Ici Radio-Canada

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A free (libre/gratuit) translation of an angle to the Lower Churchill story that is oddly under-reported in the English language:

Hydro-electricity
The Innu talk tough
Radio-Canada

December 5, 2007

Labrador Innu are threatening to put the brakes on an ambitious dam project on the lower Churchill River.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador [Williams Government? - ed.] expects to being construction of the first dam by 2009, with first power by 2015. However, the Vice President of the Innu Nation, Peter Penashue, says that the Innu will not give the project the green light as long as their land claims are not settled.

It's a legitimate demand, according to Serge Rousselle, a law professor at the University of Moncton, and a specialist in Aboriginal issues.

"There are two Supreme Court decisions, handed down in 2004, which have clearly established that government, when it wants to do something which impacts on the potential rights of Aboriginal people, are obliged to consult them," Mr. Rousselle states.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has already opened up discussions. Premier Danny Williams maintains, however, that the demands by the Innu, who lay claim to more than 20,000 square kilometres, are excessive. He is also worried that negociations are taking too long.

Danny Williams adds that he is relying, among other things, on the good faith of the federal government in order for negociations with the Innu to be productive.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador places a great deal of hope in this project. The proposed generating station could provided up to 1.5-million homes with electricity, including in Ontario and the United States.