The largest Innu community is suing Hydro-Québec. The Uashat Mak Mani-utenam band council, near Sept-Îles, is claiming more than $2.2 billion for the destruction of its territory created by the Churchill Falls power plant, located between Quebec and Labrador.
Submerged hunting territories over nearly 6,500 km2destruction of “spiritual places”, disruption of caribou migration and therefore the practice of traditional activities: the completion of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric complex has profoundly harmed the lives of the Innu of Uashat Mak Mani-utenam, they claim in a lawsuit filed January 20 in the Superior Court of Quebec.
“We are not just asking for compensation for the past and the present. It’s a request in perpetuity. If we go to court, it’s so that we have amounts in perpetuity,” demanded Chief Mike McKenzie, who represents some 5,000 members of his community, in an interview with the To have to.
They are thus claiming $2 billion for past damages, $200 million “as punitive and exemplary damages”, as well as royalties of around 15% of future profits from the operation of the plant.
The 5,428-megawatt plant was built in the 1960s and 1970s. Hydro-Québec must renew the contract signed at the time with the Churchill Falls Corporation, the Canadian company that operates the plant, by 2041. The latter is also targeted by the lawsuit of the Innu for another 200 million dollars in damages.
“This pursuit comes at a good time. [Hydro-Québec] is in the process of negotiating a new energy contract without notifying the First Nations, continues the chief. […] They never had the consent of the community of Uashat Mak Mani-utenam. »
This project is “unconstitutional because of the violation of our ancestral rights”, insists Chief McKenzie.
Hydro-Quebec did not want to comment on the case, given its judicial nature. “We are convinced that the ongoing dialogue with the community will allow us to establish a relationship based on trust,” spokesperson Francis Labbé said in writing.
Last December, the Innus of Uashat Mak Mani-utenam won another case before the Superior Court. They argued that Hydro-Québec had not consulted them sufficiently for the construction of a 15-kilometre line on their ancestral territory. The Court ruled, among other things, that “in the spirit of reconciliation, discussions must continue”.