The James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (JBNQA) was signed in 1975 by the governments of Canada and Québec, three provincial government corporations (Hydro-Québec, the James Bay Energy Corporation and the James Bay Development Corporation), the Grand Council of the Crees of Québec and the Northern Québec Inuit Association (now known as Makivvik). The JBNQA is the first modern treaty signed in Canada. In 1978, the Northeastern Québec Agreement (NEQA) was signed by the parties to the JBNQA as well as the Naskapis de Schefferville Band (now known as the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach) to extend the regimes established under the JBNQA to Naskapis and their territory, including the environmental and social protection regime established in Section 23.

Section 23 of the JBNQA establishes an environmental and social protection regime for Nunavik which sets out guiding principles that must be taken into consideration when planning and reviewing development projects:

• Protection of Inuit, Naskapi and Cree;
• Minimizing the environmental and social impacts of development activities;
• Protection of the hunting, fishing and trapping rights of Inuit, Naskapi and Cree;
• Protection of wildlife resources, biophysical environment and ecological systems;
• Involvement of Inuit, Naskapi, Cree and other inhabitants of the region in the application of the regime;
• The rights and interests of non-Native people;
• The right to develop, in accordance with the provisions of the JBNQA.

This regime includes two procedures:

• A provincial procedure for projects under Québec jurisdiction (mines, roads, etc.);
• A federal procedure for projects under Canadian jurisdiction (wharfs, etc.).

PROVINCIAL PROCEDURE

The projects under provincial jurisdiction (mines, roads, etc.) are subject to the environmental and social impact assessment and review procedure under Section 23 of the JBNQA, where the Deputy Minister of the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, Faune et Parcs (MELCCFP, Ministry of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, Fauna and Parks), in their capacity as provincial administrator, is the responsible authority.

The procedure establishes a series of actions, several of which are performed by the Kativik Environmental Quality Commission (KEQC). Created pursuant to Section 23, the KEQC is an independent body and is composed of nine members: five appointed by the Government of Québec and four by the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) and maintains an online project registry. The MELCCFP also maintains an online project registry (in French).

Public participation

The members appointed to the KEQC by the KRG are intended to ensure impact statement guidelines are responsive to regional concerns.  Moreover, the public has the opportunity to make representations to the KEQC, which may hold public consultations if it deems necessary. Public involvement is governed by the information and public consultation procedure. Projects that require the information and public consultation procedure will be decided by the KEQC based on their importance and potential social and environmental impacts.

The table below summarizes the role of the KEQC within the provincial impact assessment procedure under Chapter 23 of the JBNQA.

Kativik Environmental Quality Commission (KEQC) – Provincial Review Board
Legal authority	James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (JBNQA), 1975
Composition of the review body	Nine members: four appointed by the Government of Québec and four appointed by the KRG. A Chairperson is appointed by the Government of Québec but must be approved by the KRG.
Impact Assessment Zone	Zone 7 of Figure 1
Applicable projects	Projects of provincial jurisdiction listed under Schedule I of the JBNQA and projects screened by the KEQC to determine if they are subject to the process.
Main Responsibilities	–        Reviews the environmental and social impacts of development projects under provincial jurisdiction. –        Drafts the guidelines for the impact study. –        Decides to authorize, or not, projects and the conditions linked to the authorization. –        Holds public consultations, if required, and receives comments or opinions from the public.
IA process overview	–        Proponent submits preliminary project information to the Provincial Administrator. –        Provincial Administrator submits the project information to the KEQC. –        KEQC analyses information, prepares guidelines on scope of impact statement and forwards said guidelines to Provincial Administrator. –        Provincial Administrator forwards guidelines to proponent. –        Proponent prepares impact statement and submits it to Provincial Administrator. –        Provincial Administrator forwards the impact statement report to KEQC. –        KEQC reviews impact statement and recommends whether the Provincial Administrator should authorize the project and under what conditions. –        Provincial Administrator issues final decision.
Other Information	–        The Provincial Administrator acts as an intermediary between the KEQC and the proponent. –        Canada and Québec may by mutual agreement combine the two impact review procedures referred to in the JBNQA provided it respects the rights and guarantees of all   inhabitants of Nunavik. –        Some projects are automatically subject to an assessment (Schedule of Section 23, JBNQA), some are automatically exempt (Schedule II of Section 23, JBNQA) and some are considered “grey-zone” (projects not listed in Schedule I or II). Grey-zone projects must be evaluated by the KEQC to determine if a review is needed. –        The MELCCFP provides technical expertise to the provincial members of the KEQC. –        While no public consultation is mandatory before the impact statement is issued, the KEQC can receive comments at any point in the process and can decide to reach out to communities whenever it considers it necessary. –        The KEQC’s process as laid out in the JBNQA is flexible and allows for coordination with other review bodies in order to avoid the negative impacts of overlapping processes.

