Keys to understanding the development issues of La Grande Alliance
In the driver’s seat
Keys to understanding the development issues of La Grande Alliance
by Patrick Quinn
The Cree Development Corporation recently met with the Cree Nation Youth Council to discuss transportation infrastructure development proposed by La Grande Alliance.
Despite over 30 focus groups, 64 public meetings and hundreds of interviews with land users, there remains much skepticism to the project that former Grand Chief Abel Bosum called “an ambitious process to transform Eeyou Istchee’s infrastructure and economy” when the Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Quebec in 2020.
This approach to studying feasibility involved consultations with communities over environmental and social criteria. Community information officers and engineering firms met with thousands of Crees in the past year to spread awareness while emphasizing there’s no commitment to actually build anything.
“It was very unfortunate that there was a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding,” said CDC President Clarke Shecapio. “It’s for Cree communities to be more proactive in the development of the territory. Like any other Cree who travels on the Billy Diamond Highway, there is a concern about the traffic and maintenance.”
The territory’s transportation infrastructure is crumbling. Although nearly $700 million has gone into BDH upgrades since 2017, some parts are already deteriorating. Projected heavier loads and increased traffic could soon make travelling the road quite dangerous.
About 1 million tons will be added annually from the three approved mines opening in the next three years. The projected fourfold increase in trucks combined with the tendency for people to drive down the middle of the road in winter could make accidents inevitable without urgent intervention.
While fixing roads may pave the way for mining development, the reality is that existing infrastructure was always built to facilitate the movement of workers and materials. La Grande Alliance intends to put the Cree Nation in the driver’s seat for the region’s sustainable development, improving social and economic outcomes for communities.
“The question is how changes in infrastructure lead to greater development in the communities,” explained Marc Dunn, who as president of SYM Consulting has been involved in the process since the beginning. “People have a healthy skepticism, and I don’t blame them.”
The process has prioritized minimizing impacts for land users. Ideas like building a highway between coastal communities must be balanced with pragmatic concerns about costs, environmental damage and the restriction of wildlife movement.
“We tell people don’t misconstrue this participation as consent,” Dunn said. “This is a hypothetical exercise. If it were to be built, where could it go? Normally this stuff is discussed at the impact assessment phase later down the line, but we felt that would be too late.”
La Grand Alliance proposes upgrading and paving community access roads and the Route du Nord, with improved signage, safety and environmental measures, and the development of multi-purpose trails. Last summer’s fire evacuations highlighted the appeal of a proposed secondary access road for Mistissini.
A more challenging proposal would extend Road 167 over 500 km to the Trans-Taiga Highway, improving access to the eastern territory and significantly reducing travel time between Mistissini and Chisasibi. Crossing 15 traplines and adding 25 bridges, it would avoid protected areas and caribou corridors as much as possible.
A proposed extension of the BDH would finally provide road access to Whapmagoostui. While the northernmost Cree community was initially identified as a potential host for a deep-sea port, economic feasibility and sedimentation from the recent landslide suggested a seasonal harbour for small vessels was a better choice.
Floating wharves would provide easy access for 20 small vessels sheltered by a breakwater. A boat ramp would be available for loading the community’s goods via dedicated barges with a causeway to connect the onshore area with local roads. The site chosen would make a deep-sea port possible.
A more controversial aspect of La Grande Alliance is the expansion of railway lines, which could be owned by the Cree Nation. The study states an average-length train could transport the material of 200 trucks, increasing road and wildlife safety while reducing air and noise pollution.
A proposed return to service of the Grevet-Chapais line, which was dismantled in the 1990s, would require new bridges and passenger stations at Chapais and south of Waswanipi. A bigger undertaking would be a railway following the BDH corridor in three phases over 30 years, which was judged to only make economic sense from Matagami to km 381.
The study’s emphasis on sustainable development contrast with the MOU’s first announcement, which promised the $4.7 billion “agreement” would “unlock” the region’s natural resources. Surprise turned to suspicion; almost 900 signed a petition launched by Cree youth criticizing the lack of consultation.
“Definitely, people thought we were building a project,” Bosum told the Nation. “It’s normal in the Cree world for people to react to what they don’t understand as soon as you talk about projects. I did expect questions to come up.”
Bosum discussed Cree-owned infrastructure during his first meeting with newly elected Premier François Legault in 2018, realizing that insufficient transportation pathways for new mining initiatives created an opportunity to serve the needs of the growing Cree population.
After first securing 30% of Eeyou Istchee for environmental protection, La Grande Alliance planned to mitigate impacts for what Bosum believes is inevitable development. Instead of waiting to react to someone else’s plan, Bosum felt long-term planning was important for potential projects that will take 10 to 15 years to launch.
“I don’t think our young people want to just wait for something to happen,” said Bosum. “Personally, I’d hate to be the one who is blamed for doing nothing or trying to avoid something. If we don’t plan, we’re not really leading our people.”
, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nation
