CONFUSED!(re:Great Whale dams' impacts)
Louis Hamann (bouf@cam.org)
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 12:12:30 -0400
Last week's controversy over a 5000-page study of the dams'
impacts with respect to the Great Whale hydroelectric project raises some
important questions about the charges brought forward by both Quebec's
Naskapis Indians and some in the academic community.
As was reported in an article by Graeme Hamilton in the June 23rd
issue of the Montreal Gazette, a report made public by Quebec's Naskapis
Indians charges that the impact study only reflects data favoring the
construction of Great Whale, and overlooks negative results such as the
effects on the migration patterns of caribou herds. In
addition, two researchers from Universite Laval were reported to have said
that the study shows a clear lack of objectivity on Hydro-Quebec's part.
Are there no agreements between the utility and aboriginal
nations such as the Naskapis whereby environmental assesment frameworks
exist in order to take into account aboriginal concerns? To my knowledge
there are. In fact, these so-called frameworks provide for the
participation of aboriginal nations like the Naskapis in the making of
impact studies. It is unfortunate that, too often, those of us
interested in the relationship between resources development and the
environment are mislead by unfair and uninformed characterizations.
-fairness