The Grande-Baleine project represented a source of employment for the citizens of Quebec, and an alteration to the local ecosystem to environmentalists. For the Cree and Inuit in the area, however, the project would not only cause serious change to the environment, but would also have a social impact. Attempts to estimate the social impact of the hydroelectric projects (usually included within the environmental assessment) are complicated by unresolved dilemmas such as whether the changes were caused by the project itself or if they were beginning to happen before the project came to fruition.