Stéphane Castonguay
pp. 271–297
Record
Abstract
Since the 1970s, citizens’ mobilizations and government interventions have led to a series of decontamination and rehabilitation projects of urban rivers. Taking place in a context of growing environmental concerns, these projects are indicative of a trend towards the appropriation of water fronts by urban populations. In this article, we examine the relationships which the urban populations of two medium-sized cities of Quebec have maintained to their river environments over a longer period of time. The selected populations are those from Shawinigan, a city situated along the Saint-Maurice River, which feeds into the north shore of the Saint-Lawrence River; and Drummondville, located at the St. Francis River, which feeds into the south shore of the Saint-Lawrence River. Through this approach, we seek to show how the types of relationships which people have with rivers are juxtaposed rather than simply succeeding in time. Similarly, we identify factors that shape the intensity of the mobilizations surrounding the continual process of appropriation of the banks and streams.
Sara Teitelbaum
pp. 299–323
Record
Abstract
This article offers a historical overview of the development of the forestry regime with regard to the integration of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples during the period from 1960 to 2014. Using a theoretical framework developed by Hill et al. (2012), we address the issue of power sharing between the state and indigenous nations before the beginning of the 2000s. The measures implemented during this period can be grouped into three categories: consultation on forest management plans, consultation on policy orientations and economic development through the allocation of small forest tenures. Nevertheless, for most Aboriginal nations, the forestry regime offers little opportunity to influence decisions at a strategic level.
Sébastien Chailleux
pp. 325–351
Record
Abstract
The controversy over Quebec shale gas concerns multiple issues. As a method, the sociology of translation allows to identify the processes of social and political construction involved in getting the controversy on the agenda and in framing it as a political issue. Our analysis of the trajectory of actors and their respective lines of reasoning shows that the movement around the opposition to shale gas has achieved a certain success. However, it also shows that its efforts to expand that opposition to all hydrocarbons generated from bedrock, and not only shale gas, are impeded by industry and government networks. This study provides an additional insight into the analysis of the controversies by underscoring the key role played by the undertaking to frame, or construct, the issue as a public problem.
Nancy Emond
pp. 353–379
Record
Abstract
For over ten years, Quebec has been trying to establish a governance model of the resource water that is based, among others, on the so-called integrated management approach that has been internationally recognized and adopted by a number of countries at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. In that context, the province adopted its first National Water Policy (NWP) in 2002, by way of which integrated watershed management became the modus operandi. However, Quebec is nonetheless experiencing difficulties in achieving its objective. Why? A number of factors may be advanced, among them the financial dependence of watershed organizations, the voluntary nature of basin contracts, and the expansion of the territory to manage from a watershed to an integrated water management area encompassing a number of watersheds. This raises the questions of: What, if any, institutions are presently mandated to ensure the organization of integrated water resource management? What institutional adjustments have the actors made, or not, in order to respond to the new requirements that have been introduced over the years? The results of this study show that more than a decade after the adoption of the NWP, the fit between the goals of the state and the institutional mechanisms implemented to achieve these goals is, on average, rather low. Furthermore, the adaptation to new requirements appears to take place without significant resistance, or at least without calling for a major transformation of the existing institutions.
Olivier Craig-Dupont and Gérald Domon
pp. 381–417
Record
Abstract
Since the late 1980s, the province of Quebec has been witnessing a proliferation of ecological protection laws concerning private land. For example, the number of natural reserves on private land, ecological gifts, conservation easements and land trusts are now increasing in some areas of southern Quebec. Given that such land transactions are, by nature, private, this trend remains largely unknown. However, it has nevertheless had a substantial impact on the shaping of certain contemporary policies on natural heritage conservation in Quebec. Through a detailed search of departmental archives and a series of interviews with key actors, this article traces the genesis of the voluntary conservation movement in Quebec. It highlights how the Canadian and Quebec governments, as well as some non-profit corporations, facilitated the establishment of a network of private protected areas, yet that these are, through tax benefits, largely funded by the public treasury. The analysis of this institutionalization of voluntary conservation in Quebec reveals how the government has been an active agent in the decentralization, privatization and progressive taxation of ecological heritage conservation in Quebec.
Chantal Royer and Arthur de Grandpré
pp. 419–435
Record
Abstract
This article explores the value which young people place on the environment and is part of a broader research study on the values of this segment of the population. From 91 qualitative interviews conducted by the latter study with young Quebeckers on their values and their aspirations to travel, this research performed a secondary analysis of all statements relating to the environment. The analysis reveals various attitudes toward the environment, which are presented on a scale ranging from indifference to commitment. The findings highlight that young people’s relationship to environmental protection is rather ambiguous and that it, far from enjoying consensus, manifests more as a latent value that is hardly reflected in the behaviour.
