James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
Encyclopedia
The James Bay And Northern Quebec Agreement was an Aboriginal
land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree
and Inuit
of northern Quebec
, and later slightly modified in 1978 by the Northeastern Quebec Agreement, through which Quebec's Naskapi
First Nations joined the treaty. The agreement covered economic development and property issues in northern Quebec, as well as establishing a number of cultural, social and governmental institutions for Aboriginals who are members of the communities involved in the treaties.
Before the foundation of Canada
, the lands of northern Quebec had been a part of Rupert's Land
- the territory administered by the Hudson's Bay Company
as part of the charter it received from King Charles II
in 1670. In 1870, all of Rupert's Land was ceded to Canada
, and in 1895 the region between the province of Quebec and the Hudson Strait
became the District of Ungava
of the Northwest Territories
. In 1898, the border of Quebec was extended
north to the Eastmain River
. Quebec continued to claim the remaining District of Ungava, north of the Eastmain River, and in 1912 the area was transferred to Quebec
, subject to the condition that a treaty be negotiated with the native peoples of the region recognising their cultural rights and surrendering their title to the land to Quebec and Canada. There was at the time no pre-existing treaty covering that area. The government of Quebec did not immediately undertake such negotiations.
In the 1960s, Quebec began developing potential hydroelectric resources in the north, and in 1971 created the James Bay Development Corporation to pursue the development of mining, forestry and other potential resources starting with the James Bay Hydroelectric Project
. This massive undertaking, which had been directed by an increasingly assertive government of Quebec without consulting native people, was opposed by most of northern Quebec's Cree
and Inuit
. The Quebec Association of Indians - an ad hoc representative body of native northern Quebecers - sued the government and, on 15 November 1973, won an injunction in the Quebec Superior Court
blocking hydroelectric development until the province had negotiated an agreement with the natives.
This judgment was overruled by the Quebec Court of Appeal
seven days later, after the government's efforts to quickly negotiate an agreement failed. Nonetheless, the legal requirement that Quebec negotiate a treaty covering the territory had not been overturned, even though construction continued.
Over the course of the next year, the government of Quebec negotiated the required accord. On 15 November 1974 – exactly a year after the Superior Court decision – an agreement-in-principle was signed between the governments of Canada
, Quebec
, publicly owned Hydro-Québec
, the Grand Council of the Crees
, headed by Billy Diamond
, and the Northern Quebec Inuit Association
. The final accord - the James Bay And Northern Quebec Agreement (in French
: La Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois) - was signed on 11 November 1975. This convention originally only covered claims made by Quebec Cree
Indians and Inuit
, however, on 31 January 1978, the Naskapi
Indians of Quebec signed a parallel agreement - the Northeastern Quebec Agreement - and joined the institutions established under the 1975 accord.
The James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement has been further modified by some 20 additional accords affecting the implementation and details of the original agreement, as well as expanding their provisions. Furthermore, the Constitution Act, 1982
entrenched in the Constitution of Canada
all the rights granted in native treaties and land claims agreements, giving the rights outlined in the original agreement the status of constitutional rights.
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
of northern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and later slightly modified in 1978 by the Northeastern Quebec Agreement, through which Quebec's Naskapi
Naskapi
The Naskapi are the indigenous Innu inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan, which comprises most of what other Canadians refer to as eastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada....
First Nations joined the treaty. The agreement covered economic development and property issues in northern Quebec, as well as establishing a number of cultural, social and governmental institutions for Aboriginals who are members of the communities involved in the treaties.
History
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the lands of northern Quebec had been a part of Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
- the territory administered by the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
as part of the charter it received from King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1670. In 1870, all of Rupert's Land was ceded to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and in 1895 the region between the province of Quebec and the Hudson Strait
Hudson Strait
Hudson Strait links the Atlantic Ocean to Hudson Bay in Canada. It lies between Baffin Island and the northern coast of Quebec, its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley and Resolution Island. It is long...
became the District of Ungava
District of Ungava
The District of Ungava was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories from 1895 to 1912. It covered the northern portion of what is today Quebec, the interior of Labrador and the offshore islands to the west and north, which are now part of the Nunavut.The continental...
of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
. In 1898, the border of Quebec was extended
Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1898
The Quebec Boundary Extension Act of 1898 was an act of the Parliament of Canada that expanded the territory of the province of Quebec. The province's northern boundary was set along the eastern shore of James Bay to the mouth of the Eastmain River, north along the river, then due east to the...
north to the Eastmain River
Eastmain River
The Eastmain River is a river in northwestern Quebec which rises in north central Quebec and flows 800 km west to drain into James Bay. 'East Main' is an old name for the east side of James Bay. This river drains an area of 46,400 km²...
