Impacts According to Interviewees CH11 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Permanent loss of landbase • 3% of the trapline area (60,7 km2) has been flooded on its south eastern part: 2,2% of land and 0,8% of natural water plans.

• Flooding of campsites • The campsites located along the canoe routes coming from the Kanaaupscow Post and the canoe route following the Kanaaupscow River have been flooded.

• Flooding of birth site • The birth site located on the La Grande Rivière shore on CH13 has been flooded.

• Flooding of valued areas • The rapids and the portage located at the south eastern extremity of Wawa Lake has been half flooded. • The storage place located on an island in the water arm south of the valued portage was flooded along with hunting equipment that was stored in it, notably the tallyman’s riffle. Impoundment of Robert-Bourassa Loss of travelling routes • Reservoir • The trapline is no longer accessible by canoe from the community.

• Loss of trapping areas • The prime trapping areas along the rivers and creeks close to Wawa Lake have been flooded.

• Loss of fishing sites • No more fishing is done in Bailloud Lake and along the river linking the Kanaaupscow River and Wawa Lake.

• Decrease of available resources • A lot of beavers, muskrats and bears were flooded by the impoundment of the reservoir.

• Loss of harvesting area • The waterfowl hunting area located along the river linking the Kanaaupscow River to Wawa Lake has been flooded.

Worsened navigation conditions/Delayed access to trapline • Existence of • Travelling on the reservoir was impossible during the few years Robert-Bourassa preceding and following the impoundment. Reservoir • Travelling on the reservoir was unsafe until about 5 to 6 years after the impoundment. It took time for the debris to be cleaned FG11)by the current. 5 Impacts According to Interviewees CH11 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts after the impoundment. It took time for the debris to be cleaned by the current. • The trapline users have to wait for a day or two sometimes for the wind to calm down before travelling on the reservoir, because in such a big water plan the waves are very big when it is windy. • It is impossible to travel on the reservoir in the dark because of the unreliable and unpredictable conditions. It is not like travelling on natural water plans that one knows well. • Three stumps, debris and floating islands represent navigation obstacles, more so when the reservoir level is low.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trail/Adaptation to ice conditions • It is dangerous to travel on the reservoir at night because of the obstacles sticking out of the ice and because of big cracks created by the fluctuation of water in the reservoir. • They made a snowmobile trail not going through the reservoir and built a camp for the travellers along it in order to avoid the bad (slushy) winter travelling conditions on the reservoir.

• Facilitated Access • Since it became safer to travel on it, to access the trapline by the reservoir became easier and less costly than by plane.

• Decrease of trapping activities for the years following the impoundment • The trapping activities decreased on the trapline during two years of the impoundment and the four to five years following it, until it became fairly safe to travel on the reservoir.

• Loss of income • The loss of the prime trapping areas in rivers and creeks close to Wawa Lake represent a loss of income for the trapline users and for the younger generations.

• Modified fishing sites • More pikes are fished in Wawa Lake because some of the fish from the reservoir manage to pass over the half flooded rapids into the lake.

• Decrease of fish (pike) consumption because of mercury • The trapline users limit their pike consumption because of mercury. FG11) 6 Impacts According to Interviewees CH11 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts mercury.

• Avoidance of impacted area • No fishing is done in the reservoir because of the fear of mercury contamination.

• Decrease of available resources • There are hardly any muskrats on the trapline since the project. • There are no more beaver in the reservoir area.

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas • Since the existence of the reservoirs, the geese fly further inland and more geese are found on the trapline. Geese hunting activities have increased a lot on the trapline. According to the interviewees, the increase of the geese population further inland would also be due to a natural cycle.

• Broken equipment • Four years ago the tallyman had broken a motor while travelling on the reservoir. The water level was low and he hit a still standing tree stump.

• Lack of consultation process • The project had been decided and done behind the people’s back and that is why they had to go to court against HQ and the government. The Crees have not been consulted and were not considered as they should have been. They had no choice but Communication to sign the JBA as the works were being done anyway. Process • Lack of impact studies on land use before the project • Studies on land use should have been done before the project and before the signing of the agreement.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The tallyman looked for two of them but he could not Renewal cutting (south find them. Joseph Pepabano believes that the people eastern part of the responsible for making the contract did not do the work trapline) and that they keep the money without doing the works. • The tallyman found a third site where renewal cutting was done but no moose were there and he does not FG11) see the interest of such a measure in this area as it is not suited for a 7moose habitat. was done but no moose were there and he does not see the interest of such a measure in this area as it is not suited for a moose habitat. • It helped for navigation, but clearing was done only in the eastern end of the water arm south of the portage Cleared tributaries (close and should have been done in the rest of the river to the valued portage also. area) • SEBJ did not informed any body about this mitigation work. • In 1989, HQ proposed to build a kind of dyke in order to impedes the fish coming from the reservoir to enter Wawa Lake, but the talks ended at some point and the Dyke works have never been done. HQ never came out with the plans and the project still at the same point. • The interviewees recommend to go on with this project. • HQ should have asked them where to do the mitigation measures and should have give them the contracts. It would have been more useful and would Comments not have been a waste of money. • Some mitigation measures were practically of no use because the trapline users were not consulted for their realisations.

FG11) 8 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • They could not trap all the beavers during the trapping out program as there were too many and many of them were drowned. Trapping out Program • HQ paid for the transportation and for the equipment required for the trapping out. • There are no more beavers around the reservoir. • It occurred after the impoundment had started and they could not save all the beavers trying to escape. Beaver Relocation Joseph was very sad to see baby beavers swimming Program behind the canoes, trying to escape. They brought some to higher ground but many lodges could not be saved. • More mitigation measures should be done on their trapline to compensate for the amount of land they have lost because of the flooding. They have lost major beaver harvesting areas from which they Other comments obtained income in the past. HQ should find ways to help them use the land. • Cree people should be more involved in all the mitigation measures that are going to be realised in the future.

Suggested Mitigation Measures • 1) To build goose ponds along the ex-Kanaaupscow River where geese and ducks were hunted during the spring before the project. • 2) To build a new portage, accessible by wheelchair. • 3) To do renewal cutting and cleaning of flooding debris (to be done every year) on the shorelines for moose yards, feeding areas for waterfowl, ptarmigan and rabbit. • 4) To build a dyke at the portage south of Wawa Lake in order to impede the reservoir waters (along with the pike coming from the reservoir) to flow into Wawa Lake if the reservoir level increases with the EM-1-A Project or any other project. • 5) To build shelters for emergency situations along the shores of the Robert- Bourassa Reservoir for the people travelling. • 6) To get a new motor to replace the one that was broken while travelling on the reservoir. • 7) To have a covered boat, a kind of ferry service for safe transportation on the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir. • 8) The trapline users already mentioned some works to be done to Apatissiwin Corporation such as moose yards, trails and boat routes.

FG11) 9 Corporation such as moose yards, trails and boat routes.

FG11) 10 Impacts According to Interviewees CH18 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Easier access and increased presence of non-Cree hunters • The roads to the dikes on the reservoir allow many non-Cree hunters to access the trapline. • The tallyman and other trapline users have an easier access by the road.

• Security concerns and modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non-Cree hunters • The trapline users still go to the trapline during the moose-hunting season (September and October) but feel it is dangerous because there are too many non-Cree hunters. It is to a point that the tallyman feels he should avoid going to the trapline. • Non-Natives feel resentful when they cross trapline users. Crees feel they are seen as if they were trespassing. Road to the dikes on La Grande 3 • Limited access to goose hunting areas on the reservoir shores Reservoir • The roads to the dikes on the reservoir are blocked with locked gates and therefore the trappers cannot go to the shore by truck where goose is very abundant.

• Loss of beaver trapping areas • The area where the road has been built was a very resourceful area for beavers. Now, they are gone.

• Easier access and loss of control of the tallyman • The tallyman feels that since the road was opened, anybody can go trapping into his territory whereas the tallyman and the other appointed trappers were supposedly the only ones authorised to trap beaver. • Cabins were damaged and equipment has been stolen from campsites.

Lack of information • Communication • The CH18 tallyman was not informed that the trapline would be process flooded. Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

Plantation and seeding in • The tallyman thinks that this as a good measure. borrow pits

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• Build a cabin on Kauskatikakamaw and on Mintischiminan lakes.

• Clean up and transform the gravel pits into goose ponds.

• Re-slash and clean the snowmobile trails.

• Allow the access to the trappers through the roads to the dikes. Unlock the gates. Impacts According to Interviewees CH18 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts

• Loss of land base and water plans La Grande 2 • Loss of the Griault River area on the northern border of the trapline. Reservoir

• Decrease of fish quality and quantity • The quality and quantity of fish has diminished in adjacent Lac de la Montagne du Pin. The tallyman attributes this change to the reservoir that connects to the lake through a creek.

• Loss of beaver resources • As the Pachano brothers, former tallymen of CH18 and CH19, used to trap together in both traplines, they have less beaver to share since CH19 has been heavily flooded (67%). The beaver resource dramatically decreased on CH18, following the construction of the La Grande 3 dikes. For many years, there was hardly any signs of beaver on the Reservoir trapline. Still today, there are no signs of beaver on the shores of the (outside the reservoir (on CH19), an area that was very resourceful prior to the trapline) project.

• Increased pressure on resources/ Loss of trapping potential • Due to the decrease of beaver resource on CH18 following the impoundment of La Grande 3 reservoir, combined with the presence on CH18 of the displaced trappers of the flooded CH19 trapline, the trapline users had to stop trapping beaver from 1995 to 2002 to let the resource reproduce. Impacts According to Interviewees CH20 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base • Near one fourth of the trapline has been flooded, corresponding principally to the major trapping areas.

• Loss of trapping resources • Ever since the impoundment of the reservoir, the beaver has disappeared from the trapline. All the good areas along the rivers have been flooded.

• Loss of resources • Muskrat has been driven away from its habitat. There are no more on the trapline. • Grouse population has decreased since the rivers have been flooded.

• Limited access to the trapline • The access to the trapline by snowmobile is compromised La Grande 3 because La Grande River doesn’t freezes-up. Reservoir • Flooding of burial site • The burial of a tallyman’s child has been flooded by the reservoir.

• Unsafe navigation conditions • The navigation on the reservoir is still hazardous. There are many stumps and in the reservoir, large land pieces are rising to the surface.

• Decrease of fish quality • The fish is unhealthy in the reservoir and in the affected water bodies.

• Aggrieved feelings • The tallyman misses the areas that have been flooded.

• Easier access and increased presence of other users • Other Crees and non-Cree hunters easily access the trapline Transtaïga Road through the road. • Lack of communication • The tallyman wasn’t aware of some mitigation measures done on his trapline. Moreover, he doesn’t know how they are helping Communication him. process • The tallyman didn’t receive any information about the impacts related to the impoundment of the reservoir. Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • According to the tallyman, the type of plants used is not adequate to recreate a habitat for ptarmigans. He thinks Seeding in borrow pits that the type of seeding used was a big mistake. There would be more ptarmigans if the SEBJ had seeded another kind of willow. • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure. Moreover, he Net fishing area doesn’t fish in the reservoir or affected areas.

• The tallyman doesn’t know how the mitigation measures General comment are helping him.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • After the impoundment of the reservoir, the tallyman Fibreglass canoe received a fibreglass canoe from the CTA. After all this years, he’s needing a new one.

Suggested Mitigation Measures • Make a portage from Gavaudan Bay until a lake farther inland. This would allow the tallyman to go to his campsite by boat.

• Open a snowmobile trail where before there was a traditional trail.

• Maintain open the snowmobile trail from campsite #1 to Lake Tilly by cutting the overgrown vegetation. Impacts According to Interviewees CH21 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Flooding of campsites • The campsites located along the river linking the La Grande Rivière to Tilly Lake and along the Laforge River and its enlargement were flooded.

• Flooding of valued areas • The valued lake trout fishing area located in the enlargement of the Laforge River was flooded. • The valued campsite and lake where the grand-father used to live has been flooded. Impoundment of La Grande 3 and Flooding of birth sites • La Grande 4 • The tallyman’s birth site which was located on the shore of the Reservoirs enlargement of the Laforge River was flooded by the LG-4 Reservoir. • The tallyman’s sister birth site which was located at the temporary camp #17 was flooded by the La Grande 3 Reservoir.

• Flooding of burial sites • The burial site which was located on the shore of the enlargement of the Laforge River was flooded by the La Grande- 4 Reservoir (the ones that have been identified in addition to other ones, before their time).

Decrease of available resources • Robert-Bourassa • Many beavers, bears, caribou and moose were drown by the Reservoir (not impoundment of the reservoir because it was done during the on the trapline) fall and winter. (Probably occurred also for La Grande 3 and 4).

• Loss of fishing sites • Many fishing lakes have been flooded by the two reservoirs, notably the walleye fishing lakes on the western part of the trapline. (No walleye were found on the eastern part of the trapline). Existence of La Modified fishing activities and fish consumption due to • Grande 3 and La mercury Grande 4 • No fishing is done by the trapline users into the reservoirs as Reservoirs they were warned about mercury. • The trapline users almost do not eat pike anymore as they are mainly found in the reservoirs. • The fishing activities have been relocated to unaffected lakes. Impacts According to Interviewees CH21 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts

• Loss of harvesting areas • The two goose hunting areas along the Laforge River and the river flowing between Tilly Lake and the La Grande Rivière were lost.

• Loss of trapping areas • No beavers are found around the reservoir shores.

• Increase of available resources • The geese gradually migrated further east since the mid ‘50s, and it seems that the presence of the reservoirs inland would have intensified this phenomenon.

• Concerns about the reduction of income for the full time trappers • The flooding of parts of traplines represents a loss of income for the trappers who make a living out of the resources of the land.

• Loss of river access to trapline • It is no longer possible to reach the trapline by the canoe routes.

• Worsened snowmobile travelling conditions • The trapline users had to make a new snowmobile trail not passing on the La Grande 4 Reservoir to reach camp #21 because of the bad travelling conditions on the reservoir. • Ice piles-up along the reservoir shores because of the draw down. • It is dangerous to get stuck in the slush as water flows over the ice of the reservoir, flowing through the cracks of the broken ice.

• Worsened navigation conditions • The tributary mouths of the bays along the reservoirs are blocked with wood debris and tree stumps are lying in the water, blocking the access the shores. • The navigation conditions were particularly dangerous during the five years following the impoundment. • The portage of the canoe route going to Tilly Lake from the La Grande-4 Reservoir is sometimes inaccessible because of the wood debris blocking its access. The trapline users keep cleaning the area but the dead trees keep coming with the water level fluctuations.

• Increased expenses related to equipment Impacts According to Interviewees CH21 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Big canoes are needed to travel on the reservoirs because of the big waves when it is windy, while smaller canoes are used for the inland water bodies. • Restricted access to trapline • Some parts of the trapline are accessible by canoe only when the water level is high in the La Grande 3 Reservoir, due to debris blocking the access to water arms. • Wood debris block the access to the portage along the canoe route passing on La Grande 4 Reservoir going to Tilly Lake. • Facilitated access to trapline (new access road) • The trapline has been easier to access since the construction of the Transtaïga Road. • The tallyman who is a seasonal worker can go on the trapline anytime, even for just a week-end.

• Easier access and increased presence of other users • A negative impact of the proximity of the road is the increased traffic on the trapline. Many outsiders (mainly HQ workers from La Grande 4) come to fish in Tilly Lake.

• Increased presence of other users and messing up of the trapline • Outsiders coming to fish on the trapline leave a lot of garbage. Transtaïga Road • Easier access and increased pressure on resources (not on the • Because so many people are fishing in Tilly Lake, the trapline trapline) users are concerned about the fact that the lake may be fished out. • The Transtaïga Road became a hunting corridor for caribou hunters. Too many caribou are killed according to the tallyman and some carcasses are left almost untouched by the road. • The problems with the caribou hunters come from individuals going to hunt without a guide.

• Easier access and increased presence of other users • Hydro-Quebec workers come to fish in Tilly Lake by the old winter road, using 4-wheelers. • Caribou hunters from the Mirage outfitting camp come along the old winter road to hunt even if they do not have a permit to hunt in this area. They represent a nuisance for the trapline users. Impacts According to Interviewees CH21 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Debris left behind • Gas drums were left around the locations of workers’ camps around Tilly Lake. They were cleaned by the trapline users four Construction or five years ago during a clean-up program. Period • Tilly Lake is becoming polluted, the water not being as clear as before, notably because of the old gas drums that were floating in it. • Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • The information sessions that took place prior to the project were not sufficient. The interviewees say that they did not know much about the project. • The trapline users learned that their trapline would be flooded when someone showed them a map of the projected La Grande Information 3 Reservoir. Process

• Mistrust created by a deficient communication process • The interviewees assert that they were given many promises which were not fulfilled and they think that the same thing will happen with EM-1 and Rupert.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Cleared tributary mouth (Wapusukatinastikw • They do not have comments as they do not go there. River)

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • It was not a good thing to do. It would have been better to relocate the beavers, specially for the Robert-Bourrassa Reservoir. • The trapping out did not last enough time, it was done only during the fall (for the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir) preceding the impoundment and it should have been done Trapping out Program over 3 to 5 years before the impoundment in order to be efficient. • Some trapping out was intended by two or three families before the impoundment of La Grande 3 Reservoir but it was not enough to trap all the beaver that had to be trapped. Relocation Program • When they were told about the program the impoundment (Robert-Bourassa and La had started and it was too late to relocate the beaver. Grande 3 Reservoirs) • They should have been told four or five years before. • The interviewees consider that the compensations for the impacted trappers were not sufficient and that HQ should Compensation Program do more for the people who lost their source of livelihood, notably finance the accessibility of the land.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To clear the tributaries mouths along the reservoirs shores for navigation. • 2) To be provided with big boats and motors to access the inside lakes around the reservoirs. Impacts According to Interviewees CH28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of resources • Since the impoundment of the reservoir, there weren’t any signs of beaver in the area. John and Eddie Pash stopped trapping.

• Loss of trapping areas • The impoundment of the reservoir has flooded the most resourceful area for trapping, along the Vincelotte and La Grande Rivers.

• Unsafe navigation conditions • The tree stumps and the debris in the reservoir endanger the navigation. • When the water level is low, the debris in the reservoir block the navigation routes. The tallyman has to make a long detour in order to access his harvesting areas.

• Unsafe snowmobile travelling conditions • The water level fluctuation creates crevices and air pockets under the ice that represent a clear danger for the trappers when travelling by snowmobile. La Grande 4 • The ice on the reservoir is often very slushy because of the Reservoir water level fluctuations.

• Flooding of birth and burial sites • The burials of the tallyman’s grandmother and sister have been flooded by the reservoir. • Eddie Pash’s and his daughter birth sites have been flooded by the reservoir.

• Decrease of fish quality due to mercury • John and Eddie think that, in general, the mercury in the reservoir has affected the fish. They see difference in its quality in comparison to the period before the project. They argue that pike was the most affected and white cysts were visible on this species.

• Modified fishing activities due to mercury • John doesn’t fish in the reservoir anymore. He did for a certain number of years until the studies about mercury were released. He feels that people were fooled by the fact that the fish were bigger in the reservoir with lot of fat but “at the time they discovered about the mercury, for some people it was almost too late”. For instance, Eddie’s uncle was forced to stop fishing because he has reached the maximum level of mercury in his blood. Those that have lower levels of mercury can continue fishing, says John Pash. Now, the mercury level is going down as it’s washed out but John is concerned about the possible Impacts According to Interviewees CH28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts discovered about the mercury, for some people it was almost too late”. For instance, Eddie’s uncle was forced to stop fishing because he has reached the maximum level of mercury in his blood. Those that have lower levels of mercury can continue fishing, says John Pash. Now, the mercury level is going down as it’s washed out but John is concerned about the possible increase of its level with the development of new projects. • Easier access to the trapline • The existence of the route facilitated the access to the trapline. The tallyman relies on his truck to access his trapline or get close to it after the snowfalls.

• Increased presence of other users • The road facilitates the access to other hunters, both Crees and Transtaiga road non-Crees. With other hunters on his trapline, the tallyman feels and La Grande-4 that the management of the wildlife is harder than before. Dam road • The tallyman has lost some equipment at his campsite.

• Decrease of fish quality • The fish quality has decreased in all the reported fishing sites outside the reservoir. According to Eddie, the construction of the road and the increase of human activities in the area are the causes of this change. Security concerns • Transmission • The tallyman doesn’t use the transmission lines as a lines snowmobile trail because he doesn’t trust them.

• Unsafe navigation conditions • The navigation conditions have changed on La Grande River because of the reservoir. There are lot of debris and tree stumps all along the shores. La Grande 3 Loss of equipment • Reservoir • An irregular water level fluctuation carried away a 24-foot canoe (La Grande River that usually was stored high above the water level. section) • Worsen harvesting conditions • The La Grande River shores are difficult to access by boat because there are lots of debris and tree stumps. The tallyman can’t land his boat when he goes hunting along the river . Impacts According to Interviewees CH28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Lack of communication • John’s father didn’t know the extent of the upcoming flooding. He never thought that there would be a “massive flooding” of his trapline. Communication • For many years, people fished in the reservoir but later on, they process were informed about the mercury contamination and had to stop. For some people, the mercury concentration in the blood was too high and they had to stop fishing definitely.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • John Pash thinks that seeding willows in borrow pits isn’t really a good mitigation measure because in those open Seeding in borrow pits areas, geese used to gather. Instead, seeding only grass would be a good measure.

• The boat-landing ramp on La Grande River is too steep and the river has washed out the gravel put on it. When Boat landing ramps the water level goes down, boat ramp is off shore. • The boat ramp built near the dike QA-04 is not really used because it’s too exposed to the wind and is too steep.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The tallyman thinks that a trapping out program doesn’t have a positive outcome. On the long run, the result will be the same because the trappers don’t get richer. The Trapping out program income for the years to come is compromised because the resource is depleted. • A relocation program in unaffected areas would be more profitable for the wildlife and for the tallyman. Suggested Mitigation Measures • Build two boat-landing sites at both ends of dike QA-02 where they would be less exposed to the wind than the current boat ramp. • Rebuild the boat-landing site on La Grande River because it’s too steep.

• Re-seed grass instead of willows in the borrow pits.

• Open a snowmobile trail from the campsite to the “Pike Lakes”.

• Build a portage in order to have access by boat to a resourceful fishing site. Impacts According to Interviewees CH33 (VC1) Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of valued areas • Loss of a traditional net fishing and community gathering area at the first rapid.

• Loss of route on the La Grande river • Shallow areas are developing on the La Grande River in between the islands and the shore. • The ice condition is unstable and the tallyman and other users aren’t able to cross the river anymore or to circulate along the shore on snowmobile.

• Navigation conditions on the estuary and in the James Bay are affected • Shallow areas are developing in many places on the estuary, specially in between the islands and the shore. • Have to wait for high tide to go out in the bay. La Grande-1 generating • Continuous change of water level on the La Grande river station, dam and and increased flow spillway • The beavers lodging along the La Grande river died or moved out. • The erosion along the river banks has increased since the project. • An artificial beach had to be made on an inland lake because people can’t swim anymore in the river.

• Loss of resources • Fishing activities have been abandoned in the La Grande river and other affected water bodies. • The trapping area between the river shore and the islands is lost. The beaver died or moved away. • During the winter, can’t have access to fire logs along the shores because the ice is unstable or there’s not ice at all.

• Loss of land base • The trapline was partially flooded. La Grande-1 • Navigation conditions are affected reservoir • There are lots of logs floating around the boat ramps and difficult the access to the reservoir and the navigation on it.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees CH33 (VC1) Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Community relocation • The community was moved from the island of Fort George to the mainland and Chisasibi was founded on the trapline. • The pressure on the resources from the community members is felt by the tallyman. Small game is not as abundant as before since the community moved.

• Loss of resources • Since the dam was built, many people stopped fishing at the first rapid because they were worried about mercury intoxications. • The reservoirs in the hinterland have an impact on the geese flying routes and ever since, there are less geese along the James Bay shore. Robert-Bourassa dam and reservoir Loss of valued areas • (until 1994) • Burial site on the island upstream La Grande-1 is flooded. The whole island disappeared. • Loss of campsite on the island upstream La Grande-1.

• Travel on ice on the James Bay and La Grande river estuary were affected • Since the construction of the Robert-Bourassa dam, the ice condition deteriorated more rapidly on the river estuary and open water occurred earlier in the spring. • Ever since it was risky and almost impossible to cross the river on snowmobile. • Trappers were forced to go further into the bay on snowmobile to have a safe route to the northern coast of the estuary.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees CH33 (VC1) Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of campsite • A main campsite was destroyed when the road was under construction.

• Increased presence of other users and pressure on resources • Some community members have built their camps along the road without the approval of the tallyman. • The community members take the road everyday to go hunting small game and fishing on VC1.

