that last year, of the ST LAWRENCE SEAWAY . As predicted by many critics of the project, including administrators of the Montral harbour in the 1930s, the direct link between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic took shipping traffic away from Montral harbour. The building of the St Lawrence Seaway is viewed by many as a major cause of the economic decline of Montral since the 1960s. Qubec has many natural resources. In the 1990s Qubec produced 98% of Canada's asbestos, 27% of its gold, 85% of its tellurium, and 100% of its titanium and columbium. Qubec's subsoil also contains industrial minerals such as peat, limestone, silica, granite and mica. Qubec's construction industry is self-sufficient with abundant supplies in stone, cement, sand and lime. Over the last few decades there has been growing concern in Qubec over the need to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. The Ministre de l'Environnement has several responsibilities, among them the prevention of pollution. This is an extremely important issue because most of the rivers and lakes in Qubec have been polluted by acid rain. Until 1999 and the creation of the Socit des tablissements de plein du Qubec (Sepaq), the ministry was in charge of 19 conservation and recreation parks. In addition, there are 4 national parks: Forillon, La Mauricie, Mingan Archipelago and the Saguenay-St Lawrence Marine Park. Noranda Copper Mines Canada ranks fourth in the world in copper mining. This operation is located at Murdochville, Qubec (photo by Bob Anderson/Masterfile). Lac Saint-Jean,