Brief History of Events Pertaining to Cumulative Impacts of Hydroelectric Developments on the Marine Ecosystem of James and Hudson Bay Compiled by THE ARCTIC EIDER SOCIETY * 1971 Hydroelectric projects in James Bay announced by the Quebec government. Due to a lack of consultation and environmental assessment, Cree launch a lawsuit against Hydro Quebec (HQ) 1973 Government ruling halts construction until an agreement can be reached with Cree and Inuit 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement was signed (and in 1978 NE Quebec Agreement) Canada’s fi rst modern land claim settlements. Pave way for completion of Phase I. No such Agreement was signed with the Belcher Islands Inuit. 1986-2005 Community based eider down industry developed in Sanikiluaq 1989 Federal Government meets with Sanikiluaq Hamlet Council who raise concerns about La Grande Complex impacts on sea ice habitats and the marne ecosystem. 1990 Cree and Inuit travel down Hudson River to New York City to raise publicity about impacts of proposed Great Whale project 1990-1995 Sanikiluaq raises concerns with Great Whale Hydroelectricity Project Details: With the proposed Great Whale hydroelectric project, the Environment Committee of the Municipality of Sanikiluaq received intervener status in the federal environmental review assessment, and funds to participate in the review. At the time, the Environment Committee also started a large project with the Rawson Academy of Aquatic Science and the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC) in which money from both the federal government and private foundations was spent on generating more information and knowledge on Hudson Bay by looking at physical and biological sciences and traditional ecological knowledge and management systems. Information was collected and assessed, and gaps in scientifi c understanding were identifi ed. Winter 1991/92 Community of Sanikiluaq documents a massive mortality event of Common Eiders During rapid and extensive winter freeze-ups that closed fl oe edges and open water habitats, numerous eiders were trapped individuals in small polynyas. One elder/hunter describes that “as many eiders were dead on the ice as there is gravel on the beach” Contact with Environment Canada (Grant Gilchrist, Greg Robertson) is established and surveys conducted in follow-up and comparison to those conducted by Makivik Corporation and Municipality of Sanikiluaq between 1985-1990, in order to investigate the decline Aug 1991-93 Earth River Expeditions: Sponsored and ran 8 conservation awareness trips on Great Whale River in Quebec to expose policy makers and media to the threats from the James Bay Hydro project. Participants included Robert Kennedy, The Natural resources Defense Council, The National Audubon Society, Members of the Cree First nation and Grand Chief, National Geographic Magazine, Conde Naste Traveler, Turner Broadcasting, Nicolodian and politicians from New York and New England who were negotiating to purchase power from the James Bay project. Reference: Jan 12 1992, New York Times: Power Struggle http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/12/magazine/ power-struggle.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm 1991-1995 Environmental Committee of Municipality of Sanikiluaq conducts a seminal Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Management Systems survey of the Hudson Bay Inland Sea as part of the Hudson Bay Programme. It involves 23 coastal communities and includes documenting the importance of and changes in marine currents, polynyas, sea ice and the eider duck mass die-off. February-March 1992 Public hearings on scope of Great Whale project impact study held in Val D’Or, Chisasibi, Kuujjuarapik-Whapmagoostui, Sanikiluaq, and Montreal Oct 1992 Great Whale river conservation participants, Senator Franz Leichter and Assemblyman William Hoyt hold Legislative hearings in New York against James Bay Project. Assemblyman Hoyt proposes legislation in New York legislature to stop the project. New York Governor Mario Cuomo pulls out of the 13 billion dollar James Bay Hydro-electric contract dealing the project serious blow. Oct 1994 Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau announced that the James Bay Hydroelectric project would be ”shelved”. 