Paddlers peeved at power plan

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by Kristian Gravenor

Remember the movie Deliverance, where a group of friends hop into canoes to tackle a river one last time before the government gets rid of it? Well, it might be time to plan your own deliverance as the provincial government plods onwards with its plan to allow private interests build 36 small hydro-electric plants on 24 rivers.

Canoe and kayak enthusiasts are peeved that the huge concrete electricity plants will forever mar such treasured sites as the Red River's Seven Sisters Rapids and the Gatineau River, site of the annual Upper Gatineau Whitewater Festival. The Quebec Kayak and Canoe Federation is one of 25 groups (including Greenpeace and Eau Secours!) united against the project and they have amassed 3,000 signatures against it. "Electric dams slow the rivers and make them less accessible," says the group's Suzanne Lussier. "They're certainly not ideal for the sport."

Opponents point out that Quebec already has 2,000 hydroelectric plants and the proposed 50 megawatts-or-less plants aren't economically advantageous for long-distance selling. They say that although small in power, the plants are large in ugliness and will forever destroy such tourist attractions as the waterfalls at Notre-Dame-de-Montauban, the Manitou River, the Saint Ursule River and the Rochers River's Plaisance Falls. The plants could also adversely affect the North Shore salmon stocks.

Representatives from Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources failed to return queries about the deal but government Web sites promise some form of public consultation will take place before the plan goes ahead. The petition is available at www.canot-kayak.qc.ca.