A Comparative Case: The View from Quebec in
Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp v Hydro-Quebec
Coinciding with these cultural, social, and economic changes was the 1969 agreement to build one of the worlds largest hydroelectric facilities: in Labrador, at
Churchill Falls. Operating under the rubric of "develop or perish" (incidentally, the same phrase used in pre-Confederation times for resource development), Newfoundland entered into a deal with the province of Quebec and a coalition of international business interests to develop the
Churchill Falls dam (Horwood, 1989; Marland, 2010).
It has completed more than 45 hydroelectric power plants, including the James Bay and
Churchill Falls hydroelectric power plants in Canada, and the Uribante-Caparo generating station in Venezuela.
The New Dawn agreement, signed in September 2008, offers the Labrador Innu hunting rights within 34,000 square kilometres of land, plus $2 million annually in compensation for flooding that followed the construction in the 1960s of the huge Upper
Churchill Falls hydroelectric development.
The
Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation requires this clarification in order to finalize a water management agreement with Nalcor Energy.
Most astounding human-made sight: The vast granite cavern that houses the generators for the
Churchill Falls power plant.
Churchill Falls was once the site of an incredible survival story.
The interprovincial agreement that created the
Churchill Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador, once the diamond in former premier Joey Smallwood's eye, has proven to favour--by $1 billion per year in revenue--just one of the two provinces involved: Quebec.
In reducing its dependency on coal, Ontario's Ministry of Energy has expressed interest in tapping into 2,800 megawatts of renewable hydroelectric power from Labrador's proposed Lower
Churchill Falls development.
and Metis Energy Corporation are developing a CDN$2.5 billion wind farm near
Churchill Falls, Labrador.