Wind farm is a chance to fix old wounds

Innu and Côte-Nord mayors back $600-million electricity project

UASHAT That there is still an Innu community at the heart of SeptÎles is a testament to its resilience.

When the iron mines first came to Quebec’s Côte-Nord in the 1940s, the order of the day was to force the Innu off their land and into 10 reserves scattered across the densely forested region.

In Sept-Îles, local clergy joined an effort to muscle the Innu into a reserve about eight kilometres outside of town. White settlers wanted the land to house prospectors and refineries.

But the people resisted.

Local legend has it, parish priests — who’d been in the area for decades — refused to baptize the children of Innu who wouldn’t leave town. Eventually, they stopped allowing them to bury their dead in the local Catholic cemetery.

“The Innu would have nighttime burials so they wouldn’t get caught by the priests,” said Jean-Claude Therrien Pinette, an Innu and lifetime resident of the area. “The history of our people here is one of resistance.”

The defiance by Therrien Pinette’s ancestors is visible in the patchwork geography of Sept-Îles.

Some sections of town are part of the Uashat reserve and others belong to the city — it varies from block to block.

The Parti Québécois campaign bus rolled into town Saturday, it cruised through Innu neighbourhoods and white neighbourhoods alike. For years, this proximity only contributed to local tensions.

“White landlords wouldn’t rent apartments to my dad, who is Innu, but minutes later they’d agree to rent the same place to my mom, who was white,” said Therrien Pinette. “It was awful.”

But when PQ leader Jean-François Lisée came, it was to discuss a project that’s made allies of communities who traditionally distrust one another.

Nine Innu territories and a group of local mayors have banded together to fight for the Apuiat wind farm — a $600-million, 200-megawatt project that could create hundreds of construction jobs in the area.

The Innu, municipalities and the wind energy firm Boralex would all have a stake in the business.

“This is giving us a real shot in the arm,” said Ghislain Picard, an Innu and chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador. “The future of (the Innu) economy is intertwined with the future of the Côte-Nord’s economy.

“When the communities win, everybody wins.”

But a number of factors have put the project at risk.

The Coalition Avenir Québec, which could form the next provincial government, is against the Apuiat wind farm. Earlier this summer, Leader François Legault called it costly, useless and impossible to justify.

Hydro- Québec CEO Eric Martel claims the project could wind up costing Quebecers $1.5 billion over 25 years. He raised those concerns in a letter to the Innu nations last month.

Lisée spent Saturday in talks with two of the lead negotiators on the file — Pessamit Chief Martin Dufour and Port Cartier Mayor Alain Thibault. He says he supports the project, in principle, but won’t sign off on anything until he sees Hydro- Québec’s projections.

Both men signed a non-disclosure agreement with Hydro- Québec and cannot discuss specifics of the deal. Even so, Lisée says he’s hopeful things are moving in the right direction.

“Recently, (Martel) signed an agreement in principle with the Innu and the mayors, so you have to assume some of his concerns have been addressed,” said Lisée, during a campaign stop Sunday. “I strongly ask Hydro- Québec to lift the confidentiality agreement so that all Quebecers can know the truth about costs and revenue sharing.

“I want transparency before the election, not after the elections ... I want everyone to make up their minds based on the facts. As close as I can get to those facts, this seems like a really interesting project.”

Though building turbines is less damaging to the environment, the production of wind electricity can be much costlier than hydroelectricity.

Thibault said he came out of his meeting with Lisée reassured the PQ has his city ’s interests at heart.

“The will is there, that much is clear,” Thibault said. “Mr. Legault, we know what he thinks, what’s critical is that we need this project, the region needs this project.”

Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard also supports the project, calling it essential to the region.

Like most of the jagged coastal area, Port Cartier’s economy is reliant on forestry and metal refineries — two volatile industries. An opportunity at jobs and steady revenue means stability in a world of boom and bust cycles.

“The threat is real (if CAQ wins the election),” Thibault said. “He’s started to nuance his words a bit because I think he went way too far before. But he doesn’t know the final numbers; it’s still being negotiated.

“We’re united with the Innu on this, we support the chiefs. It’s the start of something very good . ... A common project like this, it’s a first in our history.”

When the mayor refers to the Innu’s ancestral homeland, he calls it by its name: Nitassinan. It might only seem like words, but his deference to Innu sovereignty isn’t going unnoticed.

“It shows a recognition of our history, our agency and of us as a partner nation,” said one source who’s close to the negotiations. “It shows that we’re collectively moving in the right direction.”

Lisée did much of his campaigning in Sept-Îles alongside Lorraine Richard — the short, combative local MNA who, Lisée jokes, can strike fear across the National Assembly when she rises to speak.

During a stop at the local Knights of Columbus chapter Sunday, Richard teased a young man who’d just jumped in the icy St. Lawrence Gulf.

“It’ll cure you of all your ills, that water,” she said. “You won’t get a cold all winter!”

But when the topic turns to Legault, her smile immediately turns intoafrown.

“When I see (Legault) play politics with this — without knowing much, without even being close to negotiations — it’s disappointing,” she said. “If you want to be premier, to govern Quebec, you should stop and think.

“Get to know the issue and get on board because it’s going to create jobs, it’s good for the Côte-Nord and it’s good for Indigenous communities.”

Richard’s ancestors were among the first settlers in Havre- St-Pierre hundreds of years ago.

“Before Sept-Îles, before Baie Comeau, Havre-St-Pierre was our big city,” she said. “We had the church, the fishing trawlers and the teacher’s college. Not a metropolis, but definitely the heart of this region.”

The MNA speaks in short, dramatic bursts that seem almost lyrical in her Bas-du-Fleuve accent — which alternates between a crisp French sound and the more guttural joual Quebecers are used to.

She says what’s unique about Côte-Nord is the degree to which, unlike most regions, Québécois and Innu live alongside each other and find common cause when they can.

There are roughly 90,000 people in the region and 17,500 are Innu — the largest percentage of Indigenous residents in any Quebec region outside of Nunavik.

“We all want to extend the road to reach Innu communities like (Unamen Shipu),” Richard said. “We’re distinct people, yes, but we’re all from here. I have seven (Innu) communities in my riding and I fight for all of them.”

For Picard, the wind farm is a chance to right some of the damage hydro dams have wrought on Innu hunting grounds.

“They destroyed so much of our land without giving us a cent in compensation,” Picard said. “I want to look to the future, we have to, but it’s important to realize there’s some history here.

“So why not take advantage of this chance to create clean energy? A project that can help us in that journey toward economic independence without destroying our rivers.”

Get on board because it’s going to create jobs, it’s good for the Côte-Nord and it’s good for Indigenous communities.