FEDERAL PROCEDURE

For projects under federal jurisdiction (wharfs, etc.) subject to the environmental and social impact assessment and review procedure under Section 23 of the JBNQA, the president of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, in his capacity as federal administrator, is the responsible authority. Two bodies are involved in the implementation of the federal procedure: the Screening Committee and the Environmental and Social Impact Review Panel (COFEX-North).

The Screening Committee is responsible for recommending to the federal administrator whether projects not appearing in schedules 1 or 2 of Section 23 and considered to be grey-zone projects should be subject to, or exempt from, the federal impact assessment procedure. The Screening Committee is composed of four members: two appointed by the Government of Canada and two by the KRG.

The COFEX-North is responsible for reviewing projects subject to the federal impact assessment procedure. It is composed of five members: three appointed by the Government of Canada and two by the KRG. The chairperson is appointed by the Government of Canada.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada provides more information about the federal procedure and maintains an online project impact assessment registry.

Public participation

To encourage public participation at every step of the federal impact assessment procedure, documents transmitted to the COFEX-North are generally made public and added to the project registry. The COFEX-North can decide to hold public consultations if needed.

The table below summarizes the role of the COFEX-North within the federal impact assessment procedure under Chapter 23 of the JBNQA.

COFEX-North – Federal Environmental and Social Impact Review Panel
Legal authority	James Bay and Northern Quebéc Agreement (JBNQA), 1975
Composition of the review body	Two members appointed by the KRG and three members (including the Panel chair) appointed by the Government of Canada.
Impact Assessment Zone	Zone 7 of Figure 1
Applicable projects	Projects of federal jurisdiction listed under Schedule I of the JBNQA and projects subject to a review by the Screening Committee.
Main Responsibilities	–        Review the environmental and social impacts of development projects under federal jurisdiction. –        Hold public consultations, if required, and receive comments or opinions from the public. –        Recommend to the Federal Administrator whether or not to authorize a project and under what conditions. –        Collaborate and coordinate with the other permitting authorities involved.
IA process overview	–        Proponent submits project information to Federal Administrator. –        Federal Administrator submits project information to COFEX-North. –        COFEX-North analyzes project and prepares guidelines on scope of IA. –        Federal administrator forwards guidelines to proponent. –        Proponent prepares impact statement and submits it to Federal Administrator. –        Federal Administrator forwards impact statement to COFEX-North. –        COFEX-North reviews impact statement and recommends whether the Federal Administrator should authorize project and under what conditions. –        Federal Administrator issues final decision.
Other Information	–        The Federal Administrator acts as an intermediary between the COFEX-North and the proponent. –        Canada and Québec may by mutual agreement combine the two impact review procedures referred to in the JBNQA provided it respects the rights and guarantees of all inhabitants of Nunavik. –        The Federal Administrator can decide not to trigger the process if substituted for another that adequately provides for the involvement of Indigenous parties or if the federal and provincial governments have agreed to combine the two IA processes under the JBNQA. –        Projects under federal jurisdiction include: airport infrastructure, maritime infrastructure, military exercise, weather radar station, and uranium mining. –        Some projects are automatically subject to an assessment (Schedule I of Section 23, JBNQA), some are automatically exempt (Schedule II of Section 23, JBNQA), and some are considered “grey-zone” (projects not listed in Schedule I or II). Grey-zone projects must be evaluated by the Screening Committee to determine if a review is needed. –        The last time COFEX-North reviewed a project was in 2013, for the Deception Bay Wharf and Sediment Management Project.