Developing the North Sensibly

They talked joint venture and projects. They were selling employment opportunities to communities that have seen double-digit unemployment figures.

The topic of Quebec northern development was in the air. Everyone was raring to go and were quick to offer to share their expertise and gain an in to more business.

The Secretariat to the Cree Nation/Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Alliance and ComaxAT put on a good show yet again.

Pierre Ouellet of the Secretariat to the Cree Nation/Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Alliance, who co-organized the event said, “Exchange Day exists to facilitate business relations and demonstrates the importance to create good business conditions involving Crees and Inuits for economic development in the North.”

Ouellet would be the first to tell you the mission of the Secretariat is to develop economic alliances between the Cree and the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region in a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration to ensure the harmonious development of all the Cree Nation of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue. That may be a mouthful but it gives you an idea of what the Business Exchange Day is all about.

The event attracted 250 businesses delegates from Eeyou Istchee, Nunavik and Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Nunavik’s Makivik Corporation joined 40 Cree enterprises in over 700 planned meetings with entrepreneurs from Abitibi-Témiscamingue. If the buzz was business deals, then the bees were busy indeed.

For the other co-organizer of the event, Guy Baril, president of ComaxAT, said that such marathon meetings and the Business Echange Day help Abitibi-Témiscamingue businesses to better understand the economic development needs of the people in the North. It also gives everyone a chance to participate in each-others’ markets and economies in an open and positive setting.

Speakers included Reggie Mark from Vieux Comptoir Construction, Jean-Pierre Landry of Goldcorp-Opinaca Mines and Normand Béchard of Société d’énergie de la Baie James (SEBJ).

However, the main speaker was Eeyou Istchee Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come, who reminded attendees that northern development and access to this market must involve Cree enterprises in order to succeed.

He went on to explained that the Crees were attending the event for two reasons. First, a vision or dream that began to take hold in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) and in the Paix des Braves of being able to lay a secure and lasting economic foundation for the Cree Nation with the possibility of creating strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships with other peoples in the region.

He said that the second reason was the prodigious efforts and dedication to that Cree dream by former Air Creebec president, the late Albert Diamond.

These visions however were born in hardship, Coon Come explained as they emerged from the early ’70s when then Premier Robert Bourassa announced his plan to develop the hydroelectric potential of Eeyou Istchee. As a result, intense negotiations for the JBNQA began.

“From our perspective, the JBNQA provided a blueprint for the development of the North, for the protection of our traditional way of life and for our future role in the administration and development of the territory. In 1975, we were promised the necessary tools to engage in the development of our territory for the economic benefit of our communities and our people.”

Though the Crees nurtured this vision for many years, Coon Come explained that there was still a need to be assertive in letting the world know what was expected from every level of government. While the JBNQA might have broken the Indian Act and promised an end to paternalism, it took many subsequent years to convince Quebec and Canada that other measures needed to be put in place to give life to the original agreement.

Coon Come said he fully supported the Paix des Braves because it reaffirms the nation-to-nation relationship between the Cree Nation and the Quebec government and puts an end to the recurrent disputes and court actions. It paved the way for mutually beneficial development and gave Cree consent to the Eastmain and La Sarcelle hydroelectric projects, in conformity with Cree fundamental rights.

This agreement, along with a major agreement entered into with the Canadian government in 2008, provided the Crees with the resources to carry out the promises made in the original JBNQA.

“Further, these agreements reaffirmed the fundamental principles which were, from our perspective, the underpinnings of our major agreements with the governments of Quebec and Canada. These principles, including the fundamental human right of self-determination, are reflected in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and also the two International Covenants.”

Later on, Coon Come spoke of the current dangers and pitfalls facing the Cree because of the current crossroads that the Crees are at with Quebec due to several major initiatives that the province has taken.

These include the restructuring of the Municipalité de la Baie James (MBJ), which gave control over municipal administration of traditional lands to the region, and Bill 57, which automatically amends the Paix des Braves. In doing so the region also takes control of forestry away from the Crees and gives it to the region, namely MBJ.

While Charest is seeking to move ahead with the Plan Nord, his ambitious business development plan for the north, Coon Come said the JBNQA and the Paix des Braves outline the general framework for such development.

“I asked Premier Charest that, together, we reaffirm that special relationship between the Cree Nation and Quebec which flows from our groundbreaking and historic agreements. We should now return to a principled nation-to-nation relationship in a spirit of mutual respect, a spirit of good faith and a spirit of mutual trust.

“On the basis of a renewal of our special relationship, we can then begin to address in a respectful manner the challenges which we now face. The Plan Nord does offer an historic opportunity for us all to move forward together to build and grow our economies.”

Coon Come is calling on Charest to work with him to articulate and develop the necessary public declarations of Cree intentions to work together on the Plan Nord. In doing so an appropriate system of governance in the territory with appropriate laws and regulations related to forestry can be developed.

In the same vein as the Paix des Braves, Coon Come called on all sectors of Quebec civil society, including the business community and particularly that of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Development Secretariat, to urge Quebec to respect the agreements that the Crees have signed.

This kind of new unity between the Crees and key sectors of civil society in Quebec will be crucial in breathing new life into the Paix des Braves and avoiding new conflicts.

Coon Come said that for development to be harmonious it must benefit all and be carried out in a political framework that mobilizes the democratic rights of all citizens on the land that they occupy.

“There is a great deal at stake now. If Charest is willing to join me on the high road – the road of principle, the road of mutual respect – then all peoples of this region will be able to flourish and thrive and realize the bright future we want for our communities.”