Quebec provincial police went on the march last Friday to dismantle a blockade that a group of Innu citizens erected to protest the construction of hydro transmission lines through their traditional territory. According to available reports, no one was arrested during the court-backed offensive, which the Innu passively tried to resist. However, a total of thirteen people were arrested, including ten women.

The blockade/checkpoint went up went up on March 5 after Innu representatives walked away from negotiations with Hydro-Québec over the proposed La Romaine Hydroelectric Complex.

The $6.5 billion project includes four new hydro dams that would ultimately provide electricity for various industrial projects including mines and aluminum refineries as part of the Plan Nord, “the Quebéc government’s plan to ravage northern Québec, with many ecologically devastating projects slated for development on Innu territory, or Nitassinan, without the consent of the Innu people,” comments Collectif solidaire anti-colonial / Anti-Colonial Solidarity Collective.

The project was approved by Quebec’s environmental assessment board more than two years ago. However, the Innu communities of Uashat and Maliotenam have continuously challenged that decision because, the Innu say that the board failed to consider how the transmission lines for the project would affect their lands.

FULL ARTICLE: Quebec Police Dismantle Innu Blockade Against Controversial Hydro Complex.