James Bay Opponents Speak at K-School

Opponents of a controversial Canadian hydroelectric power project brought their fight to the Kennedy School of Government yesterday, urging an audience of more than 100 to oppose the facility's construction by conserving energy.

Panelists charged that the Hydro-Quebec project, which is currently being built in James Bay, Quebec, is damaging the area's ecosystem and destroying traditional native culture.

"Development projects, like the hydrological project, have a great impact on our people," said Matthew Mukash, the community liason officer for the native Crees, who live in Canada's Great White River area.

"Hydro-Quebec has no regard for our sacred lands," Mukash said.

Efforts to conserve electricity can help to raise awareness of the effects James Bay and similar projects have on surrounding areas, Mukash said.

When plans for Hydro-Quebec were announced in 1970, Quebec's premier, Robert Bourassa, called it the "project of the century." But Ann H. Stewart, coordinator of the Massachusetts Save James Bay organization, said opponents now refer to the project as the "folly of the century."