• Loss of resources • The maintenance of the road destroys the beaver dams and lodges forcing them to move to other areas and prevents the Chisasibi road tallyman to trap them. (1974) • Facilitated access to campsites • Since five out of seven camps are along the road and now the access to them is easier. • Full time workers can go to their camps by the road during the weekends and bring their wives and kids. • The road allows to envision the development of new activities and new source of income with the creation of a family owned cultural camp.

• Alternative access route to the trapline • Since the road is opened, the tallyman barely uses the boat on La Grande river downstream of the powerhouse to go to his trapline. • The road facilitates the access to the bay. At the end of the Road from road, the tallyman and many community members leave their Chisasibi to the motor boats and is their starting navigation point. James Bay Transmission lines: LG 1- • The transmission lines offers a new snowmobile trail for the Chisasibi tallyman and other trappers. LG 1-Wemindji LG 1-Radisson substation

7 Impacts According to Interviewees CH33 (VC1) Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Lack of communication • The tallyman and the other trappers weren’t informed about the upcoming impacts on the La Grande river after the construction of La Grande-1 and Robert-Bourassa generating station and reservoir. Communication • The tallyman wasn’t informed that a portion of his trapline process would be flooded. Eddie Sam, his nephew, was informed. • The tallyman and the other trappers aren’t aware if and when the sandpit and the gravel used by Hydro-Québec will be cleaned.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Signs advertising • The tallyman saw them but didn’t have any comment on them. unstable shores • CH33 trappers don’t use the boat ramps right downstream and Boat ramp at La upstream a of the powerhouse, they rather use the one farther Grande-1 generating upstream, at the mouth of the Achazi River. However, this boat station ramp is not easily accessible due to the presence of logs floating on the reservoir and pilling up around the ramp. Spawning areas implemented on • The tallyman thinks that they’re not very effective. Achazi River

8 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• The tallyman would like the gravel and sand pits to be covered because they represent a clear danger when travelling by snowmobile since they’re close to the trails.

• The tallyman requests to ameliorate the waterfowl habitat along the shore of the James Bay, converting an overgrown area into a goose feeding ground as before.

• The users request that portages on Achazi River be cleared.

• The users request that the floating logs around the boat ramps on the La Grande-1 reservoir be collected.

• The users request that the road banks be ploughed at the crossing points with the snowmobile trails in order to level the difference.

• To open a snowmobile trail along La Grande river southern shore, upstream of the powerhouse.

• To finish the siding of the cabin at campsite #9.

• The tallyman requests that a channel be dug at the river mouth in order to have access to campsite #4 on the James Bay coast.

9 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss security of snowmobile trail/Adaptation to ice conditions • Crossing the La Grande River by snowmobile is not possible anymore due to the increased water temperature and the increase flow.

• Loss of easy snowmobile access to the campsite on the northern shore of the La Grande River. • The access to the main camp #4 has been highly complicated because of the ice conditions on the river, as it was uneasy to go from the Long Point Road.

• Decrease of available resources • Decrease of the spring renewal of beaver and otter population that flowed downstream with the spring thaw, since the presence of LG-2 Dam, and also since the decrease of beaver population inland due to the intensive trapping that took place before the impoundment of the reservoirs.

• Worsen harvesting conditions • With the variations of the water level in the La Grande River, the Existence of animals trail runs further away from the shore in higher parts. Robert-Bourassa Bears notably are therefore harder to see and to harvest as the Dam and hunters do not have their elevated point of view along the shore Reservoir anymore.

• Avoidance of impacted areas • The trapline users stopped exploiting the resources along the La Grande River for two years after the construction of LG-2 because they were concerned about the impact of the project on the riparian resources.

• Decrease in fishing activities and/or Fish consumption because of mercury • The trapline users completely stopped to fish on the La Grande River (that was the main fishing area before the project).

• Relocation of camps because of modified environment • It is after the construction of LG-2 that the trapline users built new camps along the Chisasibi Road. The location of activities moved south then from along the river to along the road.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of possibility to transmit traditional knowledge • Reginald Sam regrets not to have had the opportunity to go hunting with the elders along the La Grande River during the winter, in the once most valued hunting area, as he has always been told by the elders not to travel on the river for safety reason.

• Changes in diet • The interviewees relate the diet change to the important decrease in fishing activities on the trapline.

• Loss of equipment • Loss of a canoe left on the La Grande River shore that has been carried away by a sudden increased flow.

• Gain of new harvested resources • There is an increase of moose population on the trapline partly because the animals are forced west by the reservoirs.

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas • There is more open water earlier in the spring on the La Grande River since the project, so the trapline users can go to hunt geese by boat earlier in the spring.

• Health issue • The elders relate the breathing problems appearing in the community to the fog that is always present on the water since the project because of the warmer water. This notably increase the humidity in the air and makes the cold cutting straight through the bodies.

• Flooding of campsites • At least six campsites have been flooded along the La Grande River.

• Flooding of birth sites • At least six birth sites have been flooded along the La Grande Impoundment of River. La Grande-1 Reservoir • Loss of harvesting areas on the shoreline • The trapline’s most valued harvesting area along the La Grande River have been flooded. It is qualified as devastation by an interviewee. According to the previous tallyman, 80% of the resources were collected in this area.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Many bear dens and beaver lodges have been flooded because the impoundment started during the fall. • Very good feeding grounds for small game, notably the willows the ptarmigan feed on have been flooded along the river, along with open gravel used by the ptarmigan to digest on the northern banks of the river.

• Aggrieved feelings • The tallyman’s wife regrets the big trees that were cut along the river during the clearing done in the reservoir area. • The interviewees are sad when thinking about the valued area lost along the La Grande River and the tallyman’s son feel anger when thinking about the important sites of his family’s history that he will never know. They feel that this cannot be described in words.

• Loss of river access to trapline from the community • Since the construction of LG-1, the trapline is no more accessible by boat from the community.

• Worsened navigation condition/Increase expenses • The trapline users had to acquire at least four 24 feet motor boat in order to travel on the reservoir and carry the members of the increasing size of the Sam’s clan. Existence of La Grande-1 • Decrease of available resources Reservoir and • Decrease of beaver, otter, weasel, ptarmigan and rabbit Dam population on the trapline because of the impacts on their habitats along the La Grande River. • Significant decrease of lynx population following the decrease in rabbit population. • Muskrats disappeared from the trapline after the destruction of their riparian habitats.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The tallyman is aware that before LG-1, a lots of pikes were found in the mouth of the creeks flowing into the La Grande River but today there is no more pikes in these creeks’ mouths.

• Increase expenses • The trapline users have to buy more food from the store partly because of a diminution of the hunting potential.

• Changes in diet • According to the interviewees, diet change is related to the diminution in hunting potential on the trapline.

• Access road to the trapline • The road facilitates the access for the trapline users as well as for the children going to school. • Location of 17 camps owned by the Sam’s clan along the road (built in the early ‘80s).

• Road Access/ Increase presence of other users • Many week-end users are present on the trapline. The trapline is easily accessible for other community members as well as for people from Radisson. • The trapline users consider that the easier access to the trapline Chisasibi Road for the Sam’s clan is a positive impact while the easier access (1974) for other users is a negative impact. • There is a non-Cree camp on the trapline and the users are opposed to the presence of this camp.

• Road Access/Increase pressure on resources • More people have access to the trapline since the existence of the road and consequently some over hunting is done. • Few wild food is brought back by the trapline users to share with the community members as they hardly get enough for their own family.

• Road Access/Loss of control of the tallyman • The tallyman has difficulties managing the resources of the trapline because people are not always telling him before going to hunt on the trapline.

• Road Access/Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • Equipment was stolen from the camps along the road. The trapline users have to hide the snowmobiles in the buch for safety reasons. 7 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts trapline users have to hide the snowmobiles in the buch for safety reasons.

• Modified hunting activities due to an increased presence non- Cree hunters • The trapline users go to hunt away from the road area during the moose and caribou hunting season for non-Crees during the fall. They are considered dangerous hunters by the trapline users as they shoot anything, being desperate to kill something during their short presence on the land.

• Corridor hunting/New harvesting areas • Goose hunting is done in swampy areas south of the road and many goose ponds are under construction along the road.

• New possibility to transmit the traditional knowledge • The easy access to the trapline help for the transmission of traditional knowledge to the children going to school.

• Changes in diet • The trapline users consider that the change in the diet is related to the decrease of the hunting potential on the trapline, that is partly due to the increased numbers of users.

• Increased expenses • More food has to be bought from the store because of the diminution of harvesting activities partly due to the over exploitation of the trapline.

• Snowmobile trail for other users • Hydro-Quebec workers snowmobile riding club’s has a private trail, linking La Grande-1 and Robert-Bourassa powerhouses, that goes under the transmission line. The trapline users may be charged if they dare to use it without paying the fees. They Transmission are totally opposed to the presence of these joy riders on their line trapline. It is frustrating and insulting for them to have these rules imposed on them as they consider that the trapline activities are part of their economical activities and way of life.

8 Impacts According to Interviewees CH35 (VC3) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • The previous tallyman was not properly informed about the project and its impacts including the road. Communication • The present tallyman does not feel that he received enough Process information about La Grande-1.

• Lack of adapted information on subsidies and programs • They feel that the expenses related to the land use have increased since the project partly because they have the impression that they were always considered out of the subsidies and programs criteria. Subsidies and • The tallyman may have experienced difficulties in the Programs understanding of all the new programs as he has not been prepared to deal with such a system. Also, the other family members may not have paid enough attention to these programs to take advantage of them.

9 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Clear-cutting on La • It helped for navigation and for snowmobile travelling. Grande-1 Reservoir area • Nobody among the trapline users worked for it. Warning signs for unstable • They are not easy to see as they are too small and the b vegetation covers them. anks on the river shores Maintained access road to • The road is not well maintained as it is washed out in a boat ramp some areas.

• The ramp should be fixed; the area where they park the Boat ramp vehicles to put the boat into the water is not well done.

Protected habitats for the • Tallyman is aware of them, but the trapline users do not fish to spawn on fish there as trout is small . They have not been informed Necopastic River about the advantages to fish for trout there.

10 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • It helped in the beaver population renewal, but there still Two beaver relocations are less beavers on the trapline compared to before the financed by the CTA have construction of LG-2. taken place on the • The beavers were brought from the south and were put trapline in the early ‘90s. along the road, but it would have been better to put them away from the road, in less accessible areas. • After the first phase, the tallyman was asked about what he would like to get as mitigation measures. He asked for a canoe, a motor, a storage cabin and a trailer but never received anything. According to him, SOTRAC gave priority to the people having a reservoir on their trapline, but the tallyman considers that even if Robert-Bourassa Reservoir is not on his trapline, their most valued area Programs and Subsidies along the river was affected by the project and he should have received compensations. • According to the trapline users, they cannot get CTA subsidies for gas to go on their trapline because their land is considered too close to Chisasibi. • According to Janie Sam, to receive CTA subsidies only for one camp (#28) was not enough “for all the mess that has been done on our territory”. • About the subsidies for plane fishing trips on unaffected lakes as part of the Mercury Program after La Grande-2: The tallyman asked for it 5 or 6 years after the project but was told that there was no money for them; he paid his fishing trip himself and never bothered to ask again.

11 Suggested Mitigation Measures • 1) To fix the access road going to the tallyman’s camp #19.

• 2) To fix the access road going to the camps on Namapi Lake shore (to place back the culverts under the road). • 3) To build racks for canoes near the boat ramp.

• 4) To fix the boat ramp. • 5) To build a storage cabin with a lock (instead of having to hide their equipment in the bush). • 6) To build bridges on snowmobile and 4-weelher trails.

• 7) To fix and maintain the snowmobile trail.

• 8) To build goose ponds.

• 9) To do a fish farm for trout in the Necopastic River. • 10) To get outboard motor boats to travel on the La Grande-1 Reservoir (many of them are needed due to the increase in size of the Sam’s clan). • 11) To hire people from the trapline to do the works on it.

• 12) To do muskrats relocation or fix riparian habitats for muskrats.

• 13) To inform the Waskaganish people properly about the impacts they will have to live with if EM-1-A Project is done. • 14) To consult the tallymen to choose the location of borrow pits when doing a project, so that they could be done is good chosen spots for goose ponds right away.

12 Impacts According to Interviewees CH36 (VC4) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base • More than 40% of the land was flooded with the impoundment of the reservoir. (37,7 % of land and 6,4% of water plans). • The tallyman feels that he’s being pushed to one side.

• Loss of resources • The beaver doesn’t stay on the reservoir shores because of the water level fluctuation. • The number of beavers per lodge has diminished since the project. • The most resourceful area on the trapline has been flooded. Many beavers were lost with the impoundment of the reservoir even though there was a trapping out program. • All the fish are mixed in the reservoir and the tallyman no longer fishes in the reservoir because he’s concerned about the mercury.

• Loss of travelling route • The traditional navigation route on La Grande River has been Robert-Bourassa cut off with the construction of the Robert-Bourassa Dam. Reservoir, Powerhouse, • Worsened navigation conditions • The navigation on the reservoir is very dangerous because of Dam and dikes the stumps, rocks, and reefs underwater; nevertheless, the tallyman still navigates on the reservoir.

• Flooding of campsites • Many campsites have been flooded with the impoundment of the reservoir.

• Flooding of burial and birth sites • Four burials and four birth sites disappeared underwater .

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas • With the impoundment of the reservoir, the geese migration route has changed and now they’re very abundant in the reservoir area.

• Aggrieved feelings • The tallyman’s son feels “bad, sad and angry” because the trapping areas are now underwater.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees CH36 (VC4) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • New access road to trapline • Now, the tallyman easily accesses the trapline by the road.

• Road Access/ Increased presence of other users • There are numerous caribou hunters accessing the trapline through the road. • There are more than two-dozen non-native camps on the trapline. Route de la Baie- • Other Natives from Chisasibi access the trapline for hunting and fishing. James

• Road Access/ Loss of control of the tallyman • The tallyman thinks that now it’s impossible to know who is on the trapline. • Managing the resources on the land has become difficult with so many hunters on the trapline and the tallyman is concerned about the over killing of animals.

Lack of communication • Communication • The tallyman was informed at the last minute that his trapline would be flooded and he didn’t know to what extent. process

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Net fishing area on the • Only the non-Crees fish on the reservoir and it’s not used reservoir by Crees.

• According to Samuel Cox, this area is completely useless Multifunctional area and he wonders for whom it was cleared?

• This is a good measure because there are many of them, Seeding in borrow pits everywhere.

Boat ramps made by • The boat ramps built on the reservoir shores are very SEBJ useful to the trapline users.

River mouth clearing • Samuel Cox wasn’t aware of this measure.

6 Suggested Mitigation Measures • The tallyman would like to have better access ramps to the reservoir by improving those already existing because they’re too steep down and there’s lot of dead wood floating around them. • Build small bridges over the creeks on the snowmobile and 4-wheelers trail.

• Find a source of drinking water near Desaulniers Lake.

• Clean various areas from dead wood on the reservoir, on Duncan and Desaulniers Lakes. • Fix the access road leading to dike CH20 in order to have access to a small lake where there’s a good swimming place.

• Fix the road that was washed out by a creek between dyke CH20 and CH18.

• Build goose ponds and improve the waterfowl feeding areas.

• Clean up the shores of the river running into Duncan Lake from dead trees and stumps. • Open a snowmobile trail from Radisson to La Grande River along Kaminahikuschitin Creek.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees CH37 (VC5) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Loss of land base • The reservoir has flooded 23 km2 of land, corresponding to 1,5% of the total surface.

• Loss of resources • The beaver population has greatly been affected near the flooded area. Twenty years after the impoundment, the beaver is slowly colonising this sector once again. Robert-Bourassa • Avoidance of impacted area • Except for Samuel Kitty, the tallyman and the other trapline Reservoir users didn’t go back to the affected area.

• Modified fishing activities • Trapline users avoid fishing in Hélène, Kowskatehkakmow, Kachipinikaw, and at the eastern sector of Beaver River, because they think that the mercury from the reservoir has affected the fish and because their quality and quantity greatly decreased.

• Easier access to the campsites • The traplines users have relocated several of their campsites Route de la Baie along the road and therefore they’re more accessible all year James long.

• Loss of travelling route La Grande-1 • The construction of the La Grande-1 Generating Station at the first rapid blocks the traditional navigation route on La Grande Generating and Achazi rivers. Station • Debris left behind from the construction period • The tallyman came across big piles of wires left behind from the period of construction of the transmission lines.

• Concerns about the quality of resources • The berries grow bigger and faster under the transmission lines but the trapline users don’t dare to pick them because they Transmission might be affected by the high voltage of the lines. lines

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas • The goose-flying pattern seems to follow the transmission lines and therefore stop at the lakes along them where the trapline users have new goose ponds.

3 Impacts According to Interviewees CH37 (VC5) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Lack of communication • The tallyman wasn’t informed about the upcoming flooding. He Communication only knew about the transmission lines but didn’t exactly know process where they would be.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The tallyman and the other interviewees didn’t have any Reforested borrow pit comment about this measure.

Suggested Mitigation Measures • Dig a navigation channel between Anaskutasich Island and the firm land and in front of campsites 1 and 2. • Clear the goose ponds near the coast.

• Build a road from the James Bay Road until Kachipinikaw Lake.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC7 (CH39) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans • 8,9% (235,2 km2) of the trapline area has been flooded. 7,2% (190,3 km2) of land and 1,7% (44,9 km2) of natural water plans.

• Flooding of burial sites • A burial site located along the La Grande Rivière has been flooded.

• Flooding of birth sites • Two birth sites located along the La Grande Rivière shores have been flooded.

• Flooding of campsites • Many campsites have been flooded along the La Grande Rivière Impoundment of shores. La Grande 3 and La Grande 4 • Loss of trapping areas Reservoirs • Prime trapping areas where many small lakes, good for beavers, have been lost on the extreme western (LG-3) and extreme eastern (LG-4) part of the trapline.

• Decrease of available resources • Because the impoundment occurred during the winter, a lot of beavers were drowned and the beaver population decreased over the trapline. Many bears, otter, muskrat, weasel, etc… also died because of this. • The flooding of the natural habitats along the La Grande Rivière shores have affected the population of ptarmigan and rabbit which have decreased since then.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning ground • A prime fishing area has been lost all along the La Grande Rivière.

• Decrease of fishing and hunting activities • The variety of activities that were done along the La Grande Rivière decreased after the project since the habitats and Existence of La sources of food for different species have been destroyed. The Grande 3 and La trapline users are less busy than before on the river. Grande 4 Reservoirs • For the trapline users the worst impact of the project is not to be able to practice the traditional activities as much as before.

• Decrease of fish and water quality • The tallyman says that the fish quality in the reservoir goes down and down with the years.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC7 (CH39) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• The trapline users do not trust the quality of the water and of fish in the reservoirs because of many factors that may influenced its quality: The grease that may be used for the maintenance of the turbines that goes into the water, the dead fish remains passing trough the turbines staying into the water, the burial sites that were flooded meaning that human remains went into the water along with the unclean waters of all the stagnant ponds that were flooded.

• Increase of available resources • The trapline users see more bears today because bears are less scattered over the land, being confined to a more limited space because of the presence of the reservoirs.

• Loss of a travelling route • The trapline is no longer accessible by canoe from the community.

• Loss of safe snowmobile trails/Adaptation to ice conditions • The La Grande Rivière does not freeze downstream from the LG-4 Dam and the trapline users have to go far downstream from the dam to be able to cross it. • Facilitated access to trapline (new road access) • It is a lot faster to access the trapline since the existence of the Transtaïga road (6-7 hours by truck instead of weeks by canoe). This represents an important advantage for the trapline users who consider that it compensates for the negative impacts of the road. • It is possible to do more frequent return trips to the community. Make it possible to do more short trip to the trapline for him, his family, workers…

• Increase Presence of other users Transtaïga Road • A Cree from Chisasibi asked the tallyman if he could put a camp on his trapline. • Ten Non-Cree campsites are located on the trapline, close to the Transtaïga Road. • People from all over the world come for fishing and moose and caribou hunting.

• Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • During the caribou hunting season the trapline users avoid the trapline because they do not feel safe. Too many people are around shooting. 5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC7 (CH39) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts around shooting. • Equipment has been stolen from camps: Notably many guns, chainsaws and canoes.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC7 (CH39) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Disturbance from transmission lines noise • The noise of the transmission lines can be heard from almost anywhere on the trapline. It is not peaceful anymore. The tallyman does not enjoy as much as before to be on his trapline because of the noise that is constently heard from everywhere.

• Security concerns • The trapline users do not feel safe when they have activities in the proximity of the transmission lines. They were told not to have too many activities in the proximity of the lines, specially on rainy days because they can get shocks while holding a gun or Transmission another metallic instrument. lines (three 735 • Bobby Ratt got a shock once when he touched his vehicle while kV and one 315 hunting in the vicinity of a transformer, and the trapline users kV lines) also have seen lightening going from a transformer to their bush radio antenna. • They do not use the maintenance road under the transmission lines as a snowmobile trail because they try to stay away from the lines.

• Disturbance of wildlife • Birds like ducks, ptarmigan, loons and geese sometimes hit the lines while flying and fall dead. • Mistrust created by a deficient communication process • The tallyman was told that he would get compensations and he never received anything apart from bills in the mail and “something in his hair” (mercury). Communication • Lack of communication Process • Nobody was informed about anything and the tallyman knew about the road and about the flooding only when he saw it with his own eyes. • Inadequate Compensation Programs • The tallyman says that individual compensation should have been given to the impacted families. They have received compensation as a whole and the money has remained “down south”. • The tallyman feels cheated not having received anything for the Subsidies and exploitation and destruction of his land. Programs • Aggrieved feelings • The tallyman has a feeling of betrayal and injustice when he thinks about the significance of the land for him as a main source of income with which to support his family, about the damages that have been done to the land, and the way the trapline users have been treated by HQ. 7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC7 (CH39) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts damages that have been done to the land, and the way the trapline users have been treated by HQ.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • Nobody uses it anymore as it was broken-in to (the Boat ramp (storage place) storage place) and people have lost a lot of their on LG-4 Reservoir possessions. • They are useful. The trapline users use them with Non- Boat ramps on the La Cree customers when they guide for the Nouchimi Grande Rivière, outfitting camp. downstream from LG-4 • They use the boat ramps to go on the La Grande Rivière Powerhouse for moose and bear hunting or to access some creeks inside the land to check for beavers. Boat ramp by the QA-08 dyke on the LG-4 • They do not use it. It is used by Non-Crees. Reservoir • It must have been helpful for navigation for the people Cleared Tributaries on going on the LG-4 Reservoir, but the interviewees do not LG-4 go on LG-4 Reservoir. • Some of these works may have worked, but they did not use them. Cleared Tributaries • The trapline users navigate in the area of the cleared (along the La Grande tributary at the end of the canoe route going from Rivière) Katatipawasakakamaw Lake to the La Grande Rivière, but they were not aware that some mitigation works were done.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Slashing around a tributary of the La • They wonder why it was done. Grande Rivière

Suggested Mitigation Measures • 1) To renovate cabin #1 that is getting old, or to have a new cabin somewhere else to replace it because it is too close to the transmission line. • 2) To have a snowmobile trail linking Katatipawasakakamaw Lake and a small lake south of it where they hunt geese. (The trail has been already done by Freddie Ratt.)

8 • 3) To build a road going from camp #1 to the western side of the lake where the spring camp #4 is located. • 4) To build a cabin for goose and rabbit hunting. • 5) To build new cabins at the major lakes. • 6) To cut down the trees around the cabins for security because there are a lot of forest fires.

9 Impacts According to Interviewees CH40 (VC8) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Loss of travelling route along the La Grande Rivière La Grande-3 • The traditional travelling route along the La Grande Rivière is Dam henceforth unusable.

• Permanent loss of land base and water plans • The two reservoirs have flooded a total area of 562,7 km2 which represents 53,8% of the trapline area. 489,7 km2 (46,8%) of land and 73 km2 (7%) of natural water plans were flooded.

• Flooding of campsites • All the main campsites located along the main rivers Impoundment of surrounding the trapline were flooded. Robert-Bourassa (1979) and La • Flooding of fishing sites Grande 3 (1981) • Many good fishing lakes and rivers have been flooded. reservoirs

• Decrease of available resources • Many animals such as bears and beavers were drowned during the impoundment because it took place during the fall and winter when they had already built their dens and lodges.

• Disappearance of sturgeon • No more sturgeon is fished in the trapline since the project.

• No fishing on the reservoir due to fear of mercury problems • The trapline users do not fish in the reservoirs as they were warned about the mercury problems. • They only fished in the reservoirs for a short period after the impoundment, before the mercury notice.

