Editing James Bay Project (section)

=== Early steps ===
On December 16, 1969, [[Liberal Party of Quebec|Liberal]] [[Backbencher]] [[National Assembly of Quebec|Member of the National Assembly]] [[Robert Bourassa]] met with the president of Hydro-Québec, [[Roland Giroux]] over lunch at the parliamentary dining room in [[Quebec City]].<ref name="Lacasse1983p97">{{harvnb|Lacasse|1983|p=97}}</ref> After the meeting Bourassa, who was about to launch a leadership bid for the position left vacant by the resignation of former Premier [[Jean Lesage]], became convinced of the probability and suitability of the project<ref name="Lacasse1983p98">{{harvnb|Lacasse|1983|p=98}}</ref> and made the development of James Bay hydroelectricity a major plank of its leadership campaign. Elected as the party leader in January, Bourassa went on to win the [[1970 Quebec general election|general election on April 29, 1970]], and his tenure as Premier of Quebec became closely linked to hydroelectric development in general and with the James Bay project in particular.{{sfn|Bourassa|1985|pp=28–29}}

For Bourassa the development of James Bay project addressed two of his priorities. In ''Energy in the North'', an essay published in 1985, Bourassa, an [[economist]] by profession, argued that "Quebec's economic development relies on the development of its natural resources".{{sfn|Bourassa|1985|pp=27}} Moreover, Bourassa argued his 1969 estimates showed demand for electricity would outstrip supply by 11,000 MW by 1983, concurring with forecasts made at the time by Hydro-Quebec.{{sfn|Bourassa|1985|pp=28–29}}

Six months after his election, Bourassa began working on the details of the scheme with his adviser, financier Paul Desrochers. The two men met secretly with Roland Giroux and [[Robert A. Boyd]] for an update in September 1970 and the next month he travelled to [[New York City]] in the midst of the [[October Crisis]] to negotiate financing for the project, estimated at the time to cost between $5 billion and $6 billion.{{sfn|Gravel|Vennat|1979b|p=7}}

Bourassa introduced his plan to the provincial cabinet in March 1971 and recommended hiring the [[United States|US]] [[engineering]] firm [[Bechtel]] to oversee the construction.{{sfn|Gravel|Vennat|1979b|p=7}} Liberal strategists then chose to make the announcement before a partisan crowd assembled at Quebec's Little Coliseum as part of the Liberal party gathering celebrating the first year of Bourassa's term, on April 30, 1971. According to journalists witnessing the scene, Bourassa's speech concluded on a scene of indescribable enthusiasm.{{sfn|Gravel|Vennat|1979a|p=6}}