The James Bay Project raised controversy for its effects on Indigenous communities in the area and on the environment. It flooded 11,500 km2 of wilderness land that was home to the James Bay Cree and Inuit. Vast areas of wilderness were inundated and forests incinerated in an attempt to clear debris.

chief Billy Diamond
However, Bourassa agreed to negotiate with the First Nations as the federal government announced it was willing to take the matter to the Supreme Court. In later years, the Cree and Inuit were given a settlement of $150 million, negotiated by Cree chief Billy Diamond.

On Nov. 11, 1975, the Cree and Inuit give up their claim to certain land in northern Quebec in return for $225 million in compensation. The far-reaching James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement also gives the Native people special hunting and fishing rights and more opportunity for self-government.

This “modern treaty” allowed the Quebec government to resume and complete the construction of hydroelectric dams in the James Bay region. In return, the province recognized the specific rights of the Cree and Inuit and committed to paying $225 million in compensation over 20 years.

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement gives expression to the inherent Cree right of self‑government, providing key support for modern Cree Nation governance. It establishes a partnership between the Cree, Quebec and Canada in the governance and development of Eeyou Istchee.

The James Bay project provided considerable financial and administrative resources for the Cree to provide for future economic development. At a time when hunting and fishing activities were declining in the Cree communities, the James Bay project caused a social modernization of both the Cree and Inuit communities.

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (French: Convention de la Baie-James et du Nord québécois) is an Aboriginal land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, and later slightly modified in 1978 by the Northeastern Quebec Agreement (French: Accord du Nord-Est québécois).

The treaty, first entered into in 1905-1906, covers the James Bay and Hudson Bay watersheds in Ontario, about two thirds of the province’s total landmass. The treaty embodies the nation-to-nation relationship between First Nations and the Crown.

The over CAD$20 billion project was intended to be built in two phases 1) La Grande and 2) La Grande Baleine and was meant to dam and divert water flow from nine rivers and eventually flood an area the size of Belgium [1, 3, 11].

In September of 1984 the James Bay Project created a flooding impacting the wildlife and the Native American way of life. 4,000 square miles of water backed up eight huge dams up to 40 stories high were muddy dead waters.

Quebec
James Bay Project/Province

The James Bay Project raised controversy for its effects on Indigenous communities in the area and on the environment. It flooded 11,500 km 2 of wilderness land that was home to the James Bay Cree and Inuit.

The page you are looking at will not be updated. On Nov. 15, 1973, the Cree and Inuit win a major court victory when Mr. Justice Albert Malouf of the Quebec Superior Court grants an injunction to stop the construction of the James Bay Project.

When the project was announced by Québec Premier Robert Bourassa, it was contested by the Cree, who had not been notified. The dispute culminated in 1975, with the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement. In the agreement the Cree surrendered their land claims for $225 million, retaining special hunting and fishing rights.

Their resistance played out in court battles with the government, as well as lobbying efforts south of the Canadian border, given that power from James Bay II was slated to be sold to the states of New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. For years, Cree activists lobbied American legislatures to stop participating in the James Bay projects.