1996 Documentary “Power” opens at TIFF and Cree reunite with Robert Kennedy Jr. Planet power. (documentary ‘Power’ chronicles the Crees and Robert Kennedy Jr.’s successful efforts to stop the Great Whale Project of Hydro Quebec)(Brief Article) Article from: Maclean’s | September 23, 1996 Talk about power. Environmental activist and lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr. used his clout last week to help shed light on the Toronto International Film Festival’s premier of Power, a documentary chronicling the Cree’s successful six-year battle to halt Hydro Quebec’s Great Whale project. Kennedy took up the cause on Earth Day, 1990, when Cree and Inuit leaders arrived in New York City after paddling an odeyak-a combination canoe and kayak-from Montreal to dramatize the potential havoc the massive hydroelectric project would wreak on their lands in northern Quebec. Kennedy then worked closely with Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come, among others, to bring about the cancellation of Hydro Quebec’s $17-billion contract with New York state. Last week, the two friends got together again at a news conference and parade for Power, which opened last week. Kennedy was also the guest of honor at a $100-a-ticket fund-raiser for the fi lm’s debt-ridden director Magnus Isacsson and producer Glen Salzman, at the home of civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby. The fi lm, Kennedy adds, is now a powerful tool in the environmentalists’ fi ght against “treating the planet as a business in liquidation, converting all of our natural resources into cash.” 1997 Voices from the Bay: Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Inuit and Cree in Hudson Bay Bioregion published by Environmental Committee of the Municipality of Sanikiluaq and Canadian Arctic Resources Committee. It presents, Traditional Knowledge and perspectives on environmental change and effects of development including hydroelectricity from 23 shoreline communities of the Hudson Bay Inland Sea in Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay, James Bay and Hudson Strait. Summer 1997 Environment Canada publishes survey for Common Eiders documenting a 75% decline in the breeding population since the mass mortality event documented by Inuit in 1991/2 2000 Environment Canada initiates winter pilot study to assess winter sea ice habitats for birds and mammals 2002 & 2003 Ph.D. Student Joel Heath begins in-depth study of Common Eider winter ecology in sea ice habitats, including underwater monitoring at polynyas in collaboration with Environment Canada and Sanikiluaq HTA/Environment Committee. Additional mass mortality events of eiders are documented during winter 2002 and 2003 during on the ground research. Aerial surveys and movement studies conducted by Environment Canada. 2002-2004 Quebec & Grand Council of the Crees sign the Paix des Braves agreement leading to development of the Eastmain 1A and Rupert River hydroelectricity project. It is an Agreement respecting a new relationship between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec. Quebec and Nunavik Inuit sign a similar agreement. No restitution is signed with the Belcher Islands (Sanikiluaq) Inuit. When the Nunavik Inuit and James Bay Cree sat down with the Government of Quebec and signed two agreements that put into motion how the Quebec James Bay and Nunavik territories will be developing from an economic standpoint over the next 25 years. Unlike the past, these new agreements cover more than just one hydroelectric development. They are also inclusive of the development of infrastructure, and resources in forestry and tourism. Under the Quebec-Cree agreement, one of the fi rst projects to move forward is the development of the Eastmain 1-A powerhouse and Rupert River diversion for hydroelectricity. Sanikiluaq was not included in these agreements, and many of the concerns the community of Sanikiluaq raised with the proposed Great Whale hydroelectric development in the early 1990s still have not been addressed. There still aren’t answers to those original questions. 2003 Nunavuummi Tasiujarjuamiuguqatigiit Katutjiqatigiingit (NTK aka The Nunavut Hudson Bay Interagency Working Group) formed in 2003 to help Sanikiluaq research and present fi ndings on downstream effects of James Bay hydroelectricity developments on the Hudson Bay marine ecosystem. NTK is an inter-agency environmental working group for Hudson Bay in Nunavut composed of the Municipality of Sanikiluaq, the Government of Nunavut, and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), which is the Nunavut-wide Inuit land claims organization and QIA which is our regional land claims organization. NTK participated extensively in the federal review of the Eastmain-1-A and Rupert Diversion project that was established under the Canadian Environmental Assessment and made a submission to the joint Federal-Quebec review panel. 2003-2005 Scientifi c and Technical assessments prepared on behalf of NTK and under contract to the Municipality of Sanikiluaq on infl ux of freshwater from la Grande Complex on Hudson Bay Marine Ecosystem 2004 Community of Sanikiluaq notices changes in benthic invertebrates (sea cucumbers and mussels) including discoloration. Unusual inputs of freshwater identifi ed as a possible mechanism by independent university scientists 2005 Environmental Committee of Municipality of Sanikiluaq & NTK prepare for design of Hudson Bay Community-based Environmental Monitoring System 2005 Joel Heath publishes manuscripts