• Loss of prime hunting areas Existence of • The prime hunting area for goose and ptarmigan along the La Robert-Bourassa Grande Rivière has been lost. and La Grande-3 reservoirs • Loss of prime trapping areas • Almost all of the western and eastern extremities of the trapline have been flooded and consequently so has much of the prime beaver trapping area. Very little of the trapping area is left.

• Decrease of available resources • The beaver population has decreased on the trapline due to the flooding of their natural habitats. • The ptarmigan population has decreased over the trapline due to the flooding of their natural habitats along the La Grande Rivière. 3 Impacts According to Interviewees CH40 (VC8) Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts to the flooding of their natural habitats along the La Grande Rivière. • Very few unaffected fishing areas are left on the trapline.

• Navigation obstacles • During the summer, because of the low water level in the reservoir, rocks and trees are raised out of the water and it is unsafe to travel by boat on the reservoirs.

• Adaptation to ice conditions • Travelling by snowmobile on La Grande 3 Reservoir is possible only after Christmas because the water does not freeze enough before that period.

• Facilitated access to trapline (new road access) • The trapline has been accessible by truck from the community since the presence of the road.

• Facilitated access to camps Access road • The two main campsites are located along the access road going from the going to the La Grande 3 Dam. Transtaïga to the La Grande-3 • Possibility to do many return trips to the trapline during the year. Dam (1977) (and • The trapline users do many return trips to the trapline during the Transtaïga Road, year, taking advantage of the week-ends, the school holidays not on the and the goose breaks to bring their family members. trapline)

• Increased presence of other users • Three hunting camps for HQ workers are located on the trapline along the access road. • Avoidance of construction area • During the construction period, the trapline users did not have access to the camps that were located close to the road area Construction and had to used the camps out of the construction area, along Period the La Grande Rivière.

4 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

Cutting for rejuvenation • The tallyman is not aware of this remedial measure.

Reforested borrow or • The vegetation is growing in the borrow pits. work area • The boat ramp located close to camp #5 is the most used Boat ramps and access by the trapline users. road to the ramps • The boat ramp located at the TA-24 dyke is used by the HQ workers but not by the trapline users. Cleared multi-purpose • The area was cleared but it is getting obstructed again site (access, navigation, with dead trees. fishing) • The trapline users have been there to fish a couple of time and they fished mostly whitefish in addition to pike, sucker Net fishing sites and burbot, but they do not fish much there as it is into the reservoir.

Float plane landing site • It is not used.

• The tallyman was not aware of the existence of the canal. He presumes that it was built when they were asked to Canal move away during the construction period and that it must have something to do with the inversion of the flow of Chakapash Lake.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The trapline users received a canoe and subsidies to Sotrac Subsidies move their campsite away from the construction area but it remained an inconvenient for them.

5 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To clear the goose hunting area.

• 2) To make a parking and a path to be able to get to the camps with a wheelchair. • 3) To do clear-cutting around the camps in order to protect the camps from the forest fires It is also that the camps have to be easily visible by the hunters during the fall for them not to shoot in the direction of the camps.

• 4) To built or clear-up a snowmobile trail.

• 5) To clean the tributary from the dead trees. The tallyman could not go through there last summer, on his way to Kukamas Lake to fish speckled trout with his children.

6 Impacts According to Participants CH1 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of access route across La Grande river • Lost of traditional winter access route to traplines on the north side of La Grande River because the ice is unsafe and can’t cross it at any point as they did before. • The ice condition deteriorates more rapidly on the river estuary and open water occurs earlier in the spring. • During the winter, the trappers have to go to the bridge at La Grande-1 or far out in the bay to have access to the northern shore of the river. The transportation related costs have increased markedly. • La Grande River can no longer be safely used as a winter trail to move along a west-east axis as it was possible before the project. • Many floating debris near the river shores over the ice endanger the travelling by snowmobile.

• Navigation conditions on the river estuary and James Bay are La Grande-1 affected generating station • Only at high tide the tallyman and community trappers can navigate on the river estuary and into the bay. Sandbars and vegetation are developing and blocking the navigation routes along the coast.

• Loss of resources • The beaver habitat is lost all along the river shores until La Grande-4 generating station. The lodges are flooded with the increased river flow and beavers are drowned or they move inland. • The cisco is disappearing at the river estuary. • The shores are unstable because of the erosion caused by the increased flow. Landslides could cause the loss of resources like spring water source. • Floating debris block the creeks where beavers have their lodges. The tallyman no longer can get to them by the river.

• Travel on ice on the James Bay and La Grande river estuary were affected Robert-Bourassa • Since the construction of La Grande-2, the ice condition deteriorated (La Grande-2) more rapidly on the river estuary and open water occurred earlier in generating station the spring. (until 1994) • Trappers were forced to go farther into the bay on snowmobile to have a safe route to the northern coast of the estuary.

• Lack of communication • The tallyman and other trappers weren’t informed about the changes to come on La Grande River. Communication • Tallyman and other users weren’t informed that the water flow would process increase on La Grande River so they could have trapped out some beavers on its shores before they drowned.

4 Participants’ Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

Signs advertising • The trappers didn’t see any of them on the northern shores even unstable shores though those are unstable shores too.

Boat ramp at • CH1 trappers don’t use this boat ramp though other Chisasibi La Grande-1 trappers use it when they go fishing on the river.

Channel between the peninsula and the island • Now the channel is almost useless because of lack of on Des Oies Bay dug out maintenance and can only be used at high tide. by SOTRAC • Tallyman and trappers have permanent access to the trapline and to the James Bay coast north of La Grande river. • Non-Crees access the trapline to hunt caribou on Category II land Road to Longue Pointe with a guide from a Cree outfitting camp. • Lots of community members access the trapline on a daily basis to hunt small game.

5 Suggested Mitigation Measures • Improve a section of the access road to the James Bay at the cross point of Guillaume River with a boat ramp allowing to avoid the rapids. • The tallyman would like the two gravel pits on the trapline to be transformed into goose pounds. • Add some gravel to the lake where the clear cut was done near the road to Longue-Pointe so as to transform it into a goose pond.

• The tallyman requested to ameliorate the waterfowl habitat at the head of Des Oies Bay.

• The tallyman requested that the gas drums left behind near Awichina Lake be removed and the area cleaned.

• Implement a program to keep the community and the trappers informed when the water flow is to be increased on La Grande river downstream of La Grande-1 power station.

Other concerns • The tallyman is concerned about the future impacts of the EM1-A project on La Grande river water flow. • He wonders how the diversion of the Rupert River will affect the water level on La Grande River?

6 Impacts According to Participants CH10 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of land base • The south-eastern sector of the trapline, considered as the family “grocery store” because of the abundance of resources, was flooded with the impoundment of the reservoir.

• Loss of the Kanaaupscow River as a known milieu • Temporarily loss of access route • For at least two years after the impoundment of the reservoir, it was impossible to navigate because there were debris and dead trees everywhere

• Avoidance of impacted areas • The Family stayed away from the affected area for at least two years.

• Loss of a harvesting area on the shorelines • The first filling of the reservoir reached a higher level than its currently level and the recoil of the waters left a “waste land” all along the shoreline. It was a loss of trapping areas. Still now, it’s impossible to hunt and trap along the reservoir shores because the shores are full of dead trees. As no vegetation grows, the beaver and the moose have no feeding along the reservoir shores. • Loss of sturgeon fishing sites along the Kanaaupscow River. Robert-Bourassa Reservoir • Loss of camps • Main camps from the 1960’s as well as many temporary campsites from the 1970’s located on the shores of the Kanaaupscow River and along the four trapping routes in the southern sector have been flooded.

• Loss of resources • Until the relocation program two or three years ago, the beaver was completely depleted in the reservoir area after the trapping out program. • The pike population decreased in the reservoir area but still the trapline users couldn’t consume it because of the mercury. • The sturgeons have disappeared from Kanaaupscow River and are maybe scattered in a larger region.

• Income reduction • During the construction of the dam and the impoundment of the reservoir, the quality of the furs of the animals living along its shores deteriorated and were sold for less money. The quality raised again to reaching a normal stage many years after.

4 Impacts According to Participants CH10 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Gain of new resources • The waterfowl has tremendously increased after the project, especially the geese. This is directly linked to the existence of large water bodies inland as are the reservoirs. • A new species has appeared in the region that has never been seen before, the sheenook salmon. Before the project they were found in lakes and in rivers east of La-Grande-4 and have now came down west of it through the reservoir, perhaps even until the La-Grande-2 reservoir.

• Worsened Travelling conditions • More than 20 years later, the navigation on the reservoir is still not very safe because of all the debris floating around. Some of them accumulate in three specific areas that the tallyman has identified. • When the water is low in the reservoir, some navigation routes become difficult because they are too shallow, causing delays. Some routes are avoided. • The snowmobile circulation on the reservoir is limited to the months of January and February, when the ice is really thick. Earlier, it is unsafe due to drawdown.

Loss of navigation route • Robert-Bourassa • The dam cuts the navigation route on La Grande River that many trappers followed from Fort George to Caniapiscau River. Dam

Road from • New partial access route Robert-Bourassa • The road allows the tallyman of CH10 to get close to his trapline power station to by truck and continue by motor boat, canoe or snowmobile. dams CD-01, 02 and 03

5 Participants’ Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Plane landing platform • The tallyman never used this platform, as it is located in a on the reservoir site not useful for the surrounding trapline users.

Cleared river mouth at • The vegetation is overgrown again and the tallyman thinks Amichinatwayasich Bay it’s completely useless.

Participants’ Evaluation of other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • All the beaver was trapped out in the area that would be flooded. A relocation program would have been considered more appropriate because the beavers were less numerous in the northern part of the trapline and still Trapping out program are today. • The trapping out jeopardised the trapping as for 5 or 6 years after, no beaver were found along the river going north east from the reservoir.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• Clean the “wasted land” all along the reservoir shores.

• Clear the Amichinatwayasich Bay area as well as the reservoir shores to make goose ponds and improve the hunting capabilities. • Improve the snowmobile trail from the road near the dikes across the CH9 trapline following the ancient road used by people from Caniapiscau area. This trail is accessible earlier than the trails on the reservoir considered not safe before January or February. • Improve the access from the reservoir to the inland lakes by doing some clear cuttings and more portages along the traditional canoe route crossing the trapline from west to east as well as along the Kapisichikamastikw River.

6 Impacts According to Participants CH13 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans • 42,1% (270,5 square kms) of the total trapline area have been flooded. 35,1% of land and 7% of natural water plans.

• Flooding of valued areas • The valued gathering area at the Kanaaupscow Post and the valued gathering place of camp #8 have been flooded.

• Flooding of burial sites • Many people were buried at the Kanaaupscow Post site that has been flooded. • The two burial sites located on the shore of a big lake on CH14 have been flooded. • A burial site located on the Kanaaupscow River shore between camp #2 and #8 has been flooded.

• Flooding of birth sites • Many people were born at the Kanaaupscow Post site that has been flooded. Impoundment of • Flooding of campsites the Robert- • Almost all the campsites of the trapline have been flooded. Bourassa • All the collective fishing sites along the Kanaaupscow River Reservoir have been flooded.

• Loss of prime harvesting areas on the shorelines • The prime hunting areas notable for ptarmigan, rabbit, waterfowl and muskrat along the rivers Kanaaupscow and the river linking this latter to Wawa Lake have been lost. • A lot of beavers and other animals such as bears that had already built their dens and lodges were drowned during the impoundment because it was done during the fall and winter.

• Loss of trapping areas • The tallyman’s father’s valued trapping areas have been flooded.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • Almost all the major fishing sites have been lost on the trapline.

4 Impacts According to Participants CH13 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Family livelihood jeopardized as trapping is very limited on the trapline • No trapping is possible on the trapline since the project and the trapline users cannot make a living out of it.

• Loss of river access to trapline, to camps and to harvesting areas • Accessing the trapline by boat from the community is no longer possible.

• Loss of the rivers as a known milieu • The trapline users were very cautious the first time they went back to the trapline after the impoundment, the territory looking very strange to them.

• Unsafe traveling conditions/Delayed access to trapline • The trapline users could not access the trapline for the two years following the impoundment because of the dangerous traveling conditions on the reservoir. • The trapline users have to wait for one or two days sometimes, for the wind to calm down in order to navigate safely on the Existence of the reservoir, delaying their activities. Robert-Bourassa Reservoir • Navigation obstacles • Trees stick out of the reservoir, especially when the water level in low. • It is unsafe to come back to the camp after dark because of the unexpected obstacles rising along the canoe route. • The navigation routes change over time, sandbars and obstacles appearing because of the constant decrease of the water level in the reservoir over the years. People have to learn new safe routes over the years.

• Broken equipment • The tallyman broke a motor hitting a sandbar in a shallow area. • Another family broke a motor in a shallow area close to the island of Amichimakuskach Lake. • The tallyman had to cut his net that got stuck in trees stumps when he tried to fish in the reservoir once.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trails/Adaptation to ice conditions • The location of old rivers and rapids have to be taken into account because the ice does not freeze hard and it melts faster in certain areas. 5 Impacts According to Participants CH13 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts account because the ice does not freeze hard and it melts faster in certain areas. • Snowmobile transportation on the reservoir is not safe before the end of December and after the month of March while it is safe from early November until May on natural water plans. • The variation of the water level in the reservoir create unsafe traveling conditions as the ice breaks when it drops down, creating unexpected obstacles.

• Modified fishing activities (including displacement of activities) • The trapline users go to fish in unaffected lakes on CH11 and CH14 in addition to the fishing done in the few unaffected lake left on their own trapline. • No more sturgeon is fished on the trapline. • The collective used fishing sites, used by the inlanders, along the Kanaaupscow River have disappeared.

• No fishing on the reservoir due to fear of mercury problems • The few times they tried to fish on the reservoir, they were not enthusiastic about eating the fish because they were concerned about the mercury. • No fishing is done in the reservoir because of mercury.

• Decrease of game/fish quality • The lake trout fished once in the reservoir were fat and were considered less healthy than in the non-affected lakes, maybe because they have lost their main feeding and spawning grounds. • The taste of the fish caught in the reservoir is different. • The few beavers trapped along the reservoir shores after the impoundment were very skinny as if they could not reach their feeding grounds.

• Modified hunting and trapping activities (including displacement of activities) • The trapline users have the permission to trap some beavers on CH11 in order to compensate for the lost trapping areas on their trapline. • The spring goose hunting is done at LG-2 as the snowmobile routes on the reservoir are unsafe at this period. • The great diminution of the trapping activities on the trapline since the project changed the duration of stay of the trapline users who spend less time on the trapline during the winter.

6 Impacts According to Participants CH13 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts users who spend less time on the trapline during the winter.

• Decrease of trapping potential • Very few beavers are found on the trapline today. • There are almost no longer any muskrats on the trapline since the impoundment (their feeding grounds on the shorelines of rivers having been flooded).

• Decrease of available resources • The ptarmigan population has decreased a lot on the trapline compared to before the project and consequently, so has the ptarmigan hunting. (Their rich feeding grounds along the Kanaaupscow River have been flooded.) • Less ducks are found on the trapline today. They stay for a very short period of time on the trapline because their feeding grounds along the rivers shores were lost.

• Concerns about water (and fish) quality • The trapline users are concerned about the quality of the water in the reservoir as the use it as drinking water. When it is very windy the water becomes yellowish and they fear that it is going to become even darker in the future as part of the flooded land comes up and this affect the quality of the water and the quality of fish.

Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • Communication • The trapline users did not received any information prior to the Process project on the impacts and on the project itself.

• Increase of moose population/Modification of hunting activities • A lot more moose hunting is done compared to before the Route de la Baie project. There is an increase of moose population further north James (not on and on the trapline because they follow the Route de la Baie the trapline) James, being attracted by the salt put on it.

• Presence of HQ workers camps (not on the trapline) • The increased presence of humans and their garbage attracted bears. Some of the workers also feed the bears so a lot of them Construction were seen in the camps areas. The tallyman asserts that the Period taste of bears caught close to camps is different than the taste of bears caught away from humans.

7 Participants’ Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • They know that there are fish in there but they are not interested in fishing them because it is in the reservoir. Cleared tributaries (on • The area is used as a portage when they go to fish in the border with CH14 Amichikukamaskach Lake, as it is impossible to pass through. The passage is blocked. Cleared area for • It is in the reservoir and the trapline users do not fish into spawning ground (on the reservoir. CH14) Plane landing site (on • They never used it. CH10)

Participants’ Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • They could not trap all the beavers because they were too Trapping out program plentiful, even if many families participated in it. • Relocation would have been better than trapping out. • They got one 24 footer canoe for two families in 1985. Sotrac Subsidies • Camp #9 was financed by the Sotrac.

Beaver relocation • Two beaver couples were relocated on the trapline five program by the CTA years ago, on lakes Kasakukamach and Kauschiskach.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To have a new cabin (already asked to Apatisiiwin). • 2) To have a covered boat, a kind of ferry for the transportation on the reservoir, bigger and safer than the barge they had a few years ago. • 3) To be provided with a kind of radar detecting the obstacles in the water, so the younger generation will be able to travel safely on the reservoir.

8 Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans • 44,8% (1017,6 square kms) of the trapline area has been flooded (37,9% of land and 6,8% of natural water plans).

• Flooding of campsites • Many campsites were flooded.

• Flooding of burial sites • All the burial sites located on the trapline were flooded.

• Flooding of birth sites • All the birth sites located on the trapline were flooded.

• Flooding of valued areas • The Campsite #1 area which was considered valued was flooded. • The Kanaaupscow Post area which was an area rich in resources in addition to being an important gathering place Impoundment of (even before the existence of the trading Post) was flooded. It Robert-Bourassa was also a beautiful area with waterfalls and islands where it Reservoir was good to stay, and would have been a prime site to build a permanent town. • The valued hunting area along the Weeyaskimiistuk River linking the Kanaaupscow River to Weeyaskimiish Lake was lost. The tallyman really misses this area. • The valued area surrounding lakes Weeyaskimii and Weeyaskimiish was flooded. • The rapids where the sturgeon used to spawn are considered as complete lost valued features. • The “canoe factory” island in Weeyaskimii Lake has been flooded.

• Loss of harvesting areas • The spring and fall hunting area for goose, ducks, and small fur bearing animals along the river Weeyaskimiistuk linking the Kanaaupscow River to Weeyaskimiish Lake is lost. Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of trapping areas • The trappers used to trap a lot of beavers along the rivers Kanaaupscow and La Grande but both rivers were flooded. • All the western part of the trapline which was a prime trapping area was flooded.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • The trout fishing area in the river Weeyaskimiistuk linking the Kanaaupscow River to Weeyaskimiish Lake is lost. • The two rapids in the rivers Kanaauspcow and La Grande where sturgeon used to spawn were flooded.

• Fur Income reduction • The impossibility of moving around the trapline during the construction period and during the years following the impoundment of the reservoir represented a loss of income from trapping activities for about 5 to 7 years. This was a very serious economical impact for the trapline users and the full time trappers like Steven Pachano had to go to trap on other traplines.

• Modified fishing activities • No more sturgeon fishing is done on the trapline. Sturgeon was fished in the rivers La Grande and Kanaaupscow before the project. • No net fishing is done in the reservoir during the winter because Existence of the tree stumps and wood debris are impossible to see under Robert-Bourassa the ice. Reservoir • More pikes are fished because the population increased in the reservoir but since the last five years there seems to be a problem with pikes as they are less numerous and smaller than before.

• Gain of new fishing areas • The tallyman fishes into the reservoir, the fish are big and fat and he likes that.

• Concerns about mercury problems • Some people fear to have mercury problems from having eaten fish from the reservoir.

• Breaking of equipment/Extra expenses Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • The tallyman has already lost three fishing nets while fishing into the reservoir, the nets getting stuck in tree stumps. • It is quite costly to buy a good fishing net.

• Worsened navigation conditions • The canoe travelling conditions on the reservoir are not easy when it is windy as the waves are high and the travellers have to deal with the currents of the flooded rivers.

• The fluctuations of the water level in the reservoir are dangerous for the travellers as the navigation obstacles changes and are unpredictable. • Because no clear cutting was done in the reservoir area prior to the impoundment, wood debris, trees stumps and rotten wood still lie today on the reservoir.

• Worsen harvesting conditions • The drift wood pushed in the water arms by the wind makes difficult the access to the shores to reach the inside lakes and rivers to look for beavers.

• Decrease of available resources • The reproductive area for ducks in the lakes Weeyaskimii and Weeyaskimiish area is lost. There are less ducks on the trapline compared to before the project. • The sandpiper ducks are hardly seen anymore in the trapline. • There are no beavers in the reservoir shores because the draw down disturbs them. • The beaver population decreased on the trapline compared to before the project. The population did not renew since the massive killing caused by the impoundment that was done during the winter. A gradual increase has been noticed only since the last couple of years. • There are less muskrats as they were also victims of the impoundment and the population did not renew.

• Change of game quality • The ducks that are hunted over the land are fat but they taste like fish since they feed on the fish from the reservoir. • The taste of otter, mink and marten has changed since they eat fish from the reservoir.

• Acquisition of equipment adapted to the travelling conditions on the reservoir. Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts on the reservoir. • Need for big motor canoes to travel on the reservoir. The trapline users switch to smaller ones to travel on the inside lakes and rivers.

• Worsened snowmobile travelling conditions • Because of the fluctuation in the water level, ice piled up along the shores as the ice breaks when the water level goes down and freezes again. So the shores become hardly accessible by snowmobile and one has to be very careful. • Water flows over the ice and it is dangerous to get stuck in frozen slush when the weather is very cold.

• Loss of safe snowmobile trail/Adaptation to ice conditions • It is impossible to cross the La Grande River downstream from the dams until a certain point as the temperature changes and the ice does not freeze enough.

• Delayed access to trapline • After the impoundment people were not allowed to travel or stay around the reservoir for about 5 to 7 years because the travelling conditions were too hazardous.

Existence of La Gain of new waterfowl hunting area • Grande-3 • Merganser that used to migrate now stays in La Grande 3 Reservoir (not Reservoir all year long. on the trapline)

• Facilitated access to trapline (new road access) • Since the presence of the Transtaïga Road which has reached La Grande -3 Powerstation in 1975, it is a lot easier to reach the trapline. • It takes a day to reach to the trapline instead of a month paddling. • It is possible to go on the trapline only for the week-end and that Transtaïga Road is convenient for the workers. (not on the trapline) • Cheaper access to trapline compared to the plane • If there was no road, the tallyman assesses that he would not manage to see his trapline so often because of the expensive cost of the plane trips.

• Facilitated trapline management for the tallyman • The road facilitates the access to the trapline for the tallyman and consequently it facilitates the displacement to do the beaver inventory. Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts and consequently it facilitates the displacement to do the beaver inventory.

• Easier access and increased presence of other users • A negative impact of having a road passing through the trapline is the fact that many outsiders come to hunt. • Five HQ workers hunting camps are present on the trapline area.

• Lack of consideration for the tallyman • The workers did not ask the tallyman before putting up their camps. Access road going north of • Easier access and loss of security, confidence and tranquility La Grande-3 • The trapline users feel that it is unsafe to leave equipment in Dam camps. • A canoe was stolen and other important trapping equipement.

• Corridor hunting/New harvesting area (for the trapline users and for others) • Hunting for any animals is done along the access road going north of La Grande-3.

• Broken/Stolen equipment • There was a lot of traffic during the construction period as thousands of workers were present in the area. Traps and other Construction important equipment were stolen from camp #13 and a Period temporary camp (#17) was burnt down by arson by workers present on the territory.

• Lack of involvement of the Land Users in the planning of the project • The tallyman deplores the fact that the knowledge of the Crees The Project about the land was not taken into account in the planning of the project as many mistakes could have been avoided. Impacts According to Tallymans CH14 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Lack/Deficiency of consultation Process • The recommendation made by the people during the hearings have not been taken seriously by the authorities.

• Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • Information that happened to be false was given at the time. Communication Such as the fact that the rivers flowing in the Great Whale River Process would not be affected, that the fish and wildlife would be affected only for 5 to 10 years and would return to a normal state afterwards, and that the maximum water level of the reservoir would not go down with the years.

• No compensation for the loss of fur income • An important impact of the project for he trappers was the loss of fur income due to the impossibility to access the trapline for Subsidies and many years during the construction period and also due to the Programs loss of prime trapping areas. No compensation were given for that and the tallyman thinks that it is unjust from the part of HQ to expect the trappers to pay their HQ bills.

