Chibougamau protest targets logging abuses

Residents of Mistissini and Nemaska residents gathered in Chibougamau recently to protest forestry abuses in their territories, taking advantage of a visit from Natural Resources Minister Laurent Lessard to register their disgust over clear cutting and other practices by forestry companies. The protesters also hoped to bring attention to the repeated breaches of the Baril-Moses agreement in James Bay Cree territory.

Jimmy and Kathleen Gunner, Isaac Voyager, Youth Chief Joshua Iserhoff and Nemaska Chief Thomas Jolly managed to secure an impromptu meeting with Minister Lessard to deliver a message that Cree rights must be respected.

They stressed that there continue to be major breaches of the Baril-Moses agreement. The agreement was between former Grand Chief Ted Moses and then-Natural Resources Minister Gilles Baril in 2002 during side negotiations to the Paix des Braves. It mandates logging practices such as mosaic cutting and a minimum forest cover.

In May 2014, Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come spoke of the crucial need for responsible forestry practices and the intrinsic role the Cree Nation and the people of Eeyou Istchee play as stewards of the land. He stated that the agreements and treaties in place are there to benefit all residents of the province of Quebec.

Coon Come also said that the “Adapted Forestry Regime” established in Chapter 3 of the Paix des Braves calls “for the protection of residual forest cover in Cree traplines that have already been logged, the protection of forests adjacent to watercourses and lakes and the regulation of the road access network.”