"We accept it as normal that people who have never been on the land, who have no history or connection to the country, may legally secure the right to come in and by the very nature of their enterprises leave in their wake a cultural and physical landscape utterly transformed and desecrated.......We take this as a given for it is the foundation of our system, the way commerce extracts value and profit in a resource-driven economy. But if you think about it, especially from the perspective of so many other cultures, touched and inspired by quite different visions of life and land, it appears to be a very odd and highly anomalous human behavior."
-Wade Davis in The Wayfinders

Oct 28, 2008

Public Hearing For The Romaine Complex Has Begun

The public hearing for the Romaine Hydro Project began last night in Havre-Saint-Pierre. There has been no mention of video confrencing to allow people from around Quebec to participate and voice thier opinions about the project. BAPE has an audio broadcast of the hearings on their web page about the public hearing.
http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%20Romaine/index.htm

More importantly it is possible to submit questions to the review panel via e-mail until Novemember 7th, 2008.
**Important**
This first part of the public hearing is intended to complement information about the project. Opinions about the project will be voiced in the coming weeks. As a paddler I would recommend asking whether or not they have considered maintaining the Romaine as a challenging canoe and kayak route. Will the rapids, falls, portages, and campsites be maintained? Are there any plans to do such? Hydro Quebec has taken into consideration how they will manage the impact to snowmobile travel on the river in winter, but not to canoe and kayak travel during the late spring, summer, and fall. Submit questions here-
This is the english translated link-
http://74.125.93.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%2520Romaine/participer/formulaire-La_Romaine.htm&usg=ALkJrhjEKsb5g8MH_9JRMi4lBrSBAMJW6g

The original link-
http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%20Romaine/participer/formulaire-La_Romaine.htm

or they can be e-mailed to questions@bape.gouv.qc.ca

Oct 20, 2008

More Information on the Romaine Complex

This is a good link for learning more about the Romaine Complex. It works well to translate the webpages using the Google Language Tools.

http://www.hydroquebec.com/romaine/index.html

Oct 13, 2008

Romaine River

Article published in Rutland Herald on the Romaine River. Vermonter's will face choices for maintaining a green energy portfolio in the near future. Will the state continue to live in denial of their footprint that is firmly stamped in the wilderness of Quebec?

link to article-
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081012/ENVIRONMENT/810120394/1033/ENVIRONMENT

Oct 8, 2008

Letter to Minister of Sustainable Development Quebec

From Alliance Romaine-

Please take a moment to help the Romaine River by sending a letter to the Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and Parks in Quebec. Currently, the public audiences, which provide an opportunity for people to comment and ask questions regarding Hydro Quebec's plans to build four dams on the Romaine River, will only be held in Havre Saint Pierre. As a result, few opponents to the project and few journalists will be present at the public audiences.
We are asking that the public be able to participate via video conferencing in Montreal and Quebec City. We need to show the Minister that there is enough interest regarding this project outside of Havre St Pierre. Please take a moment to download the letter attached, type in your signature and email it(romaine@bape.gouv.qc.ca) or mail it to the Ministry. This is incredibly important. If we can not be present in large numbers at these meetings, the ministry will conclude that there is no opposition.
The letter attached is written in French. For those of you who do not speak French, the letter reminds the Minister that a project of this scale effects people beyond Havre St Pierre. Additionally, under provincial law, people have a right to participate in public audiences. By conducting the meetings in a remote area, the Ministry is limiting people's opportunity to participate.
The meetings are scheduled to start on October 27th, please do not delay, send this letter today!
Thank you for participating in our efforts to prevent the damming ofthe Romaine River, one of Quebec's last untouched rivers.

Here is the letter in french. An english translation is below. Copy and paste it with your name typed at the bottom and send it to romaine@bape.gouv.qc.ca


Octobre 2008

Madame Line Beauchamp,
Ministre du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs,
Édifice Marie-Guyart, 30e étage
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Québec, Québec
G1R 5V7


OBJET : DEMANDE D’ACCÈS INTERACTIF À PARTIR DE MONTRÉAL ET QUÉBEC À L’AUDIENCE PUBLIQUE CONCERNANT LE PROJET D’AMÉNAGEMENT HYDROÉLECTRIQUE DE LA ROMAINE.


Madame la Ministre,


Votre gouvernement a déposé un projet de loi qui reconnaît l’eau comme un patrimoine collectif de la nation québécoise. L’eau de la Romaine ne fait pas exception et c’est à la population du Québec qu’il appartient de décider de son avenir et de sa protection, non à quelques représentants de groupes d’intérêts locaux, aussi bien intentionnés soient-ils. Nous voulons donc que le plus grand nombre possible de résidents du Québec puissent y participer. Les audiences se tenant exclusivement à Havre-St-Pierre, la distance, les coûts et le temps nécessaires pour s’y rendre constituent d’importants freins à la participation. En ce moment, le BAPE offre pour la période de question une Web diffusion en mode audio seulement qui empêche d’avoir une véritable participation publique. En conséquence, nous demandons, par le biais de vidéoconférences ou tout autre moyen technique, d’avoir la possibilité d’interagir directement pendant la période de questions et celle d’expression des opinions. Nous vous rappelons que la participation publique est un principe fondamental qui apparaît à la Loi sur développement durable et qui doit guider l’administration de l’État. Nous comptons donc sur vous pour prendre les moyens favorisant cette participation. Ces audiences devant débuter le 27 octobre 2008, nous vous demandons d’agir avec diligence.


En vous remerciant,
YOUR NAME HERE

English Version-

Madame Line Beauchamp,
Ministre du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs,
Édifice Marie-Guyart, 30e étage
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Québec, Québec
G1R 5V7

SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INTERACTIVE ACCESS FROM MONTREAL AND QUEBEC CITY FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE DRAFT OF THE ROMAINE COMPLEX

Your government has introduced a bill that recognizes water as a collective heritage of the Quebec nation. Water from the Romaine is no exception and it is for the people of Quebec to decide its future and its protection, not a few representatives from local interest groups, however well-intentioned they may be. We therefore want the largest possible number of Quebec residents to participate. The hearings held exclusively in Havre-St-Pierre exclude many people because of the distance, cost and time required to travel there. Right now, the BAPE bid for the question period as an audio web-broadcast prevents interested parties from having a true public participation. Accordingly, we ask that through video-conferencing or other technical means, to have the opportunity to interact directly during Question Period and express our opinion. We remind you that public participation is a fundamental principle of sustainable development laws, which must guide the administration of the Quebec. We are counting on you to take this means of promoting participation. These hearings are scheduled to begin on 27 October 2008, we urge you to act expeditiously.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME HERE
 
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