Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

 The sense of deja vu is overpowering. Once again, a multi-million dollar environmental assessment into the effects of a northern energy megaproject is churning into life. This time it is in Quebec and it involves hydroelectric power rather than oil or gas. The Great Whale project, the second of three massive hydroelectric power projects proposed for northern Quebec by Hydro-Quebec, is up for public review. Once again the issue attracts familiar groups of participants: on the one side stands Hydro-Quebec, and not too far behind, the government of Quebec and various industrial and labour interests. On the other side, stand the aboriginal peoples and an assortment of environmental and public interest groups.

The tenor of the debate will likely be familiar too. Aboriginal peoples will stand up for the environment, their way of life, and an economy based on hunting, fishing and trapping. They will passionately argue that they alone suffer the costs of development-social, economic, and cultural while in the South others reap financial benefits from the same development. Proponents will argue that electricity from the Great Whale project is needed to fuel Quebec's further industrialization, and will likely adopt a utilitarian rationale, stressing that the needs of the many in the South outweigh the needs of the few in the North. More than likely, many participants in the debate will question the need for the electricity and argue that the project is not economically justified. They will likely propose, instead, greater commitment to energy conservation.

But what of the relationship between the proposed Great Whale project and environmentally sustainable development the catch phrase of the 1990s? Late in 1990 the federal government committed itself to a Green Plan, and in 1991 adopted an Arctic Environmental Strategy. Following an initiative by Finland, the eight Arctic nations agreed in 1991 to an Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. Earlier this year, Canada sent a large delegation-including the Prime Minister-to the United Nations environmental conference in Rio de Janiero. Canadian politicians basked in the international limelight, and tut tutted the government of the United States of America for its refusal to follow Canada and other countries in signing a treaty on biodiversity. From all this activity it would appear that the principle of environmentally sustainable development has become a cornerstone of government policy, particularly in northern Canada.

Nevertheless, actions speak louder than glossy brochures and policy announcements attended by the well-heeled. In like manner, the review of the Great Whale hydroelectric power project will reveal more about how governments view the linkage between environment and economy than speeches made at conferences in far off places.

This issue of Northern Perspectives looks at the assessment of the Great Whale project. It is early days yet, but already CARC draws three conclusions:

Nearly twenty years ago Thomas Berger conducted an inquiry into the impacts of a proposed gas pipeline across the northern Yukon and up the Mackenzie valley. The inquiry had a lasting impact, and helped many to rethink the goals of northern development and how best to blend national, regional and local interests in the territorial North. The same daunting task faces the committees now undertaking the assessment and review of the Great Whale hydroelectric project.