Presentation from the Government of Quebec on their vision of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presentation from the Government of Quebec on their vision of balanced/sustainable development in the North, Mme Joanne Laberge, Plan Nord Secretariat BLC Plan Nord Forum – Sharing a Balanced Vision, Montreal, QC, October 27, 2014 (based on transcript of recording of her talk, translated to English) Hello, everyone . I am really pleased to represent the Secretariat of the Plan Nord on the occasion of this forum hosted by the Boreal Leadership Council. The secretary-general associated with the Plan Nord, Mr. Robert Sauvé [Secrétaire générale associé], would have liked to have made this presentation on the progress of our work himself, but he is in China with the Prime Minister. In May 2011, the government of Quebec unveiled the Plan Nord, an ambitious project of sustainable development and the value of the resources of northern Quebec. The development of the northern territory has slowed considerably over the past two years, resulting from both the global decline in metal prices and various uncertainties during this period. Then the current government decided to relaunch the Plan Nord in all its social, economic and environmental dimensions. Premier Couillard recently said that though we are powerless before the decline in metal prices, our strategy will be to put the Plan Nord “back on track” with a clear and structured plan That is one of the reasons why the secretary general accompanied the Prime Minister to China - to discuss the Plan Nord. What is the territory of the Plan Nord? Located north of the 49th parallel it covers 72% of the surface area of Quebec. It is 1.2 million square kilometers - three and a half times the size of Germany – this tells you the importance of this territory. 1.6 percent of the total population of Quebec lives there. Then there are four aboriginal Nations distributed within 31 communities. They include Inuit, Cree, Innu and Naskapi. We also identifjed 32 communities that we may designate as non-natives. The Jamesian communities, jeannoises and north-coastal. Northern Quebec is the forest. We are talking about 437,000 square kilometers; it is vast. The boreal forest continues north of the 49th parallel and is under the northern limit of forest management. It is 200,000 sq km of potential commercial forest, representing more than 53% of exploitable forests in Quebec. The Plan Nord therefore supports the development of a broad and dynamic industrial base in the North. It has a biomass conducive to energy development and biorefjning. It also ofgers a potential for harvesting of non-timber forest products. Therefore it is a diversifjed source of wealth. Northern Quebec is also about energy. The hydro-electric potential is huge. Quebec is the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world -75% is produced in the area of the Plan Nord. The potential for further development remains important. But there is also the potential for development from other sources of renewable energy that are focussed on innovation, which is very important in the Plan Nord. There are dual turbines with liquefjed gas and energy storage at the Raglan mine in Nunavik. There is a project of pairing wind and biomass in a Cree community in James Bay, Whapmagoostui. These are innovative energy sources. Northern Quebec is, of course, also the mines with a very diversifjed mining potential. There is nickel, cobalt, the platinum group of metals, zinc, iron ore, gold, diamond, lithium, vanadium as well as rare earth elements. Several of the rare earth elements are used in computing, robotics, for medical instrumentation, in the aerospace industry and in the production of solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. Therefore there is great diversity in the ore. The north also presents opportunities for tourism. Moreover, the tourism strategy north of the 49th parallel contributes to northern Quebec an authentic tourist experience based on the development of local communities and a network of national parks representative of this unique territory. There is also - as has been Presentation – BLC Forum Plan Nord – Sharing a Balanced Vision | 1

Mme Laberge’s Presentation (continued) said often - exceptional fauna. The government is well aware of the importance of ensuring its integrity and sustainability and, to emphasize, it is interested in ensuring the integrity of both the woodland caribou and the barren-ground caribou of the George River. To ensure the resumption of the Plan Nord, the government has put in place various structures. First, the Secretariat of the Plan Nord to ensure the coordination and the concerted efgorts of all pending the establishment of the Society of the Plan Nord. It has also set up a ministerial committee representative of the ministries active in the Plan Nord. This committee is chaired by the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister Responsible for the Plan Nord , Mr. Pierre Arcand, and consists of 14 ministers concerned with the Plan Nord. The co-chair is Mr. Geofgrey Kelley, Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Afgairs. The Ministerial Committee of the Plan Nord has a mandate to revive the Plan Nord in all its dimensions - social, economic, environmental. It will also help to better assess the issues and needs in order to establish the broad guidelines of this relaunch. The government is committed to putting in place the Secretariat of the Plan Nord. Its mission will be to contribute to the integrated development of the territory of the Plan Nord with a perspective of sustainable development consistent with the guidelines defjned by the government. The Secretariat has been formed to develop and propose guidelines in support of the ministerial committee of the Plan Nord. The government intends to introduce in the next few months the details of its vision and guidance and the governance structure for the relaunch of the Plan Nord. Starting with the 2015-2020 Action Plan, the Government of Quebec wants to promote a comprehensive development of northern Quebec in its human, environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects. At the level of the environment, in keeping with the initial Plan Nord, the government intends to protect the environment and conserve biodiversity distinct to northern Quebec. Three objectives support this commitment: to ensure the environmental assessment process is efgective; to implement conservation measures on 50% of the northern territory, including 20% in protected areas; to encourage best practices with respect to all exploitation and development activities that occur across the territory. What are the conditions for the success of the Plan Nord ? One is access to the territory with improvement and new construction of road links, increase in capacity and effjciency of rail service, development of the capacity of the Port of Sept-Îles serving Labrador to meet the needs of mining companies. Another is energy, with access to hydro-electric power at advantageous prices and the possible extension of the hydro-electric system of Hydro Quebec as necessary and according to the feasibility of projects. There is also the establishment of a network of shipping services in liquefjed natural gas in the territory of the Plan Nord, along with the development of innovative energy solutions for isolated communities and mining sites. Other conditions for success include telecommunications which is absolutely critical to improving the living conditions of the population in the territory. The way to achieve this condition for success is to develop a master plan for the development of telecommunications throughout the territory of the Plan Nord and the gradual deployment of telecommunications infrastructureas needed. A necessary and very important condition for success for the Plan Nord, is deepening the knowledge of the characteristics of the territory. It is important to have scientifjc knowledge, along with the knowledge of communities. To support this, the government has recently announced the creation of the Nordic Institute of Quebec. It is also undertaking international outreach around the Plan Nord in Canada and abroad with calls for investment and partnership. Presentation – BLC Forum Plan Nord – Sharing a Balanced Vision | 2