to markets in the United States without conducting an environmental assessment to National Energy Board specifications.

Hydro Quebec will now be required to conduct a federal environmental impact study on the effect of future hydroelectric generating facilities if it wishes to export an estimated $25 billion worth of power to the eastern U.S.

"Having a unanimous ruling certain was for us a major victory," said Kenny Blacksmith, assistant grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec.

"There has to be some of our involvement in the environmental assessment to preserve our way of life."

In 1990, the National Energy Board granted seven export licenses to Hydro Quebec on the condition that any construction of hydroelectric facilities undergo environmental impact assessments.

Hydro Quebec and the province won a petition to overturn that order when the appeal court ruled the board had exceeded its jurisdiction in imposing the assessment conditions.

But the Supreme Court ruled in turn that the energy board did not exceed its authority under the National Energy Board Act.

"There's more criteria in place for Hydro Quebec to recognize and respect in any construction," Blacksmith said.

This ruling concludes a long and bitter battle between the 12,000 James Bay Crees and the Provincial power authority, a battle that began almost 20 years ago, he said.

"We have not benefited from the project. We have not much of our hereditary lands."

The James Bay Cree have never been taken seriously by the province or the power authority, he added. The Natives were forced to negotiate under duress when they signed the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement with the provincial and federal governments in 1975.

Hydro Quebec maintained the ruling will not effect any of the company's existing electricity exports, nor the environmental assessments now underway, including those on the Grande-Baleine (Great Whale) project.

While the Supreme Court overturned the appeal court's ruling, it also turned down all the other requests by the Grand Council of the Crees asking that Hydro Quebec's export licenses be declared illegal and subsequently cancelled, a Hydro Quebec spokesman said.

The judgment will also not affect the utility's sales to export markets. Hydro Quebec currently has a 20-year contract with Vermont Joint Owners and is discussing a 20-year, 800 megawatt contract with ConEd, a power company based in lower New York State.

Both contracts are worth several hundred billion dollars to the province.