. Quebec continued to claim the remaining District of Ungava, north of the Eastmain River, and in 1912 the area was transferred to Quebec
Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912
The Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912 is an act passed by the Parliament of Canada on April 1, 1912, that expanded the territory of the Province of Quebec. It was supplemental to the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1898 that granted the province its first territorial enlargement...
, subject to the condition that a treaty be negotiated with the native peoples of the region recognising their cultural rights and surrendering their title to the land to Quebec and Canada. There was at the time no pre-existing treaty covering that area. The government of Quebec did not immediately undertake such negotiations.
In the 1960s, Quebec began developing potential hydroelectric resources in the north, and in 1971 created the James Bay Development Corporation to pursue the development of mining, forestry and other potential resources starting with the James Bay Hydroelectric Project
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project is a series of hydroelectric development with a combined installed capacity of over 16,000 megawatts built since 1974 for Hydro-Québec by the on the La Grande and other rivers of Northern Quebec....
. This massive undertaking, which had been directed by an increasingly assertive government of Quebec without consulting native people, was opposed by most of northern Quebec's Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
. The Quebec Association of Indians - an ad hoc representative body of native northern Quebecers - sued the government and, on 15 November 1973, won an injunction in the Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court is the highest trial Court in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It consists of 144 judges who are appointed by the federal government.Chief Justices : [partial listing]* Edward Bowen...
blocking hydroelectric development until the province had negotiated an agreement with the natives.
This judgment was overruled by the Quebec Court of Appeal
Quebec Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Quebec is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada....
seven days later, after the government's efforts to quickly negotiate an agreement failed. Nonetheless, the legal requirement that Quebec negotiate a treaty covering the territory had not been overturned, even though construction continued.
Over the course of the next year, the government of Quebec negotiated the required accord. On 15 November 1974 – exactly a year after the Superior Court decision – an agreement-in-principle was signed between the governments of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, publicly owned Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
, the Grand Council of the Crees
Grand Council of the Crees
The Grand Council of the Crees , or the GCC, is the political body that represents the approximately 16,357 Crees or “Iyyu” / “Iynu” of the Eeyou Istchee territory in the James Bay and Nunavik regions of Northern Quebec, Canada...
, headed by Billy Diamond
Billy Diamond
Billy Diamond was the chief of the Waskaganish, Quebec Cree in 1970, and grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees from 1974 to 1984. In May 2008, Diamond suffered from a stroke which left him paralysed completely on his left side. On November 21, 2008 he recovered and credits Jesus Christ for...
, and the Northern Quebec Inuit Association
Makivik Corporation
The Makivik Corporation is the legal representative of Quebec's Inuit people, established in 1978 under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the agreement that established the institutions of Nunavik...
. The final accord - the James Bay And Northern Quebec Agreement (in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: La Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois) - was signed on 11 November 1975. This convention originally only covered claims made by Quebec Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
Indians and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
, however, on 31 January 1978, the Naskapi
Naskapi
The Naskapi are the indigenous Innu inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan, which comprises most of what other Canadians refer to as eastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada....
Indians of Quebec signed a parallel agreement - the Northeastern Quebec Agreement - and joined the institutions established under the 1975 accord.
The James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement has been further modified by some 20 additional accords affecting the implementation and details of the original agreement, as well as expanding their provisions. Furthermore, the Constitution Act, 1982
Constitution Act, 1982
The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of "patriating" the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867...
entrenched in the Constitution of Canada
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
all the rights granted in native treaties and land claims agreements, giving the rights outlined in the original agreement the status of constitutional rights.
Contents
The James Bay agreement touches on a number of subjects and, as the first Canadian native treaty since the 1920s, it bears little resemblance to previous treaties but has become the prototype of the many agreements made since then. It established a number of provisions, principally in the following areas:- Lands
- The traditional lands of the signatories are divided into three categories:
- Category I: Lands reserved exclusively for the use of native Quebecers.
- Category II: Lands owned by the Crown-in-right-of-QuebecMonarchy in QuebecBy the arrangements of the Canadian federation, Canada's monarchy operates in Quebec as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy and constitution. As such, the Crown within Quebec's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Quebec , Her Majesty in Right of...
, but in which hunting, fishing and trapping rights are reserved for natives and over which forestry, mining and tourism development authority is shared. - Category III: Lands in which some specific hunting and harvesting rights are reserved for natives, but all other rights are shared subject to a joint regulatory scheme.
- Roughly 14,000 km2 fall into Category I, 150,000 km2 in Category II, and 908,000 km2 - almost 60 percent all land