Cree chief rejects Quebec forestry plan
Copyright 2000 The Gazette (Montreal)
December 15, 2000
By KEVIN DOUGHERTY
QUEBEC - Leaders of Northern Quebec's Crees say they plan to reject the provincial government's offer yesterday of $120 million to establish joint management of forest resources in the region governed by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
Cree Grand Chief Ted Moses complained yesterday that Quebec had presented the Crees with an ultimatum through the media, and said he doesn't think Native Affairs Minister Guy Chevrette and Natural Resources Minister Jacques Brassard are serious. "I don't think they want a deal," Moses said in telephone interview.
He claimed the government is offering the Crees money it already owes them and wants to strip them of their rights under the James Bay accord.
The Cree chiefs plan to discuss the proposals in a telephone conference before making their final decision, but Moses said his mind is made up.
"It's my recommendation that they don't accept it," the grand chief said.
The forestry deal would apply the same standards set for the rest of the province, except that a joint board of three Cree representatives and three Quebec representatives would administer the Forestry Act in the area governed by the 1975 James Bay accord.
The Crees' position is that the James Bay agreement, not the Forestry Act, should apply to their lands. While they favour joint forestry management, the Crees want the final say over forestry management in their region. Under the Quebec proposal, the province would name the board chairman, giving the province the final say.
The Crees, who successfully swayed U.S. public opinion in the 1990s against Hydro-Quebec's proposed Great Whale hydro-electric development, have threatened to organize a boycott of Quebec forest products in the United States if they do not win control of forest cutting in their region.
Quebec is calling on the Crees to drop legal action against the province in return for the joint forestry-management plan and the $120 million, which would go to economic- and social-development projects, and measures to restore forest habitat in areas where the Crees still trap and hunt.
Forestry companies would make a commitment to draw 15 per cent of their work force from among Crees. Quebec would hire Cree game wardens and offer job training to Crees.
Quebec also wants a permanent framework agreement allowing for continued negotiations, as a way to avoid court battles with the Crees, who have used litigation to win concessions from the provincial and federal governments.
In a case brought by the Crees, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled last year that the province's forestry law is unconstitutional because the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement gives the Crees control over natural resources in their territory.
Brassard said yesterday he did not want to discuss legal cases with the Crees that are still before the courts, adding that he disagreed with the Crees' position that the government has not budged on its insistence that Quebec have the final say in forestry management.
"That is their interpretation," Brassard said. "It is not ours. We have made changes in our offer, particularly regarding money."
Chevrette added that the government is aware the Crees want to maintain their trapping lifestyle, and Quebec would be willing to negotiate a separate agreement in this area if the Crees don't accept the forestry-management plan.
"There is a lot of money on the table," the minister added.