Tallymans Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • It was poorly done because it was done during the winter Cleared tributaries (in March). It was impossible to cut the trees until the mouths around Bay ground and trees stumps had been left on site. Atikamakw • All the clearings that have been done during the winter were poorly done. Shorelines cleared for • The clearing was done during the summer so it was well spawning purposes in done, but new debris pile in there and it would be good to the reservoir, north of clear it again. Bay Cisapisipuyu • Clearing should be part of an on-going program. • It is useless to set the nets as they get stuck. The clearing was done during the winter so the trees were cut some inches above the ground and the stumps were left there. Net fishing area There is no place for the fish to spawn. downstream from La • The Robert-Bourassa Reservoir should have been done Grande-3 Dam (on VC-8) the way it the La Grande-1 Reservoir was done; To cut the trees in the reservoir area, flat the bottom with bulldozers and take the tree stumps out by burning them. Tallymans Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Cutting for rejuvenation on the northern shore of • Moose yard was well done. Moose go to feed there every the La Grande River, year and it is a moose hunting area. downstream from La Grande-3 • The boat ramp located on VC-8 on the southern shore of the La Grande River downstream from La Grande-3 Dam is used by the trapline users of VC-8. Eddie Pachano uses it sometimes. Boat ramps • The boat ramp located on VC-8, right upstream from the dam is well located, easy to access by the road and it is well done so one can put the boat in the water without getting stuck with the vehicle. It is used by the people travelling on the La Grande 3 Reservoir. • Two floatplane landing sites were built, one in the La Grande River downstream from La Grande-3 Dam and one in the Bay Chisapishoupeeyou, and they are useless. Floatplane landing sites It is a waste of money as they are built in the middle of nowhere, nobody lands there, and nobody knows about their existence. Tallymans Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • It was not a very good program. Instead of doing this they should have raised the water in the spring instead of in Trapping out program the fall, so all the hibernating animals would not have been drowned along with the animals such as muskrats and beavers which had already built their lodges. • Relocation is better than trapping out and should be the Relocation Program first measure to consider. • Some of the studies financed by Sotrac were nonsense, such as a $5 000 study that was done by an Sotrac Studies anthropologist to find where to put the camps, instead of asking the land users themselves where the camps should be build.

Sotrac Subsidies • Camp #13 was financed by Sotrac.

Suggested Mitigation Measures • 1) To clear the area north of the Bay Chisapishoupeeyou again in order to create a waterfowl feeding area. The clearing of tributaries should be an ongoing program as new debris are pushed in and new vegetation grows. • 2) To clear the rivers flowing into the reservoir in order to help navigation. Wood debris keep obstructing them. This should be an ongoing program. • 3) To open a navigation channel. • 4) To preserve the valued area of Ukau Lake for the future as it is a source of excellent drinking water. It is also a potential commercializing drinking water site, along with other lakes. • 5) To be provided with big containers to store material safely (for the use of many traplines), or with a safe warehouse. To put one at the La Grande-3 Dam would be good because it would be easily accessible from the traplines around. With about ten containers divided among the traplines the problem would be solved. • 6) To create a waterfowl feeding area. It is important to create waterfowl feeding and nesting areas to secure the return of the birds every year on the trapline as the natural feeding grounds have been flooded by the project.

• 7) To build portages in order to access non-affected lakes. Impacts According to Participants CH16 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans • 46,2 km2 of land and 7,5 km2 of natural water plans have been flooded by the reservoir.

• Loss of harvesting resources • For many years after the impoundment of the reservoir, the beaver was completely absent from the affected area. It only started recently to settle in the reservoir area. • The river valleys of the Kanaaupscow and Griault rivers where willows grown have been partially destroyed by the flooding. After the project, small game and other species have decreased in these areas.

• Loss of traditional route to the trapline • Since the project, it’s impossible to go from the community to the trapline by boat, paddling up the rivers.

• Facilitated access to the trapline • The reservoir facilitates the access to the trapline when the weather and the ice conditions are suitable for navigation or traveling on snowmobile. Robert-Bourassa • Unsafe traveling conditions/Delayed access to trapline Reservoir • The trapline users couldn’t access the trapline by canoe for at least three years after the impoundment because the reservoir was full of debris and the navigation was dangerous. • The trapline users can’t navigate at all on the reservoir when there’s a wind blowing from the south or the north-east. • Still today, the navigation on the reservoir is dangerous because there are many rocks, stumps, and dead trees that can cause an accident. • The trapline users have to wait until January before being able to reach their trapline by snowmobile because otherwise the ice on the reservoir is slushy or isn’t thick enough.

• Decrease of fishing activities and fish consumption because of mercury • The tallyman only consumes the whitefish from the reservoir. Other species are unfit for consumption because of mercury intoxication concerns or because some specimens are too fat and look unhealthy.

• Relocation of camp because of modified environment • The campsite on the reservoir will have to be relocated in the near future because the shores are eroding and it will probably be destroyed. The distance of the campsite to the shoreline is half the distance shorter than when it was built. 5 Impacts According to Participants CH16 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts be destroyed. The distance of the campsite to the shoreline is half the distance shorter than when it was built.

• Partial access to the trapline • The tallyman and other trapline users take the road until the dam where they leave their truck and continue by boat or Route de la Baie- snowmobile. James and road to Robert- • Increased presence of other users Bourassa dam • Non-native caribou hunters and fishermen normally access (outside trapline trapline CH16 for their activities. Hunters waste the meat boundaries) because they leave parts of the carcass in the bush while others shoot caribou and leave them untouched. • Lack of information • The tallyman knew about the project when the construction companies were ready to start the work. Communication • He was surprised to see the Route de la Baie-James because process he wasn’t aware of that. • He didn’t know how his trapline would be modified by the reservoir.

Participants’ Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

No mitigation measures were done on CH16

Participants’ Evaluation of other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The tallyman asserts that this measure is not effective. A relocation of the beaver out of the area to be flooded is more suitable because the resource can regenerate in other areas instead of killing them at once. The tallyman Trapping out program also thinks that at the time, the decision was rushed and before flooding that they didn’t have enough time to think about it. • The trapping out program started too late and the trappers didn’t have enough time to trap all the animals. Many of them died drowned.

6 Suggested Mitigation Measures • Build at least five cabins on the eastern sector of the trapline in order to save this land by exploiting and managing the resources available. • Open wider trails for the big snowmobile that will allow people to carry big loads of material. • Make an airstrip in a flat area that was ravaged by a forest fire. This will allow the plane to land there instead of landing on the ice.

• Repair the old cabin (# )

• Build a new cabin away from the reservoir shores because they are eroding rapidly.

• Open a flyway for geese.

• Rebuild the portage done by Apaitsiwin with more enduring materials.

• Build a new cabin for geese hunting.

• Clean up the reservoir shores from stumps and dead trees.

• Build a shelter half-way on the reservoir route (outside CH16 boundaries) for trappers from other traplines. • Increase the transportation subsidies for extra trips for those tallymen having their traplines farther east to 75% of the plane fare instead of the 50% they receive now.

• Open firebreaks around the campsites.

• Receive more subsidies for transportation from Hydro-Québec because he can’t take full advantage of the road and CTA transportation program.

7 Impacts According to Participants RE1 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of the Eastmain River as a known milieu • Loss of many rapids, between the dam and flooded camps as valued area • Loss of river access to trapline and loss of a navigation route • Loss of fishing sites at three major rapid sites • Loss of bear hunting area at the rapids sites • Loss of one camp site on the Eastmain River Loss of a drinking water source, the Eastmain River • Impoundment of Loss of the Eastmain River shores as a important harvesting area • the Opinaca For rabbits, as there was none inland • Reservoir • For ptarmigan • For goose

• Loss of trapping areas along Eastmain River • Loss of trapping equipment when the water started going up • Not informed of when the flooding would start, how high the water would get: had to move their traps around three times within two weeks when the flooding occurred.

• Decrease of trapping potential for years to come • Decrease in quantity of beavers trapped • Income reduction • Delay of 10 to 15 years before the return of the beaver population in the reservoir area. The beaver not being active along the reservoir shores, the tallyman did not trap during three or four years in that area and then went into the Muskeg area were the beaver was more active.

• Unwillingly shared camp • The camp, not being used as much for trapping because of decrease of beaver in the area due to reservoir, the camp was taken over by non- Cree hunters. Existence of the Avoidance of impacted area and worsen navigation conditions • Opinaca The previous tallyman said he hardly used the reservoir as he was • Reservoir worried of the waves and of all the floating trees, also afraid to break his motor. Thus he did not explore the reservoir, by canoe or by snowmobile. Because of ever changing navigation conditions, people do not know what to expect and do not fell safe, mentioned the tallyman.

• Adaptation to reservoir ice conditions and loss of safe snowmobile trail • Unsafe snowmobile traveling conditions and dangerous ice conditions (cracking up, falling through); trees are sticking out of the ice. The shore is unsafe because of the accumulated trees and people who do not know tend to travel along the shores because of the wind, being afraid to go in the centre. It took two or three years for the tallyman to find the safest route on the ice. There is now a known trail in the centre of the reservoir where it is safer to travel.

4 Impacts According to Participants RE1 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts the safest route on the ice. There is now a known trail in the centre of the reservoir where it is safer to travel.

• Introduction of Sturgeon in the Eastmain River east of Opinaca Reservoir • Following impoundment of Opinaca Reservoir and the unusual raise of the water level in the fall of 1987, a raise reaching the level of the first rapid east of the reservoir, sturgeon came into the Eastmain River east of the Opinaca reservoir.

• Loss of river access to trapline and loss of a navigation route • Loss of natural shore line and canoe landing areas • Navigation obstacles • There was not enough water to travel in the reduced flow area prior to Reduced Flow on building of the weir Eastmain River • Loss of a drinking water source, the Eastmain River (downstream OA- • Increased difficulties to access camp site due to wider shores 11 Dam) • Loss of purpose using camp due to loss of harvesting area • Loss of the previous tallyman’s prime trapping area, after cut-off of river, there was less beaver

• No access to the James Bay Highway / Access to trapline for others since 1973 but not for the tallyman and family • Access to trapline limited through the Eastmain snowmobile trails 1980 • Access to trapline limited through the Eastmain Winter Road (1983) • Access and use of James Bay Highway and the AO-11 Access Road since the opening of the Eastmain Community Road in 1995 • After purchasing a truck in 1994-1995, and after the opening of Eastmain Road in 1995, the tallyman has been using the access road to OA-11 Dam to access his trapline. The Access road is also used during the winter when it is ploughed. If • Route de La Baie not, tallyman access trapline from RBJ by snowmobile. It was not James ploughed every year, but now with the EM-1 Project, it has been. Access Road to OA-11 Dam • Increased Presence of Other Users • The Highway brought in “lots” of people.

• Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non-Cree hunters • The tallyman states that he does not hunt moose in the fall as he feels it became dangerous due to the presence of too many non-Cree hunters.

• Increased Pressure on resources • Some Crees of everywhere, but mostly from Nemaska and Mistissini come through Route du Nord and James Bay Highway up to OA-11 Dam then on Eastmain River, hunting moose and beaver without asking the tallyman; also to access other traplines further east.

5 Impacts According to Participants RE1 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts Dam then on Eastmain River, hunting moose and beaver without asking the tallyman; also to access other traplines further east. • Cree hunters also come from Waskaganish for goose hunting in the reservoir at OA-11 Dam, while others from other communities come for moose hunting, fishing and trapping mostly downstream of the Dam in the reduced flow section of the Eastmain River. • Many non-Cree moose hunters come along OA-11 access road and hunt in the area: 14 of them along the road to Dam OA-05, + 12 or more of them use the 3 camps in the OA-11 Dam area.

OA-11 Dam and No comments. • Eastmain Spillway Loss of use of a camp site • Transmission Loss of use of camp located under transmission lines 6-7 due to the • Lines disturbance of CB radio caused by the line. Four 735 kV transmission line New access trail • running north-south Very occasional use back in the 1980’s of portions of lines by Cree • in 3 corridors (Lines visitors coming wintertime by snowmobile from Nemaska (Line 8) or 6,7,8,11) from Waskaganish (Lines 6-7).

• Tallyman’s authorization • The tallyman worries that the archaeological survey team from the early Archaeological EM-1 Studies, with whom he worked, maybe went to some burial sites Survey without asking him permission to go, as he would want them to do.

• Inadequate Compensation Programs • Frustration expressed by present tallyman on the fact that the affected tallymen were not properly taken into consideration and not directly compensated. • ISP and CTA programs, as compensation, are considered being too limited, coming with too much delays, not always adequate to solve situation encountered by tallymen. • Burden is on the tallyman to get his specific situation recognised as well as new or ongoing problems such as the travelling conditions to the Other comments trapline in regards to reservoir impact on travelling. He gives for example of a new problem, the general policy of Hydro-Québec on travelling expenses as experienced for the Sturgeon Study. Upon a last minute call René Dion from the CRA that came with a group in June. Who was to pay, the CRA or HQ ? The group used the camp, along with the generator, the tallyman had to cut wood and used his chain saw. The “props” were broken during the trip and gas was used. HQ and SEBJ said that they do not pay for “props” and the gas has still not been reimbursed.

6 Participants’ Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Clearing (for reconstitution of riparian habitats) • Previous tallyman saw it and mentioned it was a good job South of Eastmain River that had good result. along tributary • Eastmain Crees coming for moose hunting in the borrow pits

• Previous tallyman mentioned that the plantation worked well Plantation in fixed up What is called “a moose yard” Are the plantation done for borrow pit • goose ponds, for partridge or for moose ? West of Muskeg Substation, under 69kVLine + Road) • For what purpose are the renewal cuts done ? It seems that the renewal cuts attract moose. They are the ones that would be called “Moose yards”

• The tallyman mentioned that such seeding on the exposed banks should have been done to create a goose feeding and Plantation along Eastmain hunting ground. Yet if it had been done or if it is to be done, River in the reduced flow the tallyman suggests that an on-going clearing program section (not marked on map) should be put in place in order to clear out a walking trail on (No such work was done) the exposed banks for the hunters to reach the land. Such a program is done every 10 years in Chisasibi to cut-off the willows.

Net Fishing Area (PI-01) • Previous tallyman was aware of it but never used it

Multi-purpose areas • Present tallyman mentioned that the ramp is not located at (access, navigation) the right place in regards to the wind direction and that water HQ Boat Ramp at OA-11 covers up the boat ramp. He uses the Cree boat ramps Dam Clearing along south shore of the Eastmain Previous tallyman said he heard about it but never saw it River/Opinaca Reservoir

Navigation maps and No maps where provided, no navigation channels secured channel

7 Participants’ Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Did not have enough time to trap all the beavers; had only one fall to trap out. Also did not have enough equipment. Sotrac was Trapping out program paying only for the plane, not for the gas neither for the extra traps (1979) needed to do the needed intensive trapping. The program should have been done over two years prior to impoundment Good measure but not enough relocation was done and thus extra Beaver Relocation program trapping out had to be done prior to impoundment, which was (1979) costly for the trapper, and which compromised the next trapping year after impoundment Previous tallyman mentioned he had received no Sotrac subsidies SOTRAC or CTA Subsidies or material to replace his flooded camps. Previous tallyman mentioned that once the weir was built, he could navigate again in that section of the river with their motor boat Weir # 5 especially during the fall when the water is higher. Present tallyman says HQ should inspect the weir, that not enough maintenance is done

Suggested Mitigation Measures • Tallyman’s involvement • As it is the tallyman’s role to manage the resources and to monitor the changes on his trapline, the tallyman expects that, from now on, he will have the opportunity to monitor what is happening on his trapline and that, to do so, he expect having financial support as well participating in the Sturgeon Location Search Flights and in the 2nd Moose Inventory in order to see where the moose moved away following the Summer 2002 Fires. • Goose Pond Area • Suggests to develop a goose hunting area in the reduced flow part of Eastmain River with a 4-wheelers access road under the 6-7 transmission lines, and a trail that only 4-wheelers could use on the north shore of river all along from Weir #5 to OA-11 Dam (on VC35 trapline) • Goose pond area around Weir #5: wants HQ to open access road to Weir #5 for truck access (2 km missing) and to develop a goose pond area. (on VC35 trapline)

8 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of a travelling route • Necessity to take the plane or to wait after freeze-up to access the trapline (before the construction of the Eastmain Road in 1995).

• Navigation obstacles • Navigation on the Eastmain River within the trapline is limited downstream from weir #3 as many dried areas are found in that part of the river.

• Loss of landing areas • It is impossible to land on the Eastmain River where the water is Diversion of too shallow. Eastmain River Reduced flow • Loss of river access to trapline and to camps • No more access to the trapline by boat from the community. • Campsite located between the First Rapid (Gorge de Basile) and weir #3 are no longer accessible before freeze-up.

• Decrease of available resources • Muskrat, beaver and mink trapping has decreased along the Eastmain river and its tributaries as their population has been affected by the modification of their reproduction areas, affected by the reduced flow. • It took five years after the diversion for the beaver population to start to renew, but it never came back at its original state.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Fish population decreased in Eastmain River notably for sturgeon, pike, whitefish and walleye. • The decrease in bear population along the Eastmain River would be due to the fact that they have lost fishing spots to feed on. • Decrease in moose population along the Eastmain River because the vegetation they used to feed on has been modified. • Decrease of duck population along the Eastmain River, their feeding grounds being modified and because of the overgrowth of the vegetation along the banks, they have no open space to feed.

• Income reduction • A decrease of available resources on the trapline joined to a drop in fur prices represent an income reduction for the tallyman.

• Decrease of game quality • The previous tallyman noticed a decrease in fish quality into the Eastmain River during the years following the diversion. • Change in the taste of fish in the Eastmain River. • Decrease in moose meat quality, moose are less fat compared to the ones killed on unaffected traplines.

• Decrease in fishing activities • Almost no more fishing is done into the Eastmain river since three years after diversion, when the tallyman found that the fish were dry and skinny and that the fish nets were sticky after two days in the water.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds along the Eastmain River because of the reduced flow • Loss of at least 5 spawning grounds.

• Displacement of hunting, trapping and fishing activities • Due to the decrease quality and quantity of game and fish along the Eastmain River, the center of activities has been displaced to lakes Nistam Siyachistawach and Amiskw Matawaw.

• Changes in diet • As fish was important in the diet, the significant reduction of fishing activities is linked with a main shift in the diet. The interviewees associate this change in the diet with the health problems as diabetes. • A decreased availability of healthy game and drinking water sources is also considered as being in part responsible to the change in the diet and to diabetes. 6 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts sources is also considered as being in part responsible to the change in the diet and to diabetes.

• Loss of drinking water source into the Eastmain River

• Aggrieved feelings • For having lost the noise of the rapids of Gorge Conglomerate which was an important feature for the life on the land. • For having lost the accessibility to cherished sites. • For having lost a river that was a main source of life and of everything they needed to survive.

• Loss of access to valued areas • Some family valued areas on the western part of the trapline are accessed only by the trappers during the winter as the access is limited through snowmobile trails since diversion.

• Loss of possibility to transmit traditional knowledge • Loss of sites or loss of access to sites represent an impediment to transmit traditional knowledge, as how to forecast the weather from the noise of the rapids. Transmission of knowledge is intimately linked to living on the land and access the cherished sites as you have to live the things to get the knowledge.

• Changes in communal fishing activities • Significant decrease in the communal summer fishing activities in front of the community. This represent a loss of an important socializing activity.

• Road access/ Loss of control of the tallyman

• People from other communities hunt whatever they see along the road without informing the tallyman, even beavers. This represent a loss of control on the management of the resources for him.

• Access and use of the Route de la Baie James since the Route de la Baie opening of the Eastmain Road in 1995 James • Easy access to camp #16 and #17 by truck. • Elders appreciate having a camp close to the road in case of emergency. • Cheaper access compared to the plane. • Permits to do back and forth trips from the trapline to the community during the week-ends to get some supplies.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The trapline users share their camp with community members, groups of students or other groups such as the CTA who are willing to spend time on the land.

• Road access/ Increased presence of other users • There is a lot of activities around the interviewees main camp (hunters, campers, outfitters…) • The trapline users of RE2 have to count with the “km381” camp on their trapline that increased significantly the number of people passing on their trapline. • Caribou do not come anymore around the lakes as the road is crossing the area where they use to come and the increase of activities chase them away. • Non-Cree hunt moose along the Route de la Baie James and the Eastmain River. Since a couple of years they seem to respect more the limits of Category II lands.

• Road access/ Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • The users feel that it is not safe to leave equipment in the camps easily accessible from the road (fishing nets and stoves were taken from camps). • Changes in the resources along the road • The furs of beavers trapped along the road are often marked as “damaged” when they are sold as some of them have sores breaking the skin. This may be due to the pollution present in the waters and the environment surrounding the highway. • The beavers killed along the road are sometimes unfit for consumption or taste different. • The trapline users were told by the environmental officer not to drink the water from the lakes surrounding their main camp #16.

• Loss of income • The damaged beaver furs represent a loss of income for the tallyman.

• Loss of fish supply for the community • The previous tallyman along with other fishermen used to fish notably sturgeon and pike for the whole community around camp #23 island. Around 1975, he stopped fishing there after he noticed a change in fish quality due, according to him, to the construction of the Route de la Baie James. This represented a loss of fish supply for the community.

8 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Gain of a new snowmobile trail • The line right of way is sometimes used for joy riding.

• Loss of campsite • Campsite #13 has hardly been used since the construction of the transmission line because the proximity of the line was interfering with the radio frequencies. • Radio transmissions are affected by the transmission line. Transmission line (11th, 1988) • Concerns about quality of resources • Concerns about the porcupines which may be affected under the line • Users were told by the local environmental officer not to eat the blueberries under the lines, but they eat them the same. • The concerns about the quality of resources under the lines come from the fact that some animals like ptarmigans were found dead under the lines. • Presence of Hydro-Québec/SEBJ Workers • A storage place was destroyed across the river from the workers camp (for the construction of weir #3) and 40 to 50 traps along with winter clothes disappeared from there.

• Disturbance/Avoided area • The trapline users stayed away from the works area for about five Construction years, continuing to trap elsewhere on the trapline. They took period away the equipment from the camps located close to the works area.

• Equipment left on site • Gas drums and old batteries for machineries have been left on the land and the tallyman is concerned about their impact on environment and on small game.

9 Impacts According to Interviewees RE2 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Access and use of the trail from the Route de la Baie James since the opening of the Community Road in 1995 Winter road to • Allows to access camp #15 and the shore of the Eastmain River weir #3 by snowmobile.

• Lack of information on the works and their impacts • The interviewees consider that they have not been informed in a proper way about the works and their impacts and keep a feeling of frustration.

• Lack of consultation process Communication • The previous tallyman learned by accident, while being on his Process trapline in the works area that the Route de la Baie James would cross his trap line. • The trapline users have not been consulted about the location of the transmission line and they knew that it would cross their trapline only after the works had started. • Inefficiency of insurance program for stolen equipment • The interviewees consider that the insurance program for stolen equipment during the time of work was not working so well Subsidies and because even if they were ask to make a list of the their stolen Programs equipment during the construction of weir #3 they never received anything from that.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measures or Work Evaluation and Comments

• Moose come to feed along the river shores on the Seeding and planting on vegetation. exposed banks of the • It is impossible to walk along the shores because there Eastmain River is too much vegetation. • It helps for the navigation on the Eastmain River from Weir #3 on Eastmain the Route de la Baie James up to weir #3 and permits River (1983) access by boat to the camps of this section of the river.

10 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measures or Work Evaluation and Comments • The tallyman agreed at the time with some measures proposed to him by the SOTRAC (a trail along the Eastmain River and goose ponds), but these measures Programs and Subsidies have not been done. • The programs and subsidies dedicated to the tallymen and the trapline users should be better adapted to their needs and take account of their insights.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• #1) To clean-up the trapline from the remaining gas drums and batteries left on it after the last clean-up program (the sites have been mentioned to the clean-up program representative).

• #2) To build a new log cabin to replace camp #15.

• #3) To fix a 4-weelher and snowmobile trail from the Route de la Baie James to the camp #15, following the old winter road going to the weir #3 (the tallyman had already been asked by the SOTRAC if he wanted something done to access the river area, he asked then for that trail that was never done). This trail would help a lot to enhance the use of the trapline as he sometimes has problems travelling on the Eastmain River during the winter.

• #4) To build goose ponds.

• #5) To fix a 4-weelher trail to reach the Amisk Matawaw Lake shore (from a gravel pit).

• To be informed by the workers maintaining the Route de la Baie James about the destruction of two beaver dams, every fall, close to their camp #16, so they could trap the beavers instead of loosing them.

• To inform the tallyman concerned when any works are done on his trap line, about any resources that may be destroyed or affected, so he can make enlightened decisions for the management of the resources.

• To have gates along the Route de la Baie James where there are trails or roads going inland in order to better manage the activities on the trapline.

• To have generators and wells for the camps.

11 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• To clean-up an old firefighters camp and its sewage hole located close to km 372.

• To have the list of their “recommended mitigation or remedial measures” on a different map than the “Cree Land Use After the Project” map because the tallymen willing to present their proposed mitigation measures to some entities are not necessarily willing to expose details on their land use.

