Life, the city | In the Hydro-Québec archives

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“Here, there are 250 years of history,” enthuses Martine Rodrigue, information management advisor at the Hydro-Québec Archives Center.

A document dating from 1744. Photos of the first expedition to James Bay. A speech that Daniel Johnson will never have given.

All these historical treasures are accessible free of charge to the general public, at the Hydro-Québec Archives Center, avenue Jeanne-d’Arc, in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. There are 4 linear kilometers and 75,000 boxes of documents, photos and various objects.

In 2023, Martine Rodrigue had more than 900 requests to consult the archives, a quarter of which were for people who did not work at Hydro-Québec. “Students, historians, publishing houses, journalists…” she lists. “Former employees also want to see photos for nostalgia. »

His colleague, Vanessa Petit, remembers the visit of a man who had participated in the construction of the first transportation line to James Bay. “We found a photo of his crane and he was very proud. »

“It is the historical heritage of Hydro-Québec, but it is not a library or a documentation center,” explains Martine Rodrigue.

However, any representative of the public can make an appointment to come and do research there. It was a condition when the Archives Act was passed in 1983. As Hydro-Québec already kept archives, it reached an agreement with the government so that they remain internal – and not at BAnQ.

Many documents do not have that much “value”, but must be kept for a certain period. The most popular are the approximately 500,000 photographs. Some date back almost a century.

A little history

But why do the Hydro-Québec archives cover 250 years of history when the state company was founded in 1944 and electricity arrived in Montreal homes around 1880?

Before Hydro-Québec, private companies had a monopoly on electricity. “It was a very lucrative market,” recalls Martine Rodrigue. Areas in the countryside were not electrified, so they could not develop. »

Intellectuals have sounded the alarm and pleaded in favor of a standardized service, including Philippe Hamel. “The great forgotten one of history,” says Martine Rodrigue. A dentist by training, Philippe Hamel campaigned for the nationalization of electricity well before René Lévesque. In 1932 he published the work The electricity trust: Agent of corruption and domination.

In Montreal, two companies shared – before merging – the lucrative electricity market at the turn of the 20th century.^e century, namely the Royal Electric Company Montreal Light (owned by Sir Rodolphe Forget, linked to the Domaine Forget) and the Montreal Gas Company (which belonged to Sir Herbert Holt).

150 kilometers from the metropolis, Shawinigan Water & Power also dominated its market. “The company wanted to break into Montreal and bought the land where we are located here,” explains Vanessa Petit. At the time, it was the town of Maisonneuve, and there were many factories (including the Biscuiterie Viau) and factories such as the Dufresne family’s shoe factory. Shawinigan Water & Power built a transmission line considered revolutionary. Its voltage was 50 kV, while today it reaches 735 kV.

A first terminal was built at the intersection of Rue d’Orléans and Rue de Rouen, which will eventually supply the Montreal tramway. Its president was Julian Smith, an American. “I met his grandson, who came from Washington to see us. He was on a sort of pilgrimage to see his grandfather’s stuff. […] We also received Mr. Holt’s great-grandson,” adds Martine Rodrigue.

In 1934, there will be the Electricity Commission (the Lapointe commission). Ten years later, the Quebec Hydroelectric Commission would follow, chaired by Télesphore-Damien Bouchard. We are skipping steps, but the latter will take the keys to Power Building, today the Jean-Lesage building, the head office of Hydro-Québec.

Historical treasures

This entire period is documented at the Hydro-Québec Archives Center. Martine Rodrigue fell in love with the series of photos immortalizing the journey of topographer-surveyor Gustave-Joseph Papineau during an expedition on the Nottaway River in 1912 and 1913. You can see landscapes, glaciers and members of the Nation cries. “These are the first images of James Bay. »

“That’s a bit like our baby,” says Martine Rodrigue, taking out a sort of old parchment from an envelope. It’s rare that we have in our hands a document from 1744.”

Dating from the French Regime, it is an act of donation of a lot from a couple to their son in exchange for care until their death. This lot in the Longue-Pointe district (in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) would later belong to Shawinigan Water & Power.

Documents from the archives contain secret codes, others relate losses of shares during the sinking of the Titanic and theEmpress of Ireland. We can even read the undelivered speech of Daniel Johnson, who died in 1968 on the night before the inauguration of the Manic-5 dam.

In addition to its archives accessible to the public, Hydro-Québec offers many free tours, notably of its power stations and interpretation centers^⁠. “There is the legend at Hydro-Québec that René Lévesque showed up at a power station to visit it. The person at reception did not recognize him and refused him entry. René Lévesque would then have ruled that it was accessible and free for everyone,” says Gabrielle Leblanc, communications advisor.

A professor has already said to Martine Rodrigue: “If we can’t show archives, why have them? »