McGill University
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Gordon Hickey
Start: 2018-09-01
End: 2020-08-15
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Project

Examining the Role of Cumulative Effects Assessment in Northern Quebec Environmental Impact Assessment: The Case of the Wild Food System in Eeyou-Istchee
Northern Quebec has experienced a long history of natural resource development that has imposed a significant burden on local resource security and directly affects the wild food system that local Indigenous communities rely on. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required to fully evaluate the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts associated with development projects, however, cumulative effects assessment (CEA) under EIA is often poorly developed and fails to take into consideration the cumulative effects beyond the project level. This research aims to determine the role of CEA in managing the impact of development on the sustainable wild food system in Eeyou-Istchee, by examining to what extent project-level CEAs are coordinated to protect the wild food system and identifying the challenges and opportunities for better network governance of the cumulative effects impacting the wild food system. The goal of the research is to build an interactive landscape among key stakeholders to inform regional cumulative effects management for wild food systems beyond the project level, and to contribute to CEA reporting and policy development under the Northern EIA framework