12 Impacts According to Participants RE3A Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts • Loss of fishing site and spawning ground • A spawning ground for whitefish and walleye and a community use fishing area for sturgeon, walleye and pike has been dried out around the islands facing the mouth of the À La Pêche River. • Fishing sites and spawning grounds have been dried out in the À L’Eau Froide River. No more fishing is done on it since two years after diversion.

• Modified fishing activities • The fishing activities on the Eastmain River are subjected to navigation conditions and almost no more fishing is done during the summer. • Net fishing on Atachikami Lake is subjected to the variation of the water level because navigation is not possible on the lake when the water level is too low.

• Changes in the communal fishing activities • The communal fishing activities held in front of the community during the summer months significantly decreased in importance. • The community members rather go to fish in the Bay than in the Eastmain River during the summer.

Modified access and use of community sites • Diversion of The First Rapid which was a communal fishing site is used only by a • Eastmain River couple of tallymen today due to the difficulty of access and the Reduced flow perception that the fishing is not so good over there anymore. • The communal ciscoes and whitefish scoop fishing site on the À L’Eau Froide River is not use anymore because of the difficult access by boat due to the reduced flow on the river.

• Decrease in fishing activities and/or fish consumption because of mercury • The tallyman share the perception with other community members that the fish coming from upstream the river carry mercury. He only fish the species coming from the Bay, and some people from the community just stopped eating fish from the river, or considerably reduced their consumption. • The interviewees assert that some health problems are linked to the fact that some people stopped or reduced considerably their consumption of fish that was the main source of food.

• Decrease of available resources • No more sturgeon and burbot are fished in the Eastmain River downstream from the First Rapid. These two species were particularly valued ones.

• There is no renewal of the beaver population by the beavers flowing down the Eastmain River during the spring thaw. 4 Impacts According to Participants RE3A Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts the Eastmain River during the spring thaw. • There is less geese feeding along the coast, their feeding ground being affected by the reduced flow. When the Eastmain River current was strong enough, it pushed out the salty water along the coast and it was fresh water that was present at the mouth of the creeks flowing into the Bay. With the reduced current, the salty water affects the feedings grounds. Moreover, the mud freezing to the ground and pilling up along the coast also affects the feeding grounds.

• Decrease of game/fish quality • Sturgeon fished upstream from the First Rapid are not very healthy.

• Modified trapping activities • Few beaver trapping is done around Atachikami Lake since the low water level impede the beavers to build their lodges around it because the water freezes to the ground.

• Worsened navigation conditions • Navigation on the Eastmain River is subjected to tidal action and to water level. It is hardly possible to navigate during the summer. The conditions are unstable as the navigation channel is continually subjected to changes due to sandbars expansion. • The tallyman is concerned about the future use of the river. He fears that in ten to fifteen years from now it will become impossible to navigate on the river.

• Loss of river access to trap line and to camps • The À L’Eau Froide River low water level impedes to reach the Atachikami Lake through it because many navigation obstacles due to landslides arise along it. • The camps along the À L’Eau Froide River are not used anymore since the diversion. • Necessity to take the plane to reach the Atachikami Lake area before freeze up until the construction of the Eastmain Road in 1995.

• Concerns for reduce flow in other water plans • The tallyman is concerned about the future state of the fish in Atachikami Lake.

• Loss of plane landing site • It is not safe to land on Atachikami Lake anymore, the water being too dark and to shallow to assess accurately the deepness of the water from the air.

• Loss of drinking water sources • In the Eastmain river the water is brown and muddy and there is more turbidity.

5 Impacts According to Participants RE3A Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts

• In the Atachikami Lake and in a small lake close to the mouth of the À l’Eau Froide River, the water is black and shallow because the streams and underground waters feeding the lake are not clear anymore.

• Decrease of water quality • A decrease in the water quality in the À L’Eau Froide River as been noted after the diversion by the fact that the rocks in the river became very slippery.

• Loss of valued areas • The À L’Eau Froide River is considered as a loss valued area. • The Eastmain River as it was before is considered as a lost valued area.

• Broken equipment • The tallyman has broken two motors on sandbars while traveling on the Eastmain River.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trails/Adaptation to ice conditions • Since the diversion the river water freeze to the ground and when the high tide comes from the bay the water flow over the ice and makes the snowmobile trail on the river slushy and unsafe.

• Road access/Increase presence of other users James Bay • Since the caribou hunting is allowed, no more herds of caribou are Highway and coming on the trapline, the hunters “blocking” their trail coming south. Transtaïga Road • Moose population is decreasing because more people are hunting them. (not on the Moreover the sexual balance is affected because non-Cree only kill trapline) males. • Decrease of available resources Less wavies are staying along the coast during the hunting season as • Existence of they fly more inland towards the reservoirs. reservoirs (not on Ptarmigan are scarce over the trapline as they stay more inland because • the trapline) of the presence of the reservoirs.

• Lack of information on the impacts • The interviewees have not been properly informed about the impacts of the project. They were only told that there would be a reduced flow in the Eastmain river, but did not know about the impacts on the quality of the Communication water and the modifications in fish populations and fish quality. Also, Process nothing had been told to them about the effects of the diversion on the other water plans such as Atachikami Lake and the À L’Eau Froide River.

6 Participants’ Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

Snowmobile trail (1979) and • Possibility to use the snowmobile trail and the winter road by Eastmain Winter Road snowmobile to reach the Atachikami Lake area. (1983) • Tallyman does not like the taste of the water, according to him it smells like Javex. Trapline users make the weekly trip to km Water treatment system 381 or to VC35 to get their drinking water. • A well was built close to the garbage dump, so the tallyman is concerned about the quality of the water on the long run and does not trust the water treatment system in Eastmain. • During the ‘80s, the tallymen were supposed to get compensation from Sotrac for broken equipment if it happened that they break motors traveling on the diverted river. The Subsidies and Programs tallyman complained once because he had break two motors on the river and he was answered that there was no money for that. • According to the tallyman, roads to access the tallymen main camps were among the works that have been promised by HQ Other comments before the construction of the Eastmain Road but that were never done.

7 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• #1) To build the road going half way to camp (or going the whole way if there is a gate ending it).

• #2) Road to go to the goose pond from km52 on the Eastmain Road.

• #3) Gate to control the access to the road going to the goose pond.

• #4) To make a goose pond in the gravel pit at km 43 close by Mantu Lake (outside the trapline).

• #5) To build a road from km 26 on the Eastmain Road to camp, to facilitate the access of the Eastmain River for the community members for fishing activities (people could leave their boats on the river shore and take them to fish upstream).

• #6) Bridge over the Eastmain River (would need the consent of the tallyman of VC32) to facilitate the access of the northern shore of the river and of the spring camps along the coast for goose hunting for community members.

• #7) To make a golf course.

• #8) The tallyman would appreciate to be informed about the old barrels that were left on his trapline by HQ during the times of work. A clean-up was supposed to be done by HQ last year, but he has not been informed afterward about the situation on his trapline. (HQ answer: The reports have been transmitted to the band council.)

• #9) To build a canoe landing site on the Eastmain River mouth, close to the bay, in order to be able to go out at anytime without being dependent on tides (would facilitate the fishing activities on the estuary and would also be safer in case of emergency).

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC20 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans, loss of landscape 2 2 • That flooded 363,4 km of the trapline superficies, 92,6 km of land and 270,8 km2 of natural water plan) in Lake Sakami area. For a total of 380,3 km2 of flooded land, 19,1% of the trapline superficies (5,3% of land and 13,8% of natural water plan) including Robert-Bourassa Reservoir.

• Worsened snowmobile travelling conditions • In some places like Sipanikaw Arm, there’s open water all year long and can’t travel with snowmobile. • The ice is very thin and unstable on Sakami Lake. Empty spaces form below it.

• Loss of trapping areas on the shorelines • There’s no more beaver on the Sakami Lake shorelines. It has moved inland, into the creeks.

• Loss of harvesting areas on the shorelines • Because of the dead trees along the shores, the tallyman can’t EOL river come closer as he used to do when he’s hunting on Sakami diversion Lake. Increased flow and water level Change to landmarks • in Boyd and • The tallyman was disoriented after the flooding. He couldn’t find Sakami lakes the common landmarks on his trapline.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • The tallyman can’t use his fishing net anymore in Sakami Lake, either because the bottom of the lake is full of stumps or his traditional net fishing site is now too deep. • He barely fishes in the Sakami Lake. • The fish specimens have greatly changed after the flooding; they’re skinnier. • The fishing sites along the shoreline of the lake are unattainable because of the dead trees. • The sturgeon spawning areas on the Sakami River are gone. • Can’t fish anymore on the Sakami River either because the current is too strong or there are plenty of dead trees.

• Worsened navigation conditions • The navigation conditions are affected on the Sakami Lake: “either you hit a stomp or the rocks” when going near the shores. • In some places of the lake, the water is too rough.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC20 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans, loss of landscape • Robert-Bourassa Reservoir (1979) that flooded some land along the northern border of the trapline that flooded 16,8 km2 of the trapline superficies, 12,6 km2of land and 4,3 km2 of natural water plan). • Loss use of a fishing site Robert-Bourassa • Loss use of a net fishing site at the end of the construction road Reservoir accessing Robert-Bourassa Reservoir, close by the Sakami River Mouth (where the tallyman use to set his nets) because it was not cleaned as Hydro-Québec said they would do for many years although that area was developed by Hydro-Québec as a net fishing area on the reservoir. It was cleaned last fall. • New access to the trapline • The access to camp #2 is easier because it’s located near the Transtaïga Road.

• Corridor hunting • The tallyman’s nephew usually hunts along the road.

• Increased presence of other users • For many years caribou hunters were hunting directly on the road. Now they go into the bush. • Many non-Crees have built their camps on the trapline, mostly Transtaïga Road near the road. Those camps are rented out in the fall to other non-Cree hunters.

• Loss of security • The tallyman has lost 3 outboard motors from camp #2.

• Changes of resources along the road • The tallyman assess that more beavers are moving near the road where the renewed vegetation is growing after some clear cuttings have been done. Other Crees or non-Crees can then shoot them. Transmission lines Gain of new snowmobile trail • (6, 7 (1979), 8 • The tallyman uses the transmission lines as snowmobile trails, (1979), and the particularly to access the eastern sector of the trapline. line going Chissibi to La-Grande 2)

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC20 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

Lack of communication • Communication • The tallyman thinks that even though he was aware of the process project, it wasn’t the case to everybody else in the community.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• The tallyman uses the boat ramp close by camp #2 and thinks that it’s a good measure. Boat ramp (2) and road to • The ramp further east is hardy accessible and not access ramps (2) useful because the hill is too steep and only 4X4 trucks can bring down their boat.

Cutting for Rejuvenation • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure on his (10 sites) trapline.

Reconstituted riparian • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure on his habitat (19 sites) trapline.

• The tallyman was never told about this measure on his Navigation corridor (2) trapline. Did not notice them.

Cleared multi-purpose • The tallyman was never told about this measure on his site (2) trapline. Did not notice them.

Reforested work area • The tallyman did notice it along the roads. The young (18+) vegetation attracts the beaver.

Cleared tributary mouth • The tallyman was never told about this measure on his (2) trapline. Did not notice them.

• The tallyman was never told about this measure on his One fish ladder trapline. Did not notice them.

Shore line cleared for • The tallyman was never told about this measure on his spawning (7 sites) trapline. Did not notice them.

7 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Trapping out program • The tallyman thinks that this was a good program. before the flooding

• The tallyman thinks that this kind of program could Beaver relocation benefit many trappers in the future, those that don’t program have anymore beavers on their trapline and those that have enough to relocate elsewhere.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• A creek on Sakami River near the Transtaïga Road has become a lake for the most part of the year. When it dries out during the summer, there are plenty of seagulls and crows that go there. The tallyman ask for a study to know exactly what those birds are after.

• The tallyman requests that a road be built from the Transtaiga Road until Kanichukamach Lake in order to have an easier access to camp #1.

• The tallyman would like to have a snowmobile trail from the one existing near Kanichukamach Lake, until Sakami Lake. This trail would be useful to VC21 trappers too.

• The tallyman thinks that installing a generating station where the bridge of the Transtaiga Road over Sakami River is would be a good thing in order to profit from all the water in the Sakami Lake.

• The tallyman requests that the shores of the Sakami Lake be cleaned up from all the dead trees.

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC21 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base and water plans, loss of landscape 2 2 • 43,5 km of land and 289,7 km of natural water plan in Lake Salami area. For a total of 333,2 km2, 10,6% of the total superficies of the trapline

• Flooding of campsites • Flooding of fishing camp #9.

• Loss use of campsite – Loss of a sturgeon fishing gathering place • As there is no more shores, the camp that was also a sturgeon fishing gathering place, is almost underwater, and not usable nowadays. “Only memories are left”.

• Loss of trapping area • Flooding of the trapping routes along Salami Lake shores. • Flooding of the beaver lodges around Deprès Lake.

Loss of plane landing site • EOL river • Loss of the plane landing site that was near by camp #6. diversion Increased flow Loss of landscape • and water level • Loss of the landscape along the shore of Salami Lake. Beaches in Boyd and and lakes have been overwhelmed. Salami lakes • Loss of boat landing sites • Loss of boat landing sites along Salami Lake shore because of the flooding of beaches and the presence of drift wood.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trails/Adaptation to ice conditions • Ice is less thick on Salami Lake and snowmobile trails have to be checked out. • The snowmobile trail going to camp #12 from the Route de la Baie James is unsafe.

• Decrease in fishing activities and/or Fish consumption because of mercury • No more fishing is done by the trapline users in Salami Lake because of concerns about mercury.

• Decrease in game/fish quality • No more fishing is done in Salami Lake by the trapline users because of a change in the taste and texture of fish.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC21 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts because of a change in the taste and texture of fish.

• Decrease of available resources/Modified fishing activities • There is hardly any sturgeon fishing on the trapline since the project, the sturgeon having almost disappeared from the traditional fishing sites.

• Concerns about water quality • The interviewees noticed a change in the taste and quality of the water in Salami Lake.

• Debris left on site • Gas drums found on the beach close to camp #13. • Other debris were also left further south around Mamakwasukamikw Island, a piece of equipment and a cable on a first site, and a big Hydro-Québec cable attached to a cement block that requires a big boat in order to be able to take it out. Another smaller cable was already cleaned up, but not this bigger one. • Although it was not implemented, they became aware that an agreement was done some 5 years ago with the Chisasbi people to clean-up the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir. No such agreement was ever done for the Opinaca Reservoir and the Boyd-Salami Diversion where all the wood debris along the shores need to be cleaned-up. The interviewees would want such a program to be implemented and recommend not using chain saw as it would get the water dirty.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC21 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • New access road to Salami Lake since the opening of Wemindji Road in 1995 • Possibility to access the trapline by boat or by snowmobile from the Transta_ga Road. • Possibility for the tallyman to do more back and forth trips to the community during the trapping season.

• Road access/Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • The trapline users do not leave material in camps because of fear of break-ins.

• Road access/Increased presence of other users • Crees and non-Cree hunters come to hunt along the Salami River and have camps in the area. Transtaïga Road (not on the Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non- • trapline) Cree hunters • There is less caribou hunting on the trapline since the Transta_ga Road has been reopened to the non-Cree hunters in 1994. The caribous hardly come south today because of the increased traffic on the road. • VC21 users also hunt moose but do not like to stay around the Transtaîga during the fall. If the opportunity raises, they will, but they usually wait February or March to hunt. There is moose all over the trapline, but there is more on the north border.

• Lack of consideration and respect for the food resources • The trapline users are shocked to see the fish remains left along the Transta_ga Road by non-Cree fishermen.

• Gain of new access trail • Possibility to access the trapline by snowmobile under the transmission lines from the Transta_ga Road.

• Easier access/Increased pressure on resources • There is a decrease in beaver population and consequently of the Transmission trapping potential close to the transmission lines, due to the lines (9th, 10th, presence of hunters using the trails under the transmission lines 12th) and trap or disturb beavers.

• Easier access/Loss of control by the tallyman • Loss of control by the tallyman on the management of the land for the sections of the trapline close to the transmission lines.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC21 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Tension and conflicts with other communities members who do not respect the trapline rights. • The new access through the transmission lines also became a cause of some changes in the land use, neighbouring trapline users trying to extend their borders until the transmission line limit.

Decrease of fish quality • Fregate • the reduced flow of the Salami River due to the Fregate diversion Diversion also affected the fish.

7 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • Not aware of it Cleared tributary mouth • All the Salami Lake shores should have been cleared of dead trees. Cleared multi-purpose site (access, navigation, • Not aware if it fishing) Reconstituted Riparian Habitat • Not aware of it

Shorelines cleared for spawning purposes • Not aware of it

Floatplanes landing site on Lake Salami Lake • Not aware of it (close be the camp #81)

Cutting for rejuvenation • Not aware of it

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• No trapping out program was conducted on the trapline. The water level rise was estimated less than what Trapping out program actually happened and “it would have been difficult anyway to trap out the shores”.

Sotrac subsidies • Subsidies for the construction of two camps (#13 and #14) were received in the 1980’s..

• Although goose are numerous inland, the trapline users do not hunt geese inland partly because there is no Spring Goose Subsidies subsidies to sent them inland as there is for the Coastal goose hunt.

8 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• #1: Gates on the Transtaïga at the junctions with the transmission lines, to control the access of the trapline.

• #2: To clear the whole shore of Salami Lake of dead trees that are there since the first project (concerns about mercury and navigation). • #3: New snowmobile trail from the Transtaïga Road to camp #12 and #13. Safe trail (related in part to the concerns about the ice conditions after the Rupert River diversion; this is a particularly important recommendation for the tallyman). • #4: Maintain and complete the snowmobile trail within the trapline.

• #5: Clean-up gas drums.

• #6 Clean-up pieces of equipment and cables left on site by Hydro-Québec

• Set regulation to control the access of the trapline and to have the power to prosecute people violating the trapline rights.

9 Impacts According to Interviewees VC22 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Disturbance during construction period • The trappers were surprised when Hydro-Québec used Construction detonations during the construction of the dikes. They felt that the Period noise disturbed the animals

• Permanent loss of land base and water plans, loss of landscape 2 2 • 61,7km of land and 124,4 km of natural water plan in Lake Boyd area 2 • For a total of 189,2 km of flooded land, 12,8% of the trapline superficies (4,4% of land and 8,4% of natural water plan) including Opinaca Reservoir

• Loss of camps • At least seven log camps were flooded when the diversion was completed. • The tallyman never received any compensation from Hydro Quebec for the flooded camps and was never told about the upcoming changes on the water level.

• Loss of trapping areas • Loss of at least two prime trapping areas EOL river • The beaver population on the shores of Lake Boyd and Sakami diversion Lake has decreased since the flooding because of the debris Increased flow along the shores. and water level • Because of unsafe ice conditions, the tallyman doesn’t trap in Boyd and anymore in the flooded areas. Sakami lakes • Loss of havesting area • The flooding seems to have affected the waterfowl too as there are less ducks on the trapline than before. The debris floating everywhere all along the shores could affect the vegetation that they feed on as it became scare along the shores since the flooding.

• Loss of fishing sites • Net fishing is almost impossible on Lake Boyd because the current is too strong.

• Loss of travelling route • The navigation conditions are affected in Lake Boyd and Sakami Lake. The current is too strong and trees are sticking out of the water. • Given the navigation conditions, the Lake Boyd and Sakami Lake act now as a barrier cutting the trapline in two areas. 4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC22 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts act now as a barrier cutting the trapline in two areas.

• The travelling conditions during the winter on Lake Boyd and Sakami Lake are altered because trees are sticking out of the water and the ice is unsafe.

• Flooding of valued areas • Two traditional family gathering areas were flooded • At least 4 burial sites lay now underwater.

• Avoidance of the impacted area • As recommended by his father, the tallyman abandoned the area surrounding Lake Boyd after the shores were flooded, yet the tallyman’s brother-in -law uses part of the impacted area. • The area near Sakami Lake was abandoned for winter activities because the ice on the lake is unsafe. There’s a space between the ice and the water.

• Debris left behind • Fred Weapenicappo saw a helicopter pad and some drums full of oil on Misiministiku Island.

• Increase of fish resource/ Decrease of quality • The fish in Lake Boyd is more abundant but doesn’t taste the same. Dead fish on the south side of La Sarcelle come through in Lake Boyd as well as the debris along the shores of Lake Boyd affect the quality of the water and the taste of fish.

• Aggrieved feelings by the flooding • The tallyman feels endangered by the current navigation and ice conditions on the Lake Boyd and Sakami Lake, and for this reason he has abandoned the use of some land base. He has concentrated his activities somewhere else on the trapline, especially during the winter time.

• Permanent loss of land base and water plans, loss of landscape • The southernmost part of the trapline has been flooded by the Opinaca impoundment of the reservoir. (2,8 km2 of land and 0,3 km2 of Reservoir natural water plan).

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC22 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • New potential access to the trapline since the opening of the Wemindji Road in 1995 • The tallyman has a facilitated access to the southern part of his trapline yet he rarely goes by road and does not access his trapline very often through that road, occasionally just to go and check.

Restricted access to the trapline from construction access road • La Sarcelle • The vegetation covers the construction access road from La Access Road Sarcelle to dikes 1-OA-33 & 2-OA-04 restricting the possibility to use it as an alternative access route to the trapline.

• Increased presence of non-Crees • The presence of non-Crees on the trapline is facilitated by the road. They go fishing in the La Sarcelle Control Structure area, on the south part of the trapline and they leave garbage.

• New access trail • The clearing underneath is used as a short distance route as snowmobile route • Possibly, other Crees from neighbouring traplines use the clearing as a snowmobile route, namely VC23 and VC18 735 kV transmission • Disturbance line • The transmission lines produces some noise and the trappers dislike it. • The lines also affect the CB radio

• Lack of communication • The tallyman wasn’t told that the diversion would flood some land and that he would lose some camps located on the shores of Lake Boyd. • The trapline users weren’t told about the blasting works when the dikes were under construction. • The tallyman and other trapline users weren’t informed about the Communication mitigation measures implemented on their trapline. They weren’t process aware of most of the measures.

• Lack of transparency • In the 1960’s, Hydro-Québec had two monitoring camp used for the Water and Fish Studies but Studies but their existence and purpose was never mentioned to the Crees, a situation the tallyman deplores.

6 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Measures and Works Measures or works Evaluation and comments

• The interviewees weren’t aware of this measure. In any Net fishing areas case, the water flow is too fast there to fish with nets.

• Fred Weapenecappo was aware of them but as explains Multifunctional area on the tallyman, that is where the current is the strongest Lake Boyd and thus there is too much current to use this area. • Fred Weapenicappo saw an area where they did some Cleaning of tributary cleaning of a tributary mouth and the river flow is good mouth enough. The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure. • The trapline users didn’t participate in the implementation of this measure, they weren’t hired to do Clear cutting around the this job on their own trapline. The shores were not Boyd and Sakami lakes cleared cut far enough and the raise of the water flooded trees that still stand there on the flooded shores. • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure and never Reconstituted riparian saw this implementation. Fred Weapenicappo saw the habitats implementation of this measure in one area and observed that some geese stopped there for feeding. • They were aware of the plane landing spot but according to them, it’s good only for helicopters in the Plane landing spot summer or in the fall because the water level changes. Generally, the plane doesn’t sea land on the reservoir but on lakes instead. • The measures not being useful to the trapline users, Other comment they feel Hydro-Québec “pocket money for the measures just flows down the river”.

7 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The tallyman and Fred Weapenicappo participated in Trapping out program this project in 1978-1979. The program gave them time to empty the lodges before the flooding. • They received some material from SOTRAC to build camp #1 back in 1985, a camp that is not located in the flooded area. The tallyman mentioned that he did not receive compensation for the seven flooded camps.. Compensations • The trapline users have been receiving a subsidiary for gas from CTA of about $600 annually. • The plane fare is still provided by CTA or Band Council of Wemindji.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• In compensation for the flooded camps, the tallyman requests that Hydro-Québec gives him a shack capable of accommodating 2 families near campsite #3. He adds that since Hydro-Québec earns money from his trapline it could give him the material to build it himself.

• Fred Weapenicappo would like also to have some material to build a cabin.

• Fred Weapenicappo would want Hydro-Québec to connect electricity to camp #1.

• The tallyman requests that the access road from La Sarcelle to dikes 2-OE-04 and 1- OE-33 be maintained so it could be used.

