CHURCHILL FALLS, Newfoundland (AP) — Forced to shift venues because of a protest by Indians, the leaders of Quebec and Newfoundland agreed Monday to cooperate on a huge hydroelectric project that would serve Canadian and U.S. markets.
The estimated 100 Innu demonstrators complained that their community had not been consulted in preliminary talks on the project.
Quebec and Newfoundland say the project would create about 50,000 jobs and eventually provide 3,200 megawatts of new power. About 1,200 megawatts would be available to Quebec for its domestic markets and for sale to the northeast United States.
Under the proposed deal, Newfoundland’s power company would own two-thirds of the project, and Quebec’s power company would own one-third.
Talks on the project arose out of Newfoundland’s unsuccessful attempts to renegotiate a 1969 deal which allowed Quebec to purchase electricity from the existing Churchill Falls project at a cheap price, then sell it at a big profit to U.S. power companies.
The Innu Indians say they won’t support the new project until they are compensated for the massive flooding that resulted when the first one was built almost 30 years ago.