Uranium Industry Issues in Québec - Public hearings schedule of the question and information phase

QUÉBEC CITY, Aug. 27, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - The inquiry commission of uranium industry issues in Québec, created by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), unveils its schedule for the question and information phase, which will start on September 3. This phase will allow the commission and the participants to deepen their knowledge of the issues concerning the uranium industry in Québec, with the help of specialists and resource persons.

The commission is chaired by Louis-Gilles Francoeur, supported by commissioners Michèle Goyer and Joseph Zayed.

At the responsible minister's request, the BAPE commission, from the beginning of its inquiry and hearing mandate, joined to its work the James Bay Advisory Committee on the Environment (JBACE) and the Kativik Environmental Advisory Committee (KEAC). The JBACE commission is chaired by Paul John Murdoch, supported by Mélissa Brousseau Saganash, Manon Cyr and Anne-Marie Gaudet. The KEAC commission is chaired by Michael Barrett, supported by Claude Abel, Sylvie Létourneau and Betsy Palliser.

To begin its question and information phase, the commission will hold sessions in Mistissini on September 3, 4 and 5. Chibougamau' and Chisasibi's citizens can participate to those sessions by live video conference. Then, the commission will hold most of its public sessions in Québec City, and then in Wendake and in Kangiqsualujjuaq. Members from the JBACE and the KEAC commissions will participate to the interview of resource persons and specialists during the public sessions in Québec City, from September 8.

The commission wants to orientate its work on certain themes. Each session will start with one or many presentations and will be followed by a questions period, depending on the theme of the session. Besides northern Québec, the commission will be in session in Québec City. The schedule is attached to this press release.

WEBCASTING AND ONLINE QUESTIONS

The sessions will be broadcasted live in audio and video modes on the BAPE Website (www.bape.gouv.qc.ca). It will also be possible to send questions to the commission by a Web form, also available on the Website, from September 3, 2014, at 7 p.m. to October 3,  2014.

WHERE CAN THE DOCUMENTATION BE CONSULTED?

The documentation can be accessed by members of the general public at the following regional consultation centres:

• Bibliothèque de Mont-Laurier, 385, rue du Pont, Mont-Laurier ;
• Bibliothèque municipale de Havre-Saint-Pierre, 1045, rue Dulcinée, Havre-Saint-Pierre ;
• Bibliothèque Louis-Ange-Santerre, 500, avenue Jolliet, Sept-Îles ;
• Bibliothèque La Bouquine, 50, rue Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Ville-Marie ;
• Bibliothèque municipale de Chibougamau, 601, 3e rue, Chibougamau ;
• Bibliothèque de Chelsea, 100, chemin Old Chelsea, Chelsea ;
• Bibliothèque municipale et scolaire de La Petite-Rochelle, 44A, rue Lasalle, Pointe-à-la-Croix ;
• Offices of the Kativik Environmental Advisory Committee (KEAC), Kuujjuaq 
• Cree Nation of Mistissini, 187 Main Street, Mistissini.

Printed versions of these documents, plus all documents filed with the commission during the process, will also be available at the BAPE offices in Québec City, at 575, Saint-Amable, Suite 2.10, and in Montreal, at the Legal Science Library, Université du Québec à Montréal, Pavillon Hubert-Aquin, 400, Sainte-Catherine Est. They will also be placed on the BAPE website (www.bape.gouv.qc.ca), under the heading "Mandats en cours".

If you would like further information, please contact Rita Leblanc, the Commission Secretariat Coordinator, at 418 643-7447 or toll-free at 1 800 463-4732, ext. 422. You may also contact the commission by e-mail at the following address: uranium@bape.gouv.qc.ca.

**Public sessions schedule attached

**Schedule may change

SOURCE: Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement

For further information: Source: Louise Bourdages, Communications Advisor, 418 643-7447 or 1 800 463-4732, ext. 532