A traditional circle of non-responsibility
They say the fire near Eastmain started on June 12 but no one did anything about it for over two weeks. Even as I write this editorial the fire is still burning and it’s July 17. The fire is (or was) so big that if it happened eastward the province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) would be no more. PEI isn’t even as big as the 6500 sq km that went up in smoke as of June 27 in Eeyou Istchee.
The fire came as close as 4 km to Eastmain before anything was done besides evacuating pregnant women, Elders, children and those with health problems. Eleonore Mine was also evacuated as flames and smoke came ever closer. Still there was no response to the out-of-control fire. Even the candidates running for Grand Chief and Deputy Grand Chief weren’t really making this an election issue and it should have been. Crees are stewards of the land after all and a cry for action should have been on everyone’s lips.
Yet one cannot really blame them. It was and still is difficult to know who was responsible. SOPFEU doesn’t have any responsibility past the 51st parallel for fires. It seems that Quebec feels since there is no commercial value north of that let the fires burn as they may. It was pointed out that the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (AAND) had some responsibility. Turns out they only call in the troops when a community is in danger. They pass the buck saying Ressources naturelles du Québec is responsible and SOPFEU is relegated to just monitoring the fires north of the 51st.
And thus the circle on non-responsibility is complete. Yet some concerns have to be raised and rightly so.
Even though there was an election, why was the Grand Council so silent about this problem? This should have seen major media coverage but when the victim is silent so is the news coverage. We all saw concern over the fires near Labrador but next to nothing on what was most likely the biggest fire in Quebec. It was only when the smoke from the fire affected air quality in Montreal did we see a small reference to the fire.
Back in the late 1980s Hydro-Québec (HQ) referred to Eeyou Istchee as a wasteland. It seems that Quebec and Canada is willing to see it become one because of money. The worth of the Eeyou Istchee is nothing according to the bean counters and so we pay the price.
Given that such a large percentage of Eastern United States power and the money made from sales to them I would not think the land is worthless. Between 2008 and 2012, HQ paid C$8.9 billion in dividends to the Quebec government. A portion of that revenue came from US sales that reached a little less than $1 billion as near as I can figure it out. Just look at Vermont where exports from HQ account for 28% of all power used in that state.
It is not only the loss of cabins, property, dead animals and such that concerns the Cree. It is the relationship and support we expect as Quebecers and Canadians. Les Québécois talk about how they were mistreated by the English and use that as reason for separation. Perhaps the Cree should consider this option. Nunavut exists and the 1898 and 1912 Boundaries and Extension acts are not as far back in the past. If we cannot count on Quebec to protect our way of life then we should step up to the plate and cry, “Vive Eeyou Istchee libre!”