with indigenous people in and near Montreal. A member of Canada's Parliament who in previous years had called publicly for the forcible removal of all Indian people to the barren coast of Labrador had now called openly for the federal armed forces to attack indigenous communities with tanks and machine guns. Canadian racism and hostility to Indians and to black people had gained a dangerous degree of acceptability. The chief of police of Quebec had stated that he could no longer exert sufficient control over events. He called the crisis the worst in the history of Quebec. Inflamed by government rhetoric E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/SR.l4 page 10 against indigenous people, citizens in Quebec were arming themselves with baseball bats and chasing Indians down the streets. Blacks, too, were now being attacked with baseball bats. 51. Such was Canada, the country where the indigenous peoples must live. Geographically, it was their homeland. All across Canada the Government had decided to confront indigenous peoples. A Government which had ignored their rights for centuries was now using violence against them when they objected to its conduct. Little by little their land had been taken away and their situation had now become desperate. 52. His own people, the Crees of James Bay in northern Quebec, were the victims of a huge hydroelectric project which had flooded their ancestral lands and poisoned the food they ate. That was environmental racism: governments did things on indigenous lands that they would never attempt to do anywhere else. The concerns of indigenous peoples were always judged to be less important than the interests of the non-indigenous populations in the urban centres. The environment was being destroyed, and the indigenous peoples along with it. 53. The James Bay hydroelectric project had been built without any environmental impact review. The Government of Quebec had decided to build 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the mistreatment of indigenous peoples in Canada, specifically in Quebec, and the devastating impact of government policies on their lives, lands, and environment. The focus is on the human rights violations and environmental degradation caused by large-scale projects, such as the James Bay hydroelectric project. The text highlights the long history of neglect and exploitation of indigenous peoples, and the current situation of violence and hostility towards them.

**Category**
Natural resources and environment, Humanitarian aid and relief