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC23 Source of Identification / Comments on Impacts Impact • Navigation obstacles • Many segments of the river are completely dried out due to the permanent reduced flow of the Opinaca River. • Loss of main navigation route. Numerous obstacles along the river and dried out segments. Long portages (on of about 1 km, another one of 3 km) to do over the dried out segments. Necessity to have 2 motor boats, one on each side of the longest dried segment

• Reduced water level in nearby lakes and rivers tributaries of Opinaca River/Worsened navigation conditions • Development of shoals and banks in lakes, tributary rivers and creeks. • Navigation is almost impossible on the lakes near Km 440 of the James Bay Road and especially on Kachistasakaw Lake because of development of shoals • Deadmarsh (Pikuatamaw) Lake is almost completely dried out.

• Loss of a Sturgeon spawning ground on the Opinaca River • The sturgeon spawning ground is now dried up Reduced flow • Loss of prime fishing areas on the Opinaca River on Opinaca • The migration route for the sturgeon is now cut because some river River segments are dried out.

• Decrease of available resources • The sturgeon population has decreased all along the river.

• Decrease of fish quality • Fish specimens are skinny and smaller than before and than the fish in other sectors. • The river water is white tainted and more turbid, affecting the sturgeon.

• Loss of harvesting areas on the shorelines • The beavers abandon their lodges during the winter because the water level decreases and their lodges remain exposed above it.

• Worsen harvesting conditions • Because of the erosion, there are lots of logs floating along the river banks and blocking the access to the creeks and to beaver lodges.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC23 Source of Identification / Comments on Impacts Impact

• Aggrieved feelings by the diversion of the Opinaca River • Feelings of sadness and devastation caused by the reduced flow of the river. • The exposed banks sadness the tallyman’s wife. • The tallyman of VC23 asserted that the tallymen with traplines downstream of the reservoir share the feeling of resentfulness because they weren’t taken into account when the diversion was done. They weren’t informed about upcoming impacts on land scope and resources. • Tired of constantly have to ask for cleaning the debris and repair the damages done. Disappointment as nothing is done to repair the damages to the land.

• Loss of drinking water source • Loss of water sources as they can’t drink the river water anymore because of increased turbidity.

• Snowmobile travelling conditions • Because there’s no more flow immediately downstream the dam, the river is completely frozen all winter long.

• Debris left on site • Drums left all along the Opinaca River shores.

• Permanent loss of land base on the easternmost part of the trapline • New harvesting areas • They only started to hunt the geese some ten years ago as they pass by over the trapline probably towards the inland reservoirs. Opinaca Seven spring small hunting areas were identified, all of them being Reservoir located on the western part of the trapline. The flooded area from the Boyd-Sakami diversion became a goose hunting area. No fall goose hunting is done on the trapline, the family hunting then along the Coast.

• Facilitated access to trapline Access road to • The tallyman accesses more rapidly his trapline. La Sarcelle and Route de la • Road Access/Increased presence of other users Baie James

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC23 Source of Identification / Comments on Impacts Impact • The road facilitates the access of non-Cree fall moose hunters to the trapline where they establish their camps. • Crees of Wemindji and of Eastmain, as well as non-Cree come and fish pike in the Opinaca Reservoir and are seen along the La Sarcelle road. They do not fish downstream of the dam on Opinaca River. • Non-natives from Chibougamau and from all over the world come for snowmobile trip, dog sled expeditions, trail skiing.

• Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • The tallyman had various break-ins into his camps and lost valued material: a 4-wheeler, 3 boats, one 30 hp motor, a gas stove, traps, and a tent.

• Increased pressure of non-Crees on the resources • Non-Cree enter the trapline to hunt moose, partridge and to fish.

• Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non- Cree hunters • The tallyman postpones his own hunting because of the presence of too many non-native hunters during the fall moose hunting season.

• Debris left on site • All along the Route de la Baie James (drums, white crane and other debris)

• Ditches and Mounds (from road construction) • The ditches are 40 to 50 feet deep and represent a clear danger as someone could fall inside when travelling on a stormy day. • Nothing grows inside the ditches or on the mounds. • Trappers need to make a detour to avoid the ditches and the mounds, lengthening their route to the trapline while using a snowmobile or a 4-wheeler.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC23 Source of Identification / Comments on Impacts Impact

• Cleared right of way used as short distance routes • Tallyman and other trappers use the clearings for a short distance during the winter to travel inside the trapline. Transmission • Snowmobile race “Le raid des braves” uses the clearings under the lines line close to the road as a route to cross the trapline. (# 6, 7, 8 and • Concerns about the use of chemical defoliants 11) • Possibility of using chemical defoliants under the transmission lines worries the tallyman and other trappers.

• Debris left on site • Drums full of oil were buried in the trapline, others are scattered along the river bank. • Debris left on site of the ancient Hydro-Québec camps were now cleaned up. The old Hydro-Québec construction camp was also dismantled and its debris buried on site Construction Period • Loss of material related to Hydro Quebec personnel working in a camp • Hydro Quebec workers are presumed to have taken an 18 ft boat and the traps inside it while cleaning the old Hydro camp.

• Lack of consultation • The tallyman wasn’t informed about the diversion of the Opinaca River, the construction of the Route de la Baie James and the road to La Sarcelle. • In the 1970’s, the tallyman never was consulted about the “project” and the works to be done on his trapline.

• Lack of information on the impacts • The tallyman and other trapline users weren’t appropriately Communicatio informed about the impacts to come with the Opinaca diversion. n process

• Lack of communication • The tallyman feels that for the past 30 years he repeatedly had to ask for information regarding the projects underway or to come. • The tallyman would like to impart to Hydro-Québec the responsibility to inform the land users about the studies being conducted on their trapline and any other maintenance work and project that will have an impact on the region.

8 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works

Measures or works Evaluation and comments

• The weir does not work properly • The water level fluctuate and the beaver lodges are dried out. The tallyman lost some beavers. • Further upstream of it, is where the sturgeon can survive Weir #9 adequately because incoming water from adjacent lakes. • Its repairing is a big concern for the tallyman. He would like to be informed and wonders how the water level in the river will be affected. • Doesn’t keep an appropriate water level. According to the tallyman, ever since the spur upstream the second rapids was built, paddling on the Opinaca River has become difficult. Downstream of this remedial work, the tallyman wasn’t able to use his motor boat for the last Spur on Opinaca River two years because the water level is too shallow. They had to use two boats, one on each side of the segment comprised between the dike and the rapids downstream because it was too difficult to portage over more than 3 km.

Seeding and planting • They didn’t work as supposed. They’re all gone because on exposed banks the water level of the river is too shallow.

• The tallyman didn’t have any comment about that when Renewal cuts asked.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• The tallyman requests that a section of the winter road joining the access road to La Sarcelle be repaired over a distance of about 2 km (north of Opinaca River)

• The tallyman request that an access road be open on the south shore of Opinaca River in order to by-pass the dried-up rapids on the river.

• In the La Sarcelle road area, the tallyman wants Hydro-Québec to install gates to control the access of fall non-Cree moose hunters to his trapline and camp area. • The tallyman want to be kept informed about other studies that have been done or are underway, notably those related to the sturgeon. • The tallyman requests that the sections where he has to portage on the river joining Bernou Lake and Pikutamaw Lake, be cleaned because the erosion causes many trees to fall down. • Requested that the open ditches and the mounds of gravel be cleaned up and removed.

9 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• Finish the cleaning work of oil drums (dig out the drums) and the mitigation measures.

• Clean the debris along the Route de la Baie James.

• The tallyman requested to fly over weir #9 and be informed about the repair works that will be done. • Receive information about the utilisation of chemical defoliants under the transmission lines.

• Arrange the dike on the Opinaca River differently so as to keep the water level.

10 Impacts According to Interviewees VC24 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Permanent loss of land base • Half of the trapline (mainly the central and western part of it) was flooded by the impoundment of the reservoir.

• Loss of traveling route • The traditional traveling route crossing the trapline from west to east has been flooded.

• Loss of campsites • At least 16 campsites have been flooded.

• Flooding of burial sites • Three burial sites were flooded.

• Loss of a gathering place • The pool area on a La Grande River arm where trapline users and people of other traplines gathered. Impoundment of Flooding of valued areas • La Grande-3 • Among others, the most valued area, the pool area on a La Reservoir Grande River arm, was flooded. It is a loss for its scenery, for the sound of its waterfalls and its good swimming sites, overall for the good living conditions in this area, especially in the spring time.

• Loss of harvesting areas • Beaver trapping areas have been flooded. • Valued muskrats trapping areas have been flooded. Almost no more muskrat trapping is done over the trapline. • Valued mink and lynx trapping areas have been flooded. Almost no more trapping is done for these animals on the trapline today. • Moose hunting areas have been flooded. Fewer moose hunted since. • Bear dens have been flooded.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning ground • Many fishing sites have been lost with the impoundment of the reservoir.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC24 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of security of snowmobile trails • For 20 years after the impoundment, dead trees and debris emerged from the ice, making the reservoir unsafe for snowmobile traveling.

• Adaptation to ice conditions • For the last couple of years, the trapline users have started to travel by snowmobile on the reservoir but have to wait until after Christmas for the ice to be thick enough.

• Loss of navigation routes/Avoidance of the impacted area • Since the impoundment, the trapline users avoid travel by boat on the reservoir as it is considered as unsafe because of the debris and dead trees emerging in the water.

• Decrease of trapping potential for the years to come/Decrease of income • Little trapping was done on the trapline during the years following the impoundment of the reservoir. • A small beaver quota is accorded to the trappers since the trapping potential of the trapline has highly decreased. Existence of La • The limited amount of resources on the land impedes some Grande-3 family members from getting involved in the trapping activities. Reservoir

• Loss of harvesting areas on the shorelines • After the impoundment, the trappers did not trap along the reservoir shores as they were warned about the danger of travel on the reservoir because of the bad ice conditions.

• Changes in game and changes in game consumption • The tallyman buys beaver meat from beaver trapped in the south because not enough beaver is trapped on his trapline for his consumption. He says that the beaver tastes different than the beaver from his trapline. • Before the project, the tallyman trapped beaver with very dark pelts on his trapline and he says that he has not seen such pelt since the project.

• Change in fishing activities and in fish consumption because of mercury • No fishing is done in the reservoir because of the fear of mercury. • Most of the fish populations (pike, lake trout, speckled trout, suckers and whitefish) have been affected by the flooding. Today, the trapline users mostly eat fish from the Bay during the summer even if they still fish in Guyer Lake.. 6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC24 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts the trapline users mostly eat fish from the Bay during the summer even if they still fish in Guyer Lake.. • Decrease of available resources/Modified hunting activities • No more bear is hunted on the trapline today as their dens have been flooded and there is almost no more space for them to live on the trapline.

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas Goose hunting is a more important activity inland. There are more geese inland due to the presence of new open water bodies.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC24 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Road Access since the opening of the Wemindji Road in 1995 • Easier access to the trapline. It takes three hours by truck to access the trapline. • The trapline users working in the village can easily access the trapline during the week-ends. • It is easier for the tallyman to go on the trapline for short period of times.

• Road access/Increase pressure on resources • The tallyman considers that the easier access to trapping areas by outsiders since the existence of the road is a factor influencing the decrease of the beaver population. • Since the existence of the road, many people have access to Guyer Lake and the fish population is decreasing there as it is being fished out. Transtaïga Road • More people are hunting moose along the road and the trapline users sometimes do not get a chance to kill one.

• Road Access/Loss of control of the tallyman • Especially before the Wemindji Road was built, the trapline users felt that they had no control over the activities on their land as the Chisasibi people could easily reach the trapline while they themselves were subjected to the limited plane trips. • Outsiders go on the trapline without bothering to stop to ask the tallyman. For him this represent a lack of respect.

• Road Access/Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • Easier access makes the camps unsafe. Many things have been stolen, notably from camp #22. The trapline users hardly leave any equipment at the camps now.

• Loss of campsite (radio transmission affected) • Camp #24 is only used as a storage place because it is located Transmission too close to the transmission line and the radio transmissions are lines affected.

• Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • The tallyman considers that false information was given to him before the project. He was notably told that the burial sites would Communication not be flooded. He also participated in a meeting where he Process understood that the quality of fish would not be affected.

• Lack/Deficient consultation process

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC24 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The tallyman is critical about the way the consultation sessions were organized because so many people were attending them. He feels that he did not have the opportunity to express his concerns properly. • The tallyman says that he has not been consulted about the construction of the Transtaïga Road and he realized that the road would be crossing his trapline only during the construction time.

• Debris left on site • Drums have been left on the trapline after the construction was Construction over. However, they might have been cleaned up during the last Period cleaning program.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • The borrow pit at the western border of the trapline is not used by the tallyman’s family. Hydro-Québec employees use it as a shooting range, setting up many moose-like targets. In the early 1980’s, it is the SQ Plantation in borrow pits Police that was using it. Therefore, the trapline users avoid this area. • The bulldozer trail opened up to link the borrow pit to the dykes turned out to be useful as a snowmobile trail, but vegetation is now overgrown.

• The interviewees were told that some net fishing areas Net fishing area would be fixed but this was never done.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Snowmobile trails done • The trapline users were consulted to determine the by the Sotrac in 1984- location of the trail. 1985 Rejuvenation cutting for • They do not hunt moose there, but when they passed moose yard (Sotrac) by with the winter expedition they saw a lot of moose (1985) tracks so it must have worked out. • Relocation of beaver would have been a better Trapping out Program measure. • What the tallyman thinks about the trapping out program…is that he just hardly can eat beaver from his trapline today. 9 program…is that he just hardly can eat beaver from his trapline today.

• The tallyman says that a lot of money was made by HQ out of what was done on his trapline and he feels that Programs and subsidies more compensation should be made for the ones having their traplines flooded.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) The gas drums that were left on the trapline after the construction period should have been cleaned right away. Cleaning-up of the debris is a main concern of the tallyman as he worries about the environment. (The gas drums might have been cleaned during the clean up two year ago, but he hasn’t been healthy enough to go and check)..

• 2) To fix the gravel road going to Guyer Lake.

• 3) To put a gate to control the access to the gravel road going to Guyer Lake and consequently to control the fishing activities in the lake.

• 4) To put a gate to restrict the access to the sensitive beaver habitat along the access roads going to the dykes, not to impede the HQ workers checking the dykes but to control the hunting activities on the land. (And not having the same key for everybody.)

• 5)To set a program to reallocate the traplines in order to help people who have lost a lot of land base.

• 6) To set a beaver relocation program in order to help people who have lost a lot of land base.

• 7) To renew the animals’ habitats.

• 8) To make a beaver inventory and to give out to the tallyman an aerial picture of the trapline for him to see what it looks like today.

10 Impacts According to Interviewees VC25 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The family valued area where the main camps were located and the main activities conducted is now underwater. • Two burial sites were flooded

• Loss of fishing and spawning areas • Some lakes where the tallyman used to fish walleye, suckers and whitefish disappeared with the reservoir impoundment. • Because the tallyman is afraid of the mercury, as during the mercury testing on people, he showed a high rate of mercury, he stopped eating the walleye in a lake that is now connected to the reservoir as well as from the reservoir.

• New resources • The numerous geese found on the trapline are obviously without comparison to the one or two geese that could be hunted before the reservoir existed. The duck population has also increased since the impoundment of the reservoir.

• New hunting area • The flood linked a lake to the reservoir and at their junction there’s a spawning ground for walleyes. Now the tallyman hunts there black bears that come to feed on the fish.

• Loss of landing sites • With the impoundment of the reservoir, two landing sites were lost.

• Aggrieved feelings • The tallyman’s father was upset and worried for his son future when he saw his land flooded.

• Increased presence of other users

• For many years, other Crees from Chisasibi have been trapping on VC25 without the tallyman permission. They had an easier access because their community was linked to the road network earlier than Wemindji. • With other hunters on his territory, the tallyman felt he had lost Transtaiga Road control of his trapline and couldn’t manage the resources adequately.

• New access road to the trapline • Since the linking of Wemindji to the road network in 1995, the access to the trapline is now much easier. The tallyman can go more often to the trapline and therefore he feels that he has regain control of it. 4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC25 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts more often to the trapline and therefore he feels that he has regain control of it.

• Loss of harvesting resources • There are less beavers than before because other trappers come into the trapline since the Transtaiga road exists (1977). There is lots of poaching.

• Modified hunting activities • Currently, the tallyman, because he is growing older, hunts along the road during the fall.

• Gain of a new snowmobile trail • The transmission lines right of ways turned out very useful at the beginning to travel by snowmobile. Yet they became overgrown with vegetation and thus not used anymore. They recently started a slashing program.

• Disturbance of radio transmission • Occasionally, the radio signal does not come in properly when at Transmission camp #3. It could be blamed on the lines, or it could the lines atmosphere.

• No concerns about the quality of resources • The blueberries under the lines are picked up. Even during the dry summers, they get big while elsewhere they are small all over.

• Deficient information • The tallyman wasn’t aware that a road would cross through his trapline until he saw the ongoing work. • The tallyman knew about the transmission lines when he saw the Communication workers camps. process • Consultation process • The tallyman was aware of the upcoming flooding. He attended the consulting meetings.

5 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

Boat ramp • The tallyman used it only a few times to go on the reservoir.

Multifunctional areas • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure.

Seeding in borrow • The tallyman wasn’t aware of this measure. pits

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• To clear the road leading to the boat ramp at dyke TA-42 because the vegetation is overgrown. (1)

• To clear the road leading to the reservoir close to camp #2 so he can collect the dead wood on the shores of the reservoir. (Measure # 1 on map)

• To clear the secondary road that leads to the reservoir shoreline on the eastern sector of the trapline because the vegetation is overgrown. (Measure #1)

• To clear the road going from the gravel pit to the lake and fix it in order to have access to the lake (location of the Hydro-Québec Camp from the 1980’s) where a goose pond is being built by the Apiticiwin Corporation. (Measure # 1)

• To have the secondary road at the central part of the trapline cleared and fixed. (Measure # 1)

• Build a boat ramp north of dam TA-32C. (Measure # 2 on map)

• Open a walking trail from the secondary road to the lake where speckle trout is abundant. A trail was first open by Hydro-Québec workers but needs to be reopened. (Measure # 3)

• To fix the goose pond near the borrow pit at the western sector of the trapline. (Measure # 4)

• To fix the secondary road leading to the goose pond. The road was washed away by a creek. (5)

• To clean the dead trees along the tallyman’s navigation route on the reservoir. (Measure # 6)

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC25 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Debris left behind • For over 20 years, some 30 big tanks and other gas drums were left on the site of an Hydro-Québec construction camp. It is only recently, some 5 years ago that they cleaned up. Construction Period • Presence of Hydro-Québec workers’ camps • Three workers’ camps have been built on the trapline during the construction period and torn apart afterwards.

• Permanent loss of land base • Parts of the trapline have been flooded by the reservoir.

• Loss of trapping areas on the shorelines • There’s far less beaver on the shores of the reservoir. • Muskrats aren’t abundant as before.

• Relocation of camps • Six main camps and three temporary camps from the central sector of the trapline were flooded as well as one main camp sited on a lake along the northeastern border of the trapline. No direct compensation was received for these loss.

• Loss of harvesting resources • The tallyman doesn’t trap on the reservoir because the beavers La Grande 3 from the flooded areas couldn’t really be consumed because the Reservoir meat wasn’t good; it didn’t have any fat at all. In fact, it is understood that when a beaver is so thin and no fat found inside, it is most probably that it is diseased and the tallyman burns the carcasses • The tallyman observed that in the small islands in the reservoir, the beavers start building their lodges and food banks, but in the fall when the water starts raising in the reservoir, the beavers are forced out of their lodges. The tallyman found dead beavers 20 years ago and still today, he sees tracks of beaver leaving the islands trying to reach lakes, but as it is already late in the season, they have no time to build new lodges and food banks. Even otter do not survive the water rise, as he found an otter skeleton.

• Loss of valued area

3 Impacts According to Interviewees VC26 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Disturbance from the construction period • At the beginning of the 1970’s when the construction of the road started, they did not stopped going to this camp (#1), they still went trapping in the area but the workers were around and the hunting and the trapping was disturbed by the blasting.

• Loss of resources • During the 1970’s, the interviewees had refrain from eating bear for sometime because the bears were feeding on garbage from the different Hydro-Québec camps, namely, the road construction camp, built close by camp #15, and then the Construction Lemoyne Substation construction camp. Period • Theft perpetrated by the workers • During the construction period, while workers were making studies on the De Pontois River, traps were stolen in camp #6. Cree workers are suspected of having done this.

• Damages done to resources • During the construction time of the transmission lines, nests with baby rabbits in them and grouse eggs were destroyed by the clear cutting done for the lines right of way.

• Flooding of valued areas • The valued area located in a bend of the De Pontois River, in camp #7 sector has been flooded.

• Flooded camp and lost equipment • Camp # 7 was partly flooded, the water having went further then what was expected by Hydro-Québec that had cut the trees along the shores but not far enough. As a result of this, they lost some equipment in their camp. They were not compensated by Hydro Impoundment of but a game warden gave them some traps to help them out. La Grande-3 Reservoir • Loss of harvesting area • The ptarmigan hunting area located in the valued area mentioned above has been lost, the good vegetation for ptarmigan to feed on having been flooded.

• Loss of trapping area • They found no signs of beaver when they travelled upstream from the De Pontois River, lots of lodges haven been lost. 4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC26 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Avoidance of fishing areas because of mercury • The trapline users do not eat fish from the Reservoir because they were warned about the mercury problems. They eat the sturgeon caught on their trapline although they had first came from the reservoir. (a new spawning ground was found on De Existence of La Pontois River). Grande-3 Reservoir • Gain of new waterfowl hunting area • More geese are hunted on the trapline because the goose population increased on it since the existence of the reservoir and they fly more inland.

• Road access to the main camp since the existence of the Wemindji Road in 1995. • The main camp #15 is located along the Transtaïga Road. It has been built to replace the moss and log house from the 1970’s (#6) that had become the most used main camp after the construction of the Transtaïga in 1977, as the road passed along this old campsite, making it easier for them to reach the camp. Prior to 1995, the camp was access by vehicle from Chisasibi or LG-2 where from the trapline users were driven to or drove their own truck after haven been flown in from Wemindji. They now drive directly from Wemindji.

• Road access/Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • The trapline users do not leave their canoe or much equipment at camp #15, because they are afraid that it could be stolen. • Caliber 22 Bullets were stolen from camp #15. Transtaïga Road

• Corridor hunting/New harvesting area • One of the main trapping zones is located along the road. • Rabbit, moose, geese and ptarmigan hunting is done along the road.

• Road Access/Increase presence of other users • Many people from Wemindji as well as from other communities come to hunt moose on the trapline.

• Mistissini people access the eastern part of the trapline to hunt moose and trap beaver.

• Road Access/Loss of control of the tallyman • Mistissini people hunt moose and trap beaver without the tallyman’s consent. 5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC26 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts tallyman’s consent. • A man from Mistissini built his cabin along the Transtaïga Road without the tallyman’s consent. • The tallyman feels that his status is not respected as it should be and that people just do what they want over his land without respecting the rules.

• Road Access/Increase pressure on resources • The beaver is being over trapped because of the people going to trap on the eastern part of the trapline without informing the tallyman.

• Decrease in beaver resource and in beaver consumption • Because the beaver is being over trapped, the trapline users trap less and eat less beavers.

• Increased pressure on resources due to the increased presence of other hunters • Since the road exists, people from other communities kill bears along the road.

• Corridor hunting/New harvesting area

• Rabbit hunting is done along the access road.

• Road access/Increase presence of other users • A non Cree camp is located along the road. Non-Cree hunters Access Road rent it for caribou hunting, so it is probably a small outfitting camp. (going to Guyer • A mining prospector’s camp is located along the road. Lake)

• Gain of new access road • The trapline users use that road to go fishing in Guyer Lake.

• Corridor hunting/New harvesting area • One of the main trapping area used by the two trappers today is located along the transmission lines going from Le Moyne to Albanel substations. Transmission • Moose hunting is done under the transmission lines. lines (735 kV) (9th, 10th, plus • New access trail three others) • The old road under the lines makes the trapping area accessible by truck and by snowmobile even if the trail is not in very good shape.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC26 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Concerns about quality of resources • The trapline users do not pick the berries under the transmission lines because they suspect them of being affected by the electric fields. • The trapline users do not eat the ducks and ptarmigans that fall dead when hitting the transmission lines because their meat is hard and considered unfit for consumption.

• Loss of campsite (radio transmission affected) • The temporary camp #14 (moss and log house) that was located close to the Transta_ga had to be broken apart due to its proximity to the transmission line, the radio transmission being disturbed. • Comments: La Frégate • No difference has been noticed in the fishing conditions in Marbot Diversion Lake. Increased flow • No changes in the snowmobile travelling conditions on ice have in the De been noticed on Marbot Lake. Pontois River • Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • The interviewees consider that they were not told the truth about the impacts on the fish. They were first told that there would be no impacts, and then that they should not eat the fish in the flooded area. • The interviewees consider HQ as responsible for the misinformation, even if it was transmitted through Cree representatives attending some meetings as HQ people never came around. • The interviewees consider that the information they received on the impacts was not sufficient as they were only told about the Communication problems they would experience with travel on ice in the impacted Process areas due to the water fluctuation.

