William Marsden
November 16, 2008

A Liberal government will protect at least 50 per cent of the north from mining, hydroelectric and forestry exploitation and create five provincial parks, Premier Jean Charest said yesterday.

Charest's announcement comes at a time when he is campaigning to open northern Quebec - a region defined as above the 49th parallel or north of Lac St. Jean - to more development.

Environmentalists from Greenpeace and Nature Québec have been lobbying to persuade Charest to follow the example of Ontario, which in July announced it would protect 50 per cent of its north.

"One of the important realities of our times now is to make sure that economic development is sustainable development, to show respect for the coming generations," he said.

Charest said 12 per cent of the north (7 million hectares) will be protected against any kind of development, including tourism. This land will be located both in and outside of the five new parks. Of this 12 per cent, about seven per cent is already protected.

The remaining 38 per cent will be protected against mining, hydroelectric and forestry exploitation, but tourism development will be permitted. The 50 per cent total is about the size of France.

Asked what would happen if, say, diamonds were found in one of the protected areas, Charest said they would never be able to be mined.

"This is forever." He said the areas will officially become protected in 2015.

The five new provincial parks have already been designated as potential parks.

Mining companies will not be happy with the Liberals. Kuururjuaq Park on Ungava Bay, for example, is rich in uranium, and Montreal-based Azumit wants to open a mine in or adjacent to the park.

The company told a public hearing last year that Kuururjuaq is "an opportunity to demonstrate how the coexistence of mining and park activities can be successful." Charest said his decision will effectively stop all mining in the parks.

Another proposed park is Assinica. It's a boreal forest reserve that includes Quebec's largest body of fresh water, the 176-kilometre-long Lac Mistassini in central Quebec.

A third park, Guillaume-Delisle-et-à-l'Eau-Claire, covers an area of 10,290 square kilometres near Hudson's Bay. The creation of the Albanel-Témiscamie-Otish Park, also located in central Quebec, has been under study since 2006 and is being built in partnership with the Cree Nation. The fifth park is Baie-aux-Feuilles.

Charest also said his government would create new carbon sinks by planting 100 million trees covering 100,000 hectares, which at maturity will capture 80,000 tonnes of carbon - the equivalent of emissions from 32,000 cars.

wmarsden@thegazette.canwest.com