The following is the text of a press release issued in mid-June:
For a second time, environmentalists associated with the group Alliance Romaine will paddle the Romaine River, near the Mingan Archipelago National Park, on Quebec’s North Shore.
This trip aims to document ongoing hydroelectric development in the area, and will serve to catalyze public debate about the province’s current energy policy as expressed in the provincial government’s “Plan Nord” of the
The Alliance Romaine team will put its canoes in the water July 1st and will be in the area for around 10 days. The ten-member crew will animate public awareness workshops in Sept-Îles and elsewhere. The experience of the expedition will later be conveyed to the general public through a photo exhibit following the group’s return to Montreal.
The Romaine is an impetuous and majestic salmon river, originating near Labrador, whose mouth empties into the Mingan Archipelago National Park. Since last year, Hydro-Québec has been clearing the ground with a view to constructing four hydroelectric dams on the Romaine, at an estimated cost of eight billion dollars.
In a context where most of Quebec’s large rivers have already been altered and polluted by dams, Alliance Romaine stands strongly opposed to the proposed hydroelectric project. The group is also concerned by the prospect of rumoured but as yet unannounced projects on other North Shore rivers including the Magpie and the Little Mecatina.
“The proliferation of dams will seriously impact commercial fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” summarizes Christopher Scott, spokesperson for the group. “The current project on the Romaine will disrupt biodiversity in the National Park, and will undermine the recreational and tourist potential that make this area of the North Shore unique.”
Alliance Romaine intends to pursue its campaign this year and after to mobilize citizens to promote a new energy policy that respects the natural limits of Quebec’s ecosystems.
Alliance Romaine’s paddle team can be reached by phone from June 29 to July 9 at (514) 260-0323. You can also email us at any time at info@allianceromaine.org.
Bonne chance à vous!
By: Alexis Asselin on June 29, 2010
at 11:13
I recently canoed the Churchill River with Innu activists to help publicize Hydro-electric production resulting in the destruction of t he remainder of that river. We also drove past the Romaine near it’s mouth! The River has been legendary to the Innu who used it for a travel highway, and to paddlers seeking adventures. It seems that Cherest is a reincanation of Boo Boo Bourassa obsessed with hydro development to enrich the province, regardless of unacceptable costs to the ienvironment and to the culture of ‘Les Mudite savauges’ .
By: James Higgins on November 23, 2010
at 01:04