• Mistrust created by a deficient communication process • For the interviewees, a mistrust and a feeling of having been fooled result from the too much misinformation.

• Lack of cooperation • Hydro-Québec does not inform ahead if they are to destroy beaver lodges in some construction areas. If they told ahead, trappers could go and trap them. 7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC26 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts trappers could go and trap them.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• The trapline users use the boat ramp to go upstream the De Pontois River. • The boat ramp was also used by people from Chisasibi • Boat Ramp going to fish sturgeon at the rapid upstream from the De Pontois River and at its mouth. • They consider that it was a good place to put a boat ramp.

• Plantation in borrow • Ducks are seen in borrow pits when some water pits reaches them.

• During the 1970’s people were generally not aware that they could file claims when property was stolen from Programs and • their camps by the workers. They filed afterwards for Subsidies the traps that had been stolen in their camp #6 but never received compensation.

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• Soon after the Transtaïga Road was built, the tallyman was asked to give information on the location of the borrow pits on his trapline and understood that he would receive something for his participation, but did not receive anything and he wonders what all this was Subsidies and • about. Programs • More recently the trapline users were asked to make a list of things they would need at their camp such as cooking gear, snowmobiles and winter clothes, but nothing came of this. • The interviewees no longer believe that they will some day take advantage of any compensation or measure. 8 day take advantage of any compensation or measure.

• CTA Subsidies • Camp #15 has been built out of the CTA Subsidies.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To fix the access to road going to Guyer Lake, as they use it all the time during the winter time. The road is in really bad shape, water running over it. If the road was fixed, they could use it to go fishing during the summer.

• 2) To build a goose pond.

• 3) To widen the snowmobile trail.

• 4) To clear the old brush in order to renew the vegetation for the moose.

• 5) To built a new cabin in order to compensate for the camp they had to break down because of its proximity to the transmission line. (camp #14 on 1970’s map)

• 6) To be informed properly about the misinformation they received to give light to deception and unfulfilled promises perpetrated on them.

9 Impacts According to Interviewees VC27 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of valued area • Valued area notably for fishing and spring hunting has been lost on the De Pontois River shores since the increased flow downstream of De La Frégate Lake .

• Worsened navigation conditions • In the reduced flow section : The trapline users have navigation problems in the Sakami River downstream from the dam. The water is very shallow and the river is accessible only with a light paddling canoe. It is easier to navigate coming down east-west in this reduced flow section. There is no dried up areas, but the Sakami River is low water all the way to Sakami Lake. • In the increased flow section : No clear cutting was done upstream from the dam of the La Frégate Diversion and, still La Frégate today, in a 1 km area from the dyke, trees are sticking out of the Diversion water, along the flooded shores as well as where there was an island close to the dam in De La Frégate Lake.

• Decrase of fish quality and quantity • The trapline users noticed a decrease in the fish quality in the Sakami River downstream from the dam, and the fish are also less plentiful where the water is too shallow.

• Decrease of available resources • The tallyman associates the decrease of beaver population along the Sakami River in the reduced flow area to the fact that the water is too shallow for the beavers to build their lodges around there.

• Road access to trapline • Three cabins have been built close to the roads under the transmission lines • Camp #28, built in 1994, is the tallyman’s second main camp. As it is located close to the 9th and 10th transmission lines crossing the trapline on the eastern part of the trapline, it is also accessed Transmission by vehicle since 1995, directly from Wemindji. Yet the lines maintenance roads under the transmission lines were becoming not very easy to use over the last couple of years as they are washed out in some parts and vegetation is growing over them (the worst washed out area was located on the map).

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC27 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • This 2003 summer, in July, some slashing was done on the most eastern transmission line road, at least until camp # 28 and most probably further south, which will be quite an improvement. • A small cabin for 4 persons built around 1984 is still found close by on the site of the Hydro-Québec construction camp site from the 1980’s, along the transmission line road. It was accessed by the Transtaiga road and the maintenance road under the eastern transmission lines that was well maintained in the 1980’s . • Further along the transmission line road, at the southern border of the trapline, the tallyman’s brother Jimmy, has a camp (#33) that most probably burnt in the summer of 2002. • Camp #26, Tommy’s winter main camp, a plywood cabin built in 1996, is used almost every year by the trapline users since its construction. It is located close to 12th transmission line and is accessible by vehicle using the road under the line.

• Road access/Loss of security and confidence th • Two break-ins happened in camp #28 located close to the 9 and 10th transmission lines. The trapline users do not leave valuable and very useful equipment in the camps anymore.

• Road access/Increased presence of other users • No foreign camps are located on the trapline, but some people can access the trapline using the maintenance roads under the transmission lines. In facts, the tallyman stated that he keeps on seeing people on the transmission line road, such as this prospector caravan of 4 vehicles he saw in 2002.

• Easier access to some resources • Bear hunting is facilitated as they are easier to see from the transmission lines right of ways when feeding on berries during the fall.

• Tallyman’s observation • The tallyman noticed that some animals, notably the moose, are afraid by the noise of the transmission lines and stay away from them.

• Disturbance from Workers presence • There was a lot of traffic from the Hydro-Québec vehicles as there was some 100 workers on the trapline.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC27 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Debris left on site • Hydro-Québec construction camp site from the 1980’s where 15 to 20 trailers were installed for some 100 workers involved in the construction of the transmission lines (and/or dyke TB-01). The trailers were later moved out but gas drums were left behind and for years were not yet cleaned out as was, in 1987, the Hydro garbage dump found on the neighbouring southern trapline. Only recently, in spring 2003, the gas drums would have been picked- up.

• Lack of information/Lack of consultation Process • The tallyman has not been informed about the works that went on on his trapline. He has the feeling that it was done behind their back, without information and without compensation from HQ. Communication When the transmission lines where built, the tallyman was at his Process camp on the western part of the trapline and after New Years, when they went on the eastern part, it was a complete surprise for the tallyman and his son to find workers building lines.

• Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non- Cree hunters Transtaïga Road • When there is a lots of non-Cree caribou hunters along the (not on the Transtaïga Road, the trapline users hardly kill any caribou on the trapline) land as the animals are “blocked” north of the Transtaïga Road.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To fix the road under the transmission lines.

• 2) To add gravel in order to fix the section of the road passing over the Sakami River.

• 3) To make a 4-wheelers trail from the road to the lake facing the camp #27.

• 4) To do clear cutting before flooding an area. No clear cutting was done upstream from the dam of the La Frégate Diversion and trees are sticking out of the water as there was an island close to the dam in De La Frégate Lake.

• 5) To compensate the workers who have to use their own equipment when working on the mitigation measures or to provide them with good equipment.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Workers Camp • Two temporary Hydro-Québec for slashing trees around the future reservoir borders were set up on the trapline, respectively on the north and south of the Menouow Lake. Construction The workers, a team of a dozen of workers (French speaking Period workers, no Crees), came during the summer from La Sarcelle Control Structure using heavy equipment. These camps no longer stand on the trapline. No debris were left on site.

• Loss of camps • The camps on the shores of Opinaca Lake, at the eastern sector of the trapline have been flooded : at least 6 camps were flooded. • The tallyman wasn’t informed about the flooding and couldn’t get out some equipment he had in his camps. (canoe, traps, snowshoes).

• Loss of resources • Beavers moved out from the impacted area to the eastern sector of the trapline because of the changing water level in the reservoir that, still today, floods the beaver lodges. • The Opinaca Lake was a plentiful beaver area.

• Loss of fish resources • The tallyman lost the fish resources because still today the trees in the reservoir doesn’t allow him to put his nets and Opinaca because of the mercury. It is only in 1997 that the tallyman Reservoir started eating fish from the reservoir, catching sturgeon, walleye, pike and whitefish below the doors of the dikes nearby camp #1 because, at present time, he is not worried about the mercury issue.

• Change in appreciation of resources • The taste of the beavers remaining near the reservoir is different than those elsewhere because of the deteriorated water quality in the reservoir. According to the tallyman, since the time of the impoundment, the taste of the fish from the reservoir was not the same as before because of the water quality that had changed, being muddy at the time of construction and afterwards being affected by the decaying trees. Recently, the taste of fish started getting good again.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Activities relocation • During the construction and the impoundment of the reservoir, the tallyman concentrated the trapping on the eastern sector of the trapline. • The fishing activities had to be relocated after the reservoir was impounded. • The tallyman found it difficult to readapt to his trapline after the flooding.

• Unsafe circulation conditions • Navigating on the reservoir is not very safe, even with a big boat because there are trees sticking out of the water. • Although he never got caught, shallow areas, such as the one going from Camp #3 to the confluent of Menouow Lake, are to be navigated carefully • Can’t have access to the shores because there are full of trees. • During the winter, it’s dangerous to go on the reservoir because sometimes the water is over the ice and it’s not very stable. Some open-water areas must be avoided.

• Facilitated access to the trapline • The road allows a faster access to the camps along it. It takes only 3 to 4 hours from the community. Yet the tallyman and other full-time trapline users do not own a vehicle and are driven back and forth to the trapline three times a year by the local CTA., as are many other ISP participants in the community. • Nevertheless, it wasn’t without ease that the tallyman accessed the trapline because for sometime there was a locked gate at La Sarcelle that stopped them on their way to Access road to the trapline. Few years after, the tallyman obtained a key from La Sarcelle Hydro-Québec. control structure • The access to the trapline is now possible by the road and the and to dyke OA- trips to the trapline are more frequent than before for some of 01 the users who own vehicles. The easier access allows the visit of many people to this camp, sometimes being more than 20 persons, especially during the spring for the goose break.

• Easier Access and Increased Presence of Other Users • Other users have also an easier access to the trapline. People pass by their camp on the road almost everyday. “There are cars coming up all the time”.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC28 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Easier Access and Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • The tallyman had some break-ins at his camps along the road where some material was stolen and found damaged his 18 ft. canoe usually left near the gate at La Sarcelle.

• Temporarily abandoned area • During the construction of the transmission lines, the tallyman avoided that area because of the disturbance. Debris left on site • 735 kV • Debris were left on site at the time of construction mostly in the transmission central part of the trapline. Although some empty drums were lines (3) recently picked-up, still some drums, full of gas, are left on site, some 10 of them, or more. No debris were seen around the easternmost transmission lines.

• Lack of communication • The tallyman and his family were told of an upcoming flood but they didn’t know the extent of it and lose some camps and belongings. Communication • The tallyman and his family consider being unaware of what process was going on in their territory as a big impact. • The tallyman wasn’t informed about the mitigation measures done on his trapline.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Intensive trapping on • The tallyman participated in this program but he Opinaca River at its found that it wasn’t adequate because they didn’t trap junction with Menouow in what would be the most affected area. (Why ?) Lake

Cleared area for net • The tallyman saw the clearing before the fishing impoundment but couldn’t locate it after the flooding.

Seeding and • The tallyman didn’t see this measure and nobody told regeneration him about.

6 • The tallyman was told about the cutting but not the Clear cutting reason for it. He’s disappointed that were mostly non- natives who did the work and Crees weren’t involved.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• The tallyman asked to extend the snow plowing on the road leading from La Sarcelle control structure to dike OA-01 until his camp. (The road has been ploughed last winter 2002-2003)

• The tallyman requested his camp #2 to be wired.

• The tallyman would like some sand to repair the road that leads to his camp because it is too soft and muddy. It needs fixing.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC29 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Flooding of burial site • The burial site located at the confluence of Gipouloux River with Ell Lake has been flooded as well as the one in Baie Kamiskamaskaw.

• Flooding of valued area • The family’s most valued area around Ell Lake has been flooded. • Campsite #3 that was a spring gathering place of many families of neighbouring traplines and a fur pick-up site has been flooded.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • The fishing and spawning areas for lake trout in Ell Lake has Impoundment of been flooded. Opinaca Reservoir • Flooding of campsites • Main camp #1 and 3 have been flooded along with six temporary campsites (one moss and log house and five tepees).

• Loss of harvesting areas • A valued goose hunting area has been lost in Ell Lake.

• Loss of trapping areas • The beavers and muskrats trapping area along Ell Lake shores have been flooded.

• Loss of fishing area because of mercury • No more fishing is done in Ell Lake because of the fear of mercury.

• Decrease of available fur resources • The decrease of trapping activities around Ell Lake is due to the decrease of beavers, muskrats and the bear population in this area. Existence of the • According to the tallyman’s mother, “the mother of all beavers” is Opinaca gone since the project, affecting the renewal of beaver Reservoir population.

• Worsened navigation conditions/ Loss of security • Navigation route on Opinaca Reservoir and Ell Lake (for fall moose hunting) is less secure, debris and drift wood obstructing it.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC29 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Loss of harvesting areas along the shorelines • The decrease of trapping activities in Ell Lake area in part due to the difficulty of access to the shorelines.

• Worsened snowmobile travelling conditions/ Loss of security • Ice conditions are not safe because of the variation of the water level.

• Gain of new waterfowl hunting areas • More goose are coming inland since the existence of the Reservoirs and new goose hunting areas are found around Ell Lake and Opinaca Reservoir.

• Aggrieved feelings • The previous tallyman’s wife went to Ell Lake area after the flooding, and to see the beavers and muskrats that had been drowned was heartbreaking for her and her husband.

• Decrease of game/fish quality • The interviewees noticed a decrease in food quality in the reservoir area. They assess that the taste of moose has changed due to the changed quality of water and vegetation. • A couple of years after the impoundment, some beavers in Ell Lake area were diseased. Their flesh was like fish eggs and had lumps in it. • The beavers in the impacted area are obese, maybe due to some restriction of movement experienced in the area.

• Gain of new access trail (since the existence of the Wemindji Road in 1995) • When the condition of the road permits it, the trapline users are able to access the trapline using the road under the 9th and 10th transmission lines (until km90). Transmission • Gain of new snowmobile trail th lines • The right of way under the 12 line is used as a snowmobile trail to travel within the trapline.

• Gain of new access trail for other users • The transmission lines permits others users, non-Cree moose hunters based on VC-36 to access the trapline and to poach on it.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC29 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Road Access/Increased pressure on resources • Since the presence of outfitting camps for caribou hunters, and Transtaïga Road an increased number of hunters along the Transtaïga road, the (not on the animals are kept north of the road and do not come as much on trapline) the trapline anymore. Route de la Baie • Facilitated access to trapline (since the existence of the James/La Wemindji Road in 1995) Sarcelle Control • Some of the trapline users who are full-time workers can go by Structure truck until La Sarcelle and then go by boat to the trapline. (The Access Road full-time trappers are flown in). (not on the trapline) • Lack/Deficient information on the impact • The year of the impoundment, they had to be evacuated from Communication their first campsite and to dress a new camp further away from Process the flooded area in late November, because the map of the predicted impoundment area they had received was not accurate.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Cleared bank for • They do not fish in Ell Lake because of fear of mercury. spawning areas (in Ell • Not aware of it. Lake) Riparian habitat • Not aware of it. Actually state that no work was ever reconstructed (Kapichin done at this location. Bay, on Ell Lake) Cleared tributary of the • Were aware of it. No comments. Opinaca River

Regeneration cutting • Not aware of it.

6 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• They participated in the trapping out program and think that it was a good thing, but other beavers came to occupy the area after the intensive trapping was done Trapping Out Program because they could find good vegetation to feed on. These beavers could not be trapped and were drown with the impoundment of the reservoir. • The material for the construction of camp #15 was provided by the CTA. CTA Subsidies • CTA provides 6 one way plane trips per year for the family. Suggested Mitigation Measures

• 1) To fix the road under the transmission line and to continue it until km 95 and up to the Opinaca River. That request has been already made by the previous tallyman.. It becomes very important to access that part since the other side of the trapline has burnt down.

• 2) To fix a spawning ground for lake trout, sturgeon and pike because the area is likely to be used by these species of fish, as suggested by the tallyman. Yet Sinclair Mayappo is concerned that, if there is more flooding due to Eastmain-1 Project, the fish will not come in that area.

• 3) To fix a spawning ground for whitefish, lake trout and sturgeon. (This area is still part of the reservoir)

• 4) To fix a spawning area for walleye.

• 5) To fix a spawning area for sturgeon.

• 6) To clean the area of drift wood lying along the shores in order to facilitate moose and goose hunting.

• 7) To fix a moose yard (some slashing has already been done by the family).

• 8) To build a cabin in order to use the unburnt area close to the access road under the transmission lines.

• 9) To be provided with a navigation map in order to know the safe routes on the Opinaca reservoir, so they are able to hunt moose and goose safely travelling by boat.

• 10) To put a gate on the Transtaïga Road at kilometre 186 to restrict the access of the road under the transmission line.

• 11) To investigate the cause of diseases when hunters kill infected game.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC32 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Worsened navigation conditions • Since the current in the river is not strong enough to push the flow out in the Bay, the waves coming from the Bay are too big to allow the people to go out when the wind blows hard from the west.

• Delayed access (up river, out in the Bay) because of sandbars • People must wait for high tide to navigate on the Eastmain River, on the À La Pêche River and to go out in the Bay.

• Navigation obstacles • Because of the reduced flow and the tidal action, sandbars are expending at the river mouth and along the river. People have to navigate following the main channel at low tide and have to go very slowly and check for the obstacles.

• Loss of easy river access to other traplines • People willing to access the traplines upstream the First Rapid by canoe using the Eastmain River would need to use a 16 footer paddling canoe and cross a lots of portages. Diversion of Eastmain River • Loss of river access to trapline and to camps Reduced flow • Travelling upstream the First Rapid by boat is complicated and access to camp #5 at the Nistuchun Confluent is now done by plane before freeze up.

• Increased difficulties for canoe landing and access to camp due to wider shorelines • Because of the exposed banks, it is difficult to land close to the camps by canoe.

• Broken equipment • Motors have been broken on sandbars and rocks while travelling on the river because of the obstacles raising since the reduced flow.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trail/Adaptation to ice conditions • Unsafe ice condition to travel by snowmobile in springtime, especially in the estuary. Ice thickness is affected by the salty water and the tidal action.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC32 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The ice freezes later in fall, all along the river up to the First Rapid.

• Access to the islands in the estuary that are notably sources of fresh water, and driftwood picking is less secure winter and spring times because of unsafe ice condition. • Necessity to monitor the ice every spring.

• Worsen snowmobile travelling conditions • The camps along the coast are accessible by snowmobile only after Christmas because in early winter, the shorelines are full of ice and frozen mud piled up (combined effect of the reduced flow and the tidal action).

• Loss of drinking water source • Loss of drinking water source in the Eastmain River: The water is brown and muddy because of the reduced flow and the increased water turbidity.

• Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • The spawning area for ciscoes and brook trout which was located in between the islands across the river from the À La Pêche River has been dried out after the diversion. • No more fishing is done at the river mouth because the water is too shallow and muddy to put nets and debris and seaweed get stuck in the nets. • Some fishing spots have been lost in the À La Pêche River.

• Modified fishing activities (including displacement of activities) • Sturgeon is not found all along the river anymore. Only one sturgeon fishing spot is found on the trapline since diversion. • Brook trout and whitefish are rather found along the coast than in the river since the diversion.

• Modified communal fishing activities • The summer fishing activities are rather done along the Bay than in the river since diversion.

• Decrease of game/fish quality • Brook trout fished in the À La Pêche River is not as big and strong as it used to be. • The overall quality of the resources living by and into the Eastmain River has decreased, reflecting the modified environment the animals had to adapt to.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC32 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts environment the animals had to adapt to.

• Decrease of available resources • Pike population has decreased in the Eastmain River because it needs fresh and clean water to live.

• Decrease of trapping potential during the years following the diversion • The tallyman evaluates that it took two years, after the diversion, before the vegetation started to come back on the exposed banks of the river, and that it took up to ten years for the habitats to renew.

• Gain of new fishing area • A new fishing area was created by the formation of a bay due to the connection of the tip of an island with the mainland, downstream from the First Rapid, in front of camp #9. Before the diversion, the water was too deep to put fishnets there. It is the only place where the sturgeon is still fish on the trapline.

• Changes in diet • Fish was the main food resource before the diversion. Now the tallyman do not go himself to fish in the Bay and get his fish from other people. He eat mostly salt water fish. • Decrease of easy access to good fishing spots reduced the importance of fishing activities and the importance of the consumption of fish.

• Loss of swimming areas along the Eastmain River shores. • Loss of harvesting areas on the shorelines • Feeding grounds for beavers, geese, ducks and other games have been affected along the Eastmain River. • The vegetation is drying along the exposed banks and drift wood and erosion affect the access to the shores for harvesting activities.

• Increase pressure on resources Existence of the • After the impoundment, some inlanders could not go to trap on Opinaca their trapline for a couple of years and VC32 has been exposed to Reservoir more intensive exploitation because of more guest trappers (outside of the present on the land. trapline)

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC32 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • No trapping on the trapline for some time • As a consequence of the increase pressure on resources due to an increase presence of trappers, the trapline users had to stop trapping beavers at a certain point to let the resources reproduce.

• Decrease of available resources • The geese stay for less time on the coast during the spring and are hardly seen during the fall because they fly more inland due to the presence of the reservoirs.

• Lack/Deficient information on the impacts • The traplines users have not been informed properly on what the impacts on the Eastmain River would be. • People were told that there was mercury in pike after the project and they though that pike was affected everywhere, not only into Communication the reservoirs. Process • Lack of consultation process • There has been no consultation before the project because the ratification procedures of the JBNQ Agreement were too fast.

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments Seeding and planting on exposed banks at the confluence with • Not aware of it Eastmain River and • They were never consulted about it Opinaca River

7 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• #1) To build a 4-wheelers trail to give access to the goose hunting corridors from camp #8.

• #2) To do goose flyways corridors. These would allow to hunt with more security, watching each others while hunting because the area is becoming too crowded and it is dangerous. • #3) To build a permanent family camp close to the community use camp #8 and a permanent camp for spring goose hunting on the coast shore at the northern border of the tapline.

• #4) To build a permanent community fishing camp beside camp #9 in order to enhance the use of the river by the community members.

• #5) Renewed habitat for moose and goose.

• #6) To build goose ponds.

• #7) To dig a navigation channel from the River mouth up to the À L’Eau Froide River.

• #8) To fix a large snowmobile trail with smaller trails going inside the land on each sides.

• #9) To build a snowmobile trail to reach camp #5 by the northern shore of the river because they have to cross the river twice when taking the trail on the southern shore.

• Hydro should give subsidies the trappers every three years for the buying of a snowmobile.

• Hydro should subsidies the helicopter trips for goose hunting during the spring break.

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC33 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts

• Loss of river access to trapline, to camps and to harvesting areas • Before the construction of the Eastmain Road, the trapline users had to take the plane or to wait after freeze-up to access the trapline due to the hazardous navigation conditions on the Eastmain and the À La Pêche River. • The camp, the moose hunting and fishing area located at the Nitsuchun Confluent have to be accessed by plane during the fall.

• Worsened navigation conditions • Navigation within the trapline on the Eastmain and the Opinaca rivers was hazardous after the diversion due to many navigation obstacles. • The moose hunting and fishing areas upstream from the Nistuchun Confluent have to be travelled with short shaft motors.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trails/Adaptation to ice conditions • Snowmobile trails on the rivers are less safe. Because of the reduced flow, rocks emerge from the ice. Diversion of Eastmain River • Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds Reduced flow • Spawning grounds and fishing sites have been lost in the Eastmain and the Opinaca rivers. Notably, the prime fishing area located in the enlargement of the Opinanca River had been dried up and unusable until the construction of the weirs. • Fish used to spawn and feed in small creeks, tributaries of the two rivers that were dried up after diversion. • Sturgeon and other fish moved upstream from the weirs to find deeper waters.

• Decrease of game/fish quality • Fish are smaller • The trapline users noticed a change in the taste of the fish caught in the Opinaca and the Eastmain rivers.

• Decrease of available resources • Sturgeon and pike population decreased on the trapline. • Decrease of beaver and muskrat populations along the shores of the Eastmain and the Opinaca rivers and in the tributaries, the feeding grounds being affected and the water being too shallow to build lodges in some part of the rivers. The beavers moved away from the river shores, going more inland.

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC33 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts away from the river shores, going more inland. • The trappers have to cover a larger area to gather the same quantity of furs than before.

• Modified fishing activities (including displacement of activities) • Less fishing is done into the rivers. The trapline users rather fish in the lakes of the northern part of the trapline.

• Decrease in fishing activities and decrease in fish consumption • The consumption of fish has decreased since the diversion, due to a reduction of fishing activities into he rivers.

• Modified trapping and hunting activities • Less bears are killed because it was mostly the elders who were trapping bears and they have the perception that since the diversion, the quality of the bears is affected because they feed on affected fish.

• Worsen or restricted landing conditions

• Before the diversion they could land anywhere with the plane, between two rapids, where they wanted to camp. But after the diversion they could not land wherever on the rivers.

• Road access/Increase pressure on resources • The sturgeons that are stuck between weirs #8 and #9 are being fished out, this section of the river being easily accessible from the road and many people having access to this fishing area. • Moose are moving west away from the road because of an increased number of hunters. Consequently, the moose population slightly decrease during the fall on the eastern part of the trapline.

• Road Access to trapline for others but not for the tallyman and Route de la Baie family before 1995/Loss of control of the tallyman James (1973) • The tallyman felt that he was loosing the control over the management of his trapline before the construction of the Eastmain Road in 1995.

• Access and use of the Route de la Baie James since the opening of the Eastmain Road in 1995 • The tallyman has the feeling to have regain some control over the trapline. • Cheaper access to the eastern part of the trap line. Access by truck to James and Harry Weapenicappo’s camp.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC33 Identification / Comments on impacts Source of impacts truck to James and Harry Weapenicappo’s camp. • The tallyman is happy to have a camp of easier access for his older days.

• Road Access/Increase presence of other users • Outsiders come on the trapline to hunt moose and to trap along the La Sarcelle-OA-11 Dam access road without informing the Access Road (La tallyman: Sarcelle and OA- 11 dam Road) Road Access/Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • (1977) • Traps, a stove and a motor were stolen from the tallyman’s camp located along the access road.

• Gain of new snowmobile trail th • The right-of-way of the 11 transmission line is sometimes used as a snowmobile trail.

• Concerns about quality of resources Transmission th • They do not trap the beavers in the streams under the line (11 ) transmission lines because of a fear that they could be contaminated. The tallyman thinks that this should be checked out.

• General Comments • The trapline users were briefly informed about the impacts of the reduced flow before the diversion and about the transformation in Communication the means of transportation they would have to use to access Process their trap line. • They knew about the proposed weirs.

6 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments

• More moose are coming in the rivers area because there is new vegetation to feed on. • The seeding has not been as helpful for the beavers as Seeding and planting on for the moose because it has been done more inland the exposed banks of the and not right on the river shores. However, some rivers Eastmain and beavers living along the streams more inland may feed Opinaca on it. • The shores should have been restored just as they were before.

• Weir #3 helps for the navigation upstream from it. • Weir #8 helps for the navigation on the enlargement of the Opinaca River upstream from the weir. • After the construction of the weirs the fish feeding Weir #3 on Eastmain grounds were renewed upstream from the weirs and the River and Weir #8 on quality and the quantity of fish increased but never Opinaca River reach the same state as before the project because the environment is still modified and the water level did not return to what it was before. • Sturgeons are stuck between weir #8 and #9 (not on the trapline) and have been almost fished out from that section of the Opinaca River.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

• #1) To built the other five weirs that were planned but never done on the rivers Opinaca and Eastmain (this would help the habitats to renew for the beavers and the fish and would also improve the navigation on the rivers).

• #2) To install a permanent camp for the nephews at Elmer Lake.

• #2) To replace the moss and log house that is falling apart by Elmer Lake by a cabin.

• #3) To build a fishing camp for the community members who do not have access to a trap line. This cabin would be easily accessible from the Route de la Baie James to fish in Duxbury Lake.

• #4) To build two goose ponds.

• #5) To maintain the snowmobile trail coming from Eastmain.

• #6) To fix a 4-wheeler trail to enhance the communal fishing activities in Duxbury Lake.

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC34 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Loss of most of the three major prime trapping area • Flooding of 14 log and moss camps and of 4 tent frames • Flooding of 3 valued gathering areas for the family and friends of other traplines Impoundment of • Loss of drinking water source in the Opinaca Lake the Opinaca • Flooding of a valued commercial fishing area Reservoir • Flooding of birth and burial sites • Loss of fishing nets and traps close by a camp that was flooded

• Aggrieved feelings • The father of the tallyman became “quiet” and unhappy because he had no place of his own to trap.

• Impacted Tallyman’s way of life • Loss of the tallyman possibility “to live as a tallyman”, leaving him without the “full resource to keep on doing the living off of the land”, leaving him with “not much land to manage”.

• Family livelihood jeopardized • Having to go and trap on other people trapline • Family divided to go and trap as guess on different traplines. • Limited trapping season on other people’s trapline • Reduce revenue due to only smaller parts of trapline allotted to trap on other people’s trapline Existence of the • After few years, embarrassment of having to ask to be “invited” Opinaca on other people’s trapline. Reservoir

• Income reduction • Not returning to the trapline for 10 years, the trapline not being fitted anymore to provide revenue. • Having to look for other revenue, such as working on the winter trail project for Sotrac

• Decrease of trapping potential for years to come • Trapline provides less beaver than what it used to before the existence of the Opinaca Reservoir, i.e. 10 beavers a year compared to a 100 previously

• Worsen or restricted plane landing conditions • No plane landing on the reservoir because of standing trees sticking out of the water.

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC34 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts sticking out of the water.

• Limited access to the trapline • No available revenue to air travel to the trapline in its eastern parts across the reservoir. • During the ’80, no larger motor boat to travel on a very windy reservoir where trees and debris float along. Trip considered too risky still today, even with the larger canoe the family bought themselves.

• Worsened navigation conditions • Unsafe and difficult canoe travelling condition to the camp # 4 built in 1994 southwest of Ukaw Lake due to trees and debris from the Reservoir and in the channel leading to the camp. Consequently, camp rarely accessed. Financial help requested from HQ to clean channel but it is an ongoing problem even 20 years after impoundment.

• Loss of security of snowmobile trails • Risky snowmobile travel on the reservoir because of the frozen dead trees in the ice cover.

• Modified fishing activities • When they became accessible, after 1995, La Sarcelle as well as OA-04 dike and OA-05 dam areas became good fishing spots, yet, still 20 years after impoundment, the fishermen are hooking out a lot of dead tree logs.

• Changes in diet • Fish from the reservoir have not only different taste and texture, it also has different appearance. • The beaver taste and texture changed as well, being less fat. The beaver adapted to drawdown by building storey lodges. • The family diet changed dramatically because there was 90% less beaver trapped and also less quality fish.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC34 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Access to the trapline for other users through the Route de la Baie James since 1973; Access for the tallyman and family and other Eastmain people, not before 1995 • Limited access to trapline through the Eastmain snowmobile trails (1978-1983) • Hardly any use of the winter snowmobile trail as the trip was too hard and not financially worth while considering the state of the trapline.

• Limited access to trapline through the Eastmain winter road (1983-1995) • New access to the trapline through the Eastmain permanent road since 1995 • As the permanent road from the community was to open, giving new access to the trapline, the family decided to built a new camp in 1994 with financial support of the Band. But the travel conditions on the reservoir made it almost impossible to reach. • After 1995, the community permanent road made it possible to built two new camps along the access road to Dam OA-05, accessible all year round. Route de la Baie • Road access and Increased presence of other users James (since • Because of road access, OA-04 dike, OA-05 Dam and La 1973) Sarcelle Control Structure areas are used by the whole community of Eastmain for fishing, goose and moose hunting in the La Sarcelle area. Use also by many non-Cree fishermen and moose hunters.

• Corridor hunting / New harvesting area • Other users kill beaver without asking permission, beaver lodges being found empty along the road.

• Road access and Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • Because of road access, the family lost confidence and security as they got robbed. They do not leave any equipment in the camp and bring it back and forth from the community. • An island and part of the main land burnt out because of carelessness of a non-Cree sport hunter.

• Road access and Loss of control of the tallyman • The opening of the road is mentioned as having an impact on the tallyman’s role as he lost control on the management of the trapline

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC34 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non- Cree hunters • As they already do, the tallyman and his brothers will refrain from bringing their families on the trapline during the non-native moose hunting season because of the increased risk of firearm accidents. The men will go during the last week of that hunting season because some moose hunter tend to leave as soon as they have killed a moose. At that point, it is safer to go on the trapline.

• Lack of information on the impoundment Communication • Did not know the exact period when impoundment would occur. Process

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • Not aware of the presence of two landing areas. The Plane landing area • family does not see the usefulness of this measure (two) since pilots do not want to sea land on the reservoir • Multi-purpose areas (access, navigation) • Missing information - At OA-05 Dam • Boat Ramp - One at La Sarcelle • Missing information Control Structure - One at OA-05 Dam • Not aware of two of those areas. Hugo knows of one but because it is not easily accessible, he cannot • Cleaning for evaluate its usefulness for the wildlife. There is some reconstitution of floating moss in that part of the reservoir that needs to riparian habitat (three be cleaned to allow accessibility. A snowmobile trail sites) could also be done on the land as the ice on the reservoir is not safe to travel on to access this area during the spring time.

• Navigation channel • Not aware of the channel (one channel)

8 Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • Did participate but could trap out only one area, mainly the Mistamiskwas Lake area. Some beaver were still Trapping out program • present on the trapline at the time of impoundment. In (1979) two lodges that he saw, he suspects the beaver to have drowned. (A Sotrac program) • The tallyman participated. He said that some tagged • Beaver Relocation beaver came back to their original site inland as the site Program they were put in was too much of a different habitat (on the coast) • As it was stated in the James Bay Agreement, why the • Reorganization of CTA did not extend the flooded trapline, modifying traplines borders of other traplines to give back land to the impacted families ? (A Sotrac responsibility) • The family does not understand why Wemindji people were compensated for the flooded camps and not the Eastmain people. Is it the Wemindji Band Council took Subsidies • upon himself to compensate ? (Note from HQ : The funds for this program in Wemindji comes from the Sakami Eeyou Corporation and not from Sotrac.)

Suggested Mitigation Measures • Cleaning of Reservoir Shores (measure #1) • Shore cleaning of dead trees and debris along the west border of the reservoir for goose hunting • Shore cleaning of dead trees in La Sarcelle area that is a fishing area as well as moose and goose hunting area. • Shore cleaning of floating islands, debris and dead trees along the south-west part of the reservoir : it would make life easier and safer to access camp #4 • Navigation channel (measure #2)

• Regular program of cleaning of a navigation channel leading to camp #4 • A channel needs to be cleaned in the potential goose hunting area in the northeast part of the reservoir.

• Air Travel and Reservoir Goose Hunting Helicopter Subsidy Program • Helicopter landing pad and travel to their camp if debris keep on blocking the channel. • Hugo mentioned that Wemindji trappers had such an air travel service and wonders why Eastmain people do not have such a service. It should be implemented.

10 Suggested Mitigation Measures

• A major goose area was identified around islands in the north central part of the trapline. As it is not accessible springtime by snowmobile, it is not presently used but it has a high potential if only an Helicopter Subsidy Program could be set up to facilitate goose hunting in the reservoir area. • The only place where the tallyman and his family could trap healthy beaver is on the eastern part of the trapline across from the reservoir, an area that is not readily accessible for security reason as well as for economical reason, the family not being equipped with the appropriate boats nor being eligible to an airlift program to go and trap in that area. They would want access to this safe trapping area • Snowmobile trails (measure #3) • Snowmobile trail on the land from OA-05 Dam to goose areas in La Sarcelle area to facilitate access and hunting along the shores. • Snowmobile trail from the access road to the reservoir shores just south of La Sarcelle area. (The family recently received funds to do the trail). • Snowmobile trail on the land from OA-05 Dam to southern hunting and trapping areas • Goose hunting areas and goose ponds (measure #4) • In the La Sarcelle Control Structure, there would be more geese area and the area would be a better goose hunting area if it was cleaned up as it is already easily accessible. It is hard for the geese to feed because of all the debris that accumulate below the Structure. • The La Sarcelle goose hunting area could be extended south along the shore because geese are also found there. Shores needs to be cleaned and made accessible. • A major goose area was identified around islands in the north central part of the trapline. A potential goose pond area was identified • Goose hunting camp (measure #5) • A goose hunting camp site was identified in the north eastern part of the reservoir. • Study to find sturgeon in the Opinaca Reservoir • Sturgeon may be present in its deepest part. The tallyman and his family want to be informed of the result of the present studies. • Individual Compensation • Hugo thinks individuals should be compensated, not all the community. • The community votes for programs that are not much of a help for the most impacted families. For example: the beaver farm project on the flooded traplines was rejected by other trappers. • Electricity in their camps • A demand that the family considers a “really small demand” compared to all the money Hydro gets out of their land and to the damage caused. • Education of non-Cree fishermen • Not to pollute the water, they should be told not to throw heads and inside of fish in the water but to leave it on the ground for some animals to eat it.

11 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Disturbance /Avoided area • The first year of construction, the tallyman’s late father did spend time in the area but because the construction was causing too much disturbance, he did not returned in the construction area before it was over, loosing the use of his land for that period of time. Construction • Presence of Hydro/SEBJ Workers Period • A canoe disappeared from camp #6 (close to OA-11 Dam) in (1978-1982) 1979; may be associated with the presence of the workers

• Airstrip • The tallyman has no comment on the airstrip that was built on his trapline. It was used mostly during the construction period and him and his father were not present in that area during that time.

• Permanent loss of most of the land base, loss of the landscape • Loss of prime beaver trapping areas • Almost all the trapping areas around camps #2 and #5, and the northern part of the trapping areas around #3 and #4 have been flooded

• Loss of small and big game hunting areas • Loss of fishing sites and spawning grounds • Loss of travelling routes and canoe landing and plane landing areas Impoundment of • Flooding of camp sites the Opinaca • Camps #2, #3, #4 and #6, along with many winter camps along Reservoir the trapping routes

• Loss of drinking water source • Flooding of gathering places • The spring gathering place on the shore of Petit lac Opinaca

• Flooding of one burial and two birth sites • Running into expenses • They took the equipment out of the camps to be flooded at their own expenses

4 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts

• Family Livelihood jeopardized • No trapping on the trapline for two years from 1980 to 1982; they went trapping as guest on other traplines including reduction of the incomes due to a smaller share of trapping

• Decrease of the trapping potential for years to come • Reduction of incomes coming from fur bearing animals • Became workers : The tallyman and his sons worked to pay for their own plane fare and expenses, not asking for subsidies, and because already at the time the trapping revenue were not sufficient to cover the expenses, they became seasonal workers. The family’s needs were in deed increasing and they could not see how they could make a living out of the fur bearing animals and fully support their family, even with the support of the ISP.

• Aggrieved feelings • Ellen and her husband were concerned about how to raise the children and survive on the resources from the land.

• Decrease of available food resources for the following years Existence of the • Decrease in moose and bear population in the years following the Opinaca flooding Reservoir • Decrease in the muskrat population

• Decrease in fishing activities and fish consumption due to mercury • The fish consumption decreased dramatically today compared to the 80’s, when the fishing activity was still an important survival activity. • Fishing activities now became secondary for the family, because of the mercury problems; They are careful about how many fish they eat and do not net fish anymore in the reservoir to provide themselves with fish. It happens only occasionally that they eat fish from the reservoir, sometimes one or two fish, said the tallyman. • Today, the family has one net fishing spot outside the reservoir, downstream of the OA-1 Dam on the Eastmain River where they catch whitefish, walleye and pike, spring and fall time. Overall, they catch less fish than before the project. The tallyman also fishes on the James Bay coast.

• Decrease in game and fish quality

5 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • According to Ellen Mayappo, there has been a change in the taste and texture of fish and meat all over the trapline that may be in part due to the existence of the reservoir. Fish is less firm, beavers and moose have less fat. The quality of the water in the reservoir affected by the flooded vegetation would be a cause of this change. • The tallyman confirms that because the water is not clean and because the fish feeds on a different flooded vegetation ground, still today, the taste of the fish is not the same anymore. Fish from the reservoir are frozen and used wintertime as bate for the traps.

• Gain of new waterfowl species on the trapline • New coastal species on the trapline : geese and waterfowl are now present because of the existence of a new large body of water. • New waterfowl hunting areas are not accessible in the spring as they are located in the middle of the reservoir.

• Restricted plane landing conditions • In the 80’s, the planes did not want to sea land on the reservoir after freeze-up because of bad ice conditions to unequal ice thickness and to cracking ice caused by water drawdown.

• Relocation of camp due to modified environment • The family chose a new camp location away from the reservoir, on a lake where planes could land. (camp #9).

• Worsen navigation conditions • The floating moss islands and drifting tree logs as well as dead standing trees in the water makes it almost impossible to navigate safely on the reservoir and to access the shores that are full of all those debris. As the family felt their16 feet paddling canvas canoe was not suited to go such a large body of water and did not either owned a larger motor boat equipped with a sonar to navigate across the reservoir, access to camp #9 and to the eastern part of the trapline was jeopardized. Consequently, the eastern part of the trapline is accessible only if you have the proper equipment.

• Avoidance of the impacted area • No exploration of the flooded parts of the trapline until very recently because of the unsafe navigation conditions and the unsafe ice conditions.

6 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Navigation obstacles • The many navigation obstacles found in the reduced flow section of the Eastmain River are a problem for the trapline users when they hunt moose and trap beaver in the creeks along the shores during the fall or when they go net fishing spring and fall time. Diversion of One has to be familiar with the river not to break their canoe Eastmain River motor as it did happen before to the tallyman. Reduced flow • Loss of a trapping route • Below weir #5, the river is dried out and no navigation is possible. That is a loss of a beaver trapping route for the tallyman.

• No access to the Route de la Baie James / Access to trapline for others since 1973 but not for the tallyman and family • Access to trapline limited through the Eastmain snowmobile trails 1980 • Access to trapline limited through the Eastmain Winter Road (1983) • Access and use of Route de la Baie James and the La Sarcelle access Road since the opening of the Eastmain Community Road in 1995 • Allow to go often on the trapline even for short periods of time. • After opening of permanent road from the community, choice of the location of the main camp #7, built around 1996, close by the access road and accessible all year round. Route de la Baie • New harvesting areas for the tallyman along the roads James • Hunting along the road by the family (moose hunting; more bears And hunted; more porcupines hunted) La Sarcelle Access Roads • Increased presence of other users • Since the opening of the Route de la Baie James, increase use of the land by other Crees and non-Crees hunters and fishers: They come by the access roads, some of them bringing their canoe for fishing and moose hunting. They fish everywhere, in the rivers and the creeks at the road crossing, in the lakes at a walking distance, also in the reservoir.

• Corridor Hunting • Moose hunting along the La Sarcelle Access Road and along the Eastmain River by other Crees and non-Crees

• Increased pressure on resources

7 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • The increased presence of other users, Crees and non-Crees, creates pressure on the wildlife resources and now creates competition in between users for access to the food resources.

• Modified hunting activities due to increased presence of non- Cree hunters • Because there is so many non-Cree sport hunters already coming around, the tallyman postpones his own moose hunting until after they have left, as he fells it is too dangerous to hunt while they are around. They shoot a lot, they also practice target shooting, disturbing the animals, threatening the security of people. Not enough wild life agent come around to see that, stated the tallyman, adding that some poaching also occurs on the trapline • Because of the reduced land base, it becomes even more important to not over kill and the preserve the species and the different resources, thus, as he fells it is part of this tallyman’s responsibilities, the activities are limited even more that other users are also active on the land.

• Lack of consideration for the tallyman’s rights, loss of control • There is a loss of control in managing the trapline and resources because some other Crees and non-Cree hunters lack respect for the tallyman. “Outside interests ignore traplines rights” (Roderick Mayappo).

• Loss of security, confidence and tranquility • No valued material left in camp because of risk of breaking-in, and actual steeling of equipment as it already happened in the past.

• Lack of consultation • The family was not consulted about the project

No information on the date of impoundment • Communication • They have not been informed about the impoundment in a proper Process way: • They were just told to removed their equipment from the future flooded area

8 Impacts According to Interviewees VC35 Source of Identification / Comments on impacts impacts • Concerns about the quality of resources • Concerns about the use of chemicals to slow down vegetation growth; unused berry picking area (it was said in the community, in the 80’s, not to eat blueberries under the lines) Transmission lines • Gain of new access trails • Non-Crees use the trails under the transmission lines with 4- wheelers to go hunting

Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • Dead trees along the shore; Navigation obstacles. Multi-purpose areas According to the tallyman, this is due to the water level (access, navigation) that went higher than what was initially planed. Cleaning for reconstitution of riparian • Not aware of it habitat

Navigation channel • Not aware of it.

• Not aware of them. Three plane landing sites • Were probably not consulted because they are not well chosen except for one.

Clearing for spawning • Not aware of it. ground

9 Interviewees Evaluation of La Grande Complex Remedial Measures and Works • The tallyman has not much use of those boat ramps because he does not navigate much on the reservoir. Two boat ramps The family’s canoe (16’, 18’ and 22’ canoes) are suitable for lakes, not for a larger water body such as the reservoir. If he had the appropriate equipment (boat and sonar), he would now start exploring the reservoir. • Below weir #5, the river is dried out and no navigation is possible. • Weir #5 is in good condition. The tallyman noted that this weir was built with a different structure and a different material than Weir #3. This latter has valves that are to be opened and bolts that are to be greased regularly. • Concerns about a misunderstanding and question to Weir #5 Hydro-Québec: Twice it was said by Hydro-Québec representatives that the weirs where the tallyman’s responsibility and it was also implied that the tallyman were not taking good care of them. If the weirs are the tallyman’s responsibility, they should be given a training and the necessary material to do such a maintenance. If not, Hydro-Québec representatives should stop blaming the tallyman and do the proper maintenance themselves. • The tallyman notes that most remedial measures were General Comment done without consulting the tallyman and thus that he Cree Expertise neglected cannot benefit from those measures because most of them are not appropriate

Interviewees Evaluation of Other Measures and Works Measure or work Evaluation and comments • 201 beavers were trapped • The tallyman said that it represents a loss of revenues Trapping out program and food for the trappers for the years following the (1979) program.

SOTRAC subsidies • Material paid for the construction of camp #9

• Concerns about a misunderstanding and question to Hydro-Québec : Twice it was said by Hydro-Québec Weir #5 on Eastmain representatives, that the weirs where the tallyman’s River responsibility and it was also implied that the tallyman were not taking good care of them. If the weirs are the tallyman’s responsibility, they should be given a training and the necessary material to do such a maintenance. If not, Hydro-Québec10 representatives should stop blaming the tallyman and do the proper maintenance themselves. tallyman’s responsibility, they should be given a training and the necessary material to do such a maintenance. If not, Hydro-Québec representatives should stop blaming the tallyman and do the proper maintenance themselves.

Suggested Mitigation Measures • Goose Ponds : A good goose area was identified in the reservoir located in the center of the trapline. The tallyman suggest that this area be organized as a goose pond. • Goose Ponds in Dump site and Borrow pits : One dump site and five borrow pits are found on the western part of the trapline. The latter are used by non-native hunters as camp sites. The tallyman suggests that they be fixed up as goose ponds. • Helicopter Subsidy Program for Goose Hunting on the Reservoir : The tallyman also suggests that an Helicopter Subsidy Program be set up to facilitate goose hunting in the reservoir area. • Goose Pond : As suggested by Ernie Moses : to develop a goose hunting area in the reduced flow part of Eastmain River with a 4-wheelers access road under the 6-7 transmission lines, and a trail that only 4-wheelers could use on the north shore of river all along from Weir #5 to OA-11 Dam (on VC35 trapline). The tallyman approves this request and fells it is going to be also for his benefit for his future use for years to come. • Access Road and Goose Pond around Weir #5 : As suggested by Ernie Moses : the tallyman agrees that HQ opens the access road to Weir #5 for truck access (2 km missing) and to develop a goose pond area. (on VC35 trapline) • Check point on La Sarcelle and OA-11 Dam Access Roads : The tallyman requested a check-point on the access road going to La Sarcelle Control Structure and OA-11 Dam to control the expected increased traffic of Cree and non-Cree moose hunters due to the Weh Sees Indohoun Protected Zone south of his trapline • Road Signs on La Sarcelle and OA-11 Dam Access Roads : The tallyman would want 2 road signs to be posted 2 km up and down from his cabin mentioning, in french, the presence of a camp in order to prevent the hunters from shooting in the camp area. These type of signs are already used in other camp areas along the Route de la Baie James. They would be very useful to prevent accident during the moose hunting season. • Surveyers Lines : The tallyman suggests that these surveyors lines be cleared for the hunters to keep on using them as hunting grounds.

11 Other comments • Comments about the beaver relocation program on the trapline before the Opinaca Reservoir Impoundment. Which solution between relocation and trapping out seems to be the best ? • To validate the information about the disappearance of lynx linked to the impoundment of prime areas. • Was the navigation on Little Opinaca river (for trapping route #16) affected and how? • What did the tallyman wanted to say about the gates and the buildings built by Hydro?

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