Roy Dupuis:  actor and co-president of the Rivers Foundation

He could have been satisfied with lending his name to a green cause.  He has done much more.  Enthused by his love of nature, in 2002 he co-founded the Rivers Foundation, an organisation dedicated to safeguarding the rivers of Quebec. 

“These watercourses belong to the people,” he insists.  “Also, it’s essential that we question the environmental and human impact of hydroelectric projects.” 

At the end of 2006 the governments of Quebec and Canada authorised the re-routeing of the Rupert, one of the last remaining pristine rivers in the province, in order to build a dam. 

“The six billion dollars that were put into this new power station could have been invested in the renovation of buildings so that they will use less energy,” he suggests.  He believes that sufficient alternative solutions to hydroelectricity exist (energy efficiency measures, wind generators, solar and geothermal energy) to prevent the destruction of another river.