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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Canal Linking Canada's James Bay, U.S. Revisited
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, June 14, 1991
Canada: Canal Linking James Bay, Midwest Revisited
</hdr>
<body>
<p>[By Andre Noel: "Canal Project Linking James Bay With American
Prairies Resurfaces" Montreal, La Presse in French, May 91, p.
A8.]
</p>
<p> The construction of dams in northern Quebec would make it
possible to export fresh water to California and the American
Middle West, according to Tom Kierans, president of the Grand
Canal Company, Ltd.
</p>
<p> Kierans will once again present his export proposal at a
seminar of the Canadian Water Resources Association in
Saskatchewan in June. Some of his associates are already trying
to convince communities in northwestern Quebec of the benefit of
a major canal linking James Bay with the American prairies.
</p>
<p> In an interview from St. John, Newfoundland, Kierans said he
was closely following progress on phase two of Hydro-Quebec's
James Bay project. Regulating river flow will make it possible
to change James Bay from salt water to fresh water, he said.
</p>
<p> "The plan to build a big canal is not a dream; it is an
absolute necessity," he said yesterday. Several persons are
interested, including Quebec Prime Minster Robert Bourassa.
</p>
<p> Kierans, a mining engineer, said he had helped Bourassa
write a chapter of his book, "Energy from the North," dealing
with northern Quebec's fresh water resources.
</p>
<p> The chairman of the board of the Grand Canal Company is
Louis Desmarais, brother of financier Paul Desmarais and former
Liberal deputy from Dollard in the House of Commons, Kierans
said. Other financiers such as Simon Reisman have participated
in the company's activities, he said.
</p>
<p> Shareholders include several well-known engineering firms.
The largest is Bechtel, Kierans said. (Bechtel is now partners
with Lavalin on major aluminum plant projects.)
</p>
<p> "Problems with water shortages point to a gloomy future for
over 160 million persons in the already dry prairies of Canada,
the Middle West, the southern United States, and the southern
Great Lakes region," Kierans will say in the speech to be
delivered in Saskatchewan.
</p>
<p> "The drought in 1988 cost farmers in the two countries $17
billion. Three consecutive years of drought could result in a
major famine. The governments of Canada and the United States
cannot just restrict water consumption. In order to prevent a
drop in the standard of living and environmental damage, we
must develop facilities to carry water from certain basses to
others."
</p>
<p> The Grand Canal Company project consists of separating James
Bay and Hudson Bay by dikes. Valves would enable water from
James Bay to flow into Hudson Bay with the tides. The same
valves would prevent salt water from Hudson Bay from entering
James Bay.
</p>
<p> Within three years, James Bay, into which several rivers
such as the Haricana, Nottaway, Broadback, Rupert, and Grande
Riviere flow, would contain only fresh water.
</p>
<p> Water from James Bay would then be pumped to an altitude of
930 feet in a special aqueduct that would carry it to the
Outaouais River, then diverted into the Mattawa and French
Rivers and finally Lake Superior.
</p>
<p> From there, the water would be pumped into the Winnipeg,
Assiniboine, and Qu'Appelle Rivers as far as Lake Diefenbaker
near Regina, whence it would be transferred to the Upper
Missouri.
</p>
<p> The project would cost $100 billion, according to Kierans,
who adds that five or six nuclear power plants would have to be
built to produce the 30,000 megawatts needed for pumping.
</p>
<p> "The reactors could be buried underground," claims Kierans,
who has already worked with American engineers on the concept.
Atomic Energy of Canada has previously collaborated with the
Grand Canal Company and is still interested in the project, he
said.
</p>
<p> The project rouses opposition in northwestern Quebec,
however. Marlene Coulombe, president of the Regional
Environmental Vigilance Committee, said it make no sense. "We
thought that project had been forgotten," she said, "but people
in the region are beginning to talk about it again. They are
lobbying."
</p>
<p> Richard Kistabish, cofounder of the Algonquin Council of
Western Quebec, has done extensive research on the Grand Canal
project.
</p>
<p> "I have come to the conclusion that it is a very serious
project," he said. "I know it seems totally insane, but it is
very real. Major interests are involved. I am certain there are
ties with Hydro-Quebec projects. When you assemble all the bits
and pieces of information, they comprise a fairly startling
puzzle."
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>