There was electricity in the air when Kahnawake Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer spoke about a special moment in Mohawk history. She was referencing the co-ownership deal on a proposed $1.1 billion transmission line to export yet more electricity to New York City that the community signed with Hydro-Québec.
The latter is trumpeting the fact that this is the first time they are sharing ownership of a transmission line or infrastructure with a third party – and an Indigenous community at that.
At times during the April 18 press conference in Kahnawake it seemed like Sky-Deer was talking for all Indigenous Nations in Quebec and Labrador even though it was only for a small area in southern Quebec where no large-scale dams exist. Many New Yorkers, including some environmental groups, have brought the story and Hydro-Québec’s new image.
In fact, so much that Hydro-Québec CEO Michael Sabia felt it was no problem to say that the Crown corporation would run out of energy surpluses by 2027 and will need to build dams and wind farms on Indigenous lands. He added that this partnership is a sign of things to come.
Does that mean that the Cree and the Algonquins will be seeing some partnership co-ownership of the transmission infrastructure going through their territories? We all doubt it given the history of colonialism. For the Cree and Inuit deals were already made, as an excuse, for example. For the Algonquins, Innu and other affected First Nations they will be considered “grandfathered,” meaning they happened in the past before this new era of possible partnerships and reconciliation.
As a Cree one wonders about the prices we pay for electricity. We not only have the dams located in Eeyou Istchee, but our rivers were also diverted. Transmission lines running through the territory used Agent Purple (cousin of the banned Agent Orange used in Vietnam) as a defoliant (kills plant life and more). Huge, flooded areas caused mercury poisoning of the fish and wildlife living there, all of which has contributed to climate change. Plus, we have more than our fair share of power blackouts. Do I need to go on?
As for power blackouts, Hydro-Québec has admitted that 2023 was one of the worst years in the past 15 years. They say they will work on improving the system.
The idea behind the creation of Hydro-Québec was that it would take the power out of the hands of exploiters and give Quebecers cheap rates for electricity. It started changing as big industries such as the aluminum smelters paid peanuts while ordinary people paid more.
Exports to the US said to assist in paying for the projects became a cash cow, with the Quebec government taking a hefty chunk of the Hydro-Québec profits for themselves, in reality a hidden tax. As the years went by since the beginning of the large-scale dams, gradually changes have been made to the initial dreams that created Hydro-Québec.
This is simply one more change. Perhaps the changes will benefit Indigenous Nations within Quebec and Labrador – only time will tell. However, one environmentalist said that the new policies may show a change in the colonial relationship by including First Nations as stakeholders, but the “government is still getting it at a discount price.”
A special moment indeed not only for the Mohawks, but we’ll see how special it is for all the other First Nations when dealing with Quebec and Labrador.