Editing James Bay Project (section)

{{Short description|Hydroelectric dams in Quebec, Canada}}
[[Image:Déversoir, Centrale hydro-électrique Robert-Bourassa.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The spillway of the Robert-Bourassa Dam (formerly La Grande-2)]]

The '''James Bay Project''' ({{langx|fr|projet de la Baie-James}}) involves the construction of a series of [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] power stations on the [[La Grande River]] in northwestern [[Quebec]], Canada by [[government-owned corporation|state-owned]] [[public utility|utility]] [[Hydro-Québec]], and the diversion of neighbouring rivers into the La Grande [[Drainage basin|watershed]]. It is located between [[James Bay]] to the west and [[Labrador]] to the east, and its waters flow from the [[Laurentian Plateau]] of the [[Canadian Shield]]. The project is one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world. It has cost upwards of US$20 billion to build{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} and has an installed generating capacity of 15.244 [[Gigawatt|GW]], at the cost of 7,000 square miles of Cree hunting lands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xnnrSB6dd8C&dq=15%2C244+megawatts+james+bay&pg=PA87 |title=Native America Today: A Guide to Community Politics and Culture |date=1999 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-077-2 |language=en}}</ref> It has been built since 1974 by [[James Bay Energy]] ({{abbr|SDBJ|Société d'énergie de la Baie James}}) for Hydro-Québec.

Construction costs of the project's first phase in ≈ 1971 amounted to $13.7 billion (1987 [[Canadian dollar]]s).<ref name="SEBJ1987p11">{{harvnb|Société d'énergie de la Baie James|1987|p=11}}</ref> The eight power stations of the La Grande Complex generate an average of 9.5 GW, enough to meet the  total demand of a small industrialized economy such as [[Belgium]].<ref>{{harvnb|Government of Quebec|2006|p=10}}</ref> The James Bay power stations represent almost half of Hydro-Québec's total output and capacity.

The development of the James Bay Project was controversial. It led to an acrimonious conflict with the 5,000 Crees and 4,000 Inuit of [[Northern Quebec]] over land rights, lifestyle and environmental issues. A ruling against the Quebec government in 1973 forced the [[Robert Bourassa]] government to negotiate a far-reaching agreement, the [[James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement]], involving the Cree, the Inuit, the Quebec and Canadian governments, Hydro-Québec, the SEBJ, and later the [[Naskapi]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]]s. In the 1990s, forceful opposition by the Crees and their environmental allies caused the cancellation of the [[#Great_Whale_River_project|Great Whale Project]], a proposed 3,000 MW complex north of La Grande River.<ref> https://waskaganish.ca/the-james-bay-project/</ref>

In February 2002, the [[Bernard Landry]] government and the [[Grand Council of the Crees]] signed the ''[[Agreement Respecting a New Relationship Between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec|Peace of the Braves]]'' ({{langx|fr|Paix des Braves}}) and the ''Boumhounan Agreement'', establishing a new relationship between Quebec and the Crees and agreeing on environmental rules for the construction of three new power stations built between 2003 and 2011&nbsp;— the Eastmain-1, Eastmain-1-A and Sarcelle generating stations&nbsp;— and the diversion of the [[Rupert River]].