Beginning in 1992, the massive hydroelectric project Grande-Baleine, under the sponsorship of Hydro-Québec, was the object of public debate in Québec. Such was the debate that in 1994 the project was suspended sine die. The reasoning underlying this decision derived from numerous important studies bearing upon the detrimental effects of such a plan upon the natural environment and human communities, particularly the Cris and the Inuit. It seems evident that in the future all projects of the type described here will necessarily have to undergo rigid environmental assessment.