Alliance Romaine

The Romaine River hydroelectric project exists as part and parcel of the Plan Nord, a provincial government strategy to attract private developers to invest on land north of the 49th parallel by using large sums of public money to build infrastructure. Industries such as mines, sawmills and aluminum smelters will continue to purchase electricity at the bargain price of 4.5 cents a kilowatt-hour- about half of what it costs the Province to produce it. The final price tag for building, and transmitting power, from a four-dam mega complex on the Romaine River is estimated at $8.5 billion. Quebec’s residential demand for electricity is not growing fast enough to justify a project of this magnitude, and it’s clear that the Province’s motive for expending public money and damaging ecosystems is to provide a power subsidy to big business.

Recently, a number of voices have emerged publicly to criticize various aspects of the Plan Nord, ranging from a weak royalty system (which allows mining companies to avoid payment on much of the wealth they extract), to environmental concerns to unresolved native title. You can follow the media discussion of this by clicking on some of the links listed below.

Quebec Innu threaten protests over Plan Nord (Gazette, Nov. 22)

PQ adds criticism for Plan Nord (CBC, Nov. 22)

Plan Nord is a raw deal (Gazette, letter, Nov. 24)

A Second Look at the Plan Nord (Gazette, letter, Dec. 22)