3.1.1. The Territorial Framework: Minganie in Quebec's Côte-Nord Region

The municipality of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan is located in the RCM of Minganie in the administrative region of Côte-Nord. This region is characterized by its vastness as well as its nature marked by the boreal forest and the St. Lawrence River. Located between Tadoussac and Blanc-Sablon, Côte-Nord is the second largest administrative region in Quebec, with a land area spanning 236,664 km<sup>2</sup> [26]. While the western part of the region is served by Route 138, the eastern part is not connected to the provincial road network and can only be reached by plane or boat. In 2020, the region had a population of 90,529 [27], a decrease of 4.5% from 2011 [28]. The region is subdivided into six RCMs, including Minganie.

Minganie is composed of eight municipalities (ten villages) and two Aboriginal (Innu) communities. It covers 55,355 km<sup>2</sup> of land, including the island of Anticosti [29]. In 2020, its population was 6437, with a density of 0.1 inhabitants/km2 [30]. The municipality of Havre-Saint-Pierre, which provides the majority of services, had 3371 inhabitants [26]. Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, where Le Grenier boréal is located, had a population of 423 in 2021 [29], a decrease of about 10% from 2011 [28]. The municipality is located nearly two hours by car east of Sept-Îles, the main city in the region (population 25,400 in 2016 [28]). The total median household income in 2015 was CAD 78,080, well above the Quebec average of CAD 59,822 [31]. However, in 2017, the percentage of low-income families was 12.4%, which is higher than the Quebec rate of 9.5% [32].

The majority of jobs in the RCM are in the sales and services and transportation and machinery sectors [33]. Since the early 2000s, the region has been developing ecotourism activities, including marine mammal watching tours and excursions to the islands of Anticosti and the Mingan Archipelago [34]. Nevertheless, the local economy depends on primary sector activities (fishing, mining, forestry), which are threatened by the depletion of resources and the lack of new workers. In addition, regional economic activity is driven by major extractive projects (e.g., the Romaine hydroelectric power complex, the Rio Tinto mine) [35]. However, only part of the Mingan population benefits from these projects, since many jobs are taken up by workers from outside the region, whose arrival puts pressure on local resources, particularly housing [35].

Agricultural activities, for their part, are rare in Minganie. In fact, in 2020, the RCM had no agricultural zone (In Quebec, provincial agricultural zoning was established in 1976 through the *Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities*. The purpose of this act is to exclude non-agricultural uses in the agricultural zone. Essentially located along the St. Lawrence River and its main tributaries, the agricultural zone spans a total area of 63,000 km2. It is present in 954 municipalities (out of 1132) and in all administrative regions of the province.). This can be explained by climatic conditions that are not very conducive to agriculture, notably average temperatures in July of 14.6 ◦C and an annual snowfall of 252 cm (data for Rivière-au-Tonnerre, between 1981 and 2010), compared to 21.2 ◦C and 158 cm on the island of Montreal (data for Rivière-des-Prairies, between 1981 and 2010) [36]. This results in an average growing season that is two months

shorter than that of the Montreal region [37]. In 2011, the MAPAQ [38] counted only three agricultural enterprises in Minganie.
