The Innu leadership is cautioning Hydro-Québec that they will engage in a global publicity campaign similar to the one the Cree staged in the 1990s should the crown corporation fail to address their concerns over a large-scale project on Innu territory.
On November 1, Innu leaders from northeastern Quebec made it clear to Hydro that they wanted certain concessions before the La Romaine project can go through, particularly in the form of a treaty guaranteeing their traditional way of life.
Without a treaty, the Innu will look to staging a high-profile protest similar to the one the Cree held in New York and throughout New England in the ’90s.
Rosario Pinette, director of the Innu group that is lobbying the government, recently told the CBC, “We’re seriously thinking of tarnishing the image of Quebec, of the Quebec government – and of Canada, too – along with Hydro-Québec, because they haven’t been shy over the years about tarnishing our rights.”
While the Quebec government has already given the $6.5 billion La Romaine project a green light as it is currently under construction, the Innu have not hidden their dismay over it.
At various points the Innu have sought to stop the project’s construction but unsuccessfully.
