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Quebec Unveils $80b Development Plan
Michel Viatteau | May 10, 2011

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Montreal. Quebec unveiled an $80-billion plan on Monday to rev up forestry and mining development over the next 25 years in its vast northern region, dubbed one of the world’s last unspoiled wildernesses.

Prime Minister Jean Charest rolled out his “North Plan” as Canada emerges from a recession, promising to create or support 20,000 jobs annually in the farming, forestry, mining and tourism sectors north of the 49th parallel.

It is an “ambitious project,” the Quebec leader told a press conference, one that has elicited praise from the business community, in “one of the last untouched territories of the world, filled with riches.”

The huge region being targeted for renewal is more than twice the size of France, but is inhabited by only 128,000 people or 1.6 percent of the Canadian province’s population.

But Charest’s bluster failed to sway environmentalists who panned the plan for its lack of transparency, and native peoples who lamented that the Quebec government was trampling on their land rights.

The proposal for the 1.2 million square kilometer zone will require integrating 10 northern ports, 46 airstrips, 1,190 kilometers of railroads and 51,000 km of roads.

Upgrading several airports and extending highways, and renewing northern telecommunications infrastructure are also in the works. The funding will come from both provincial coffers and private investment.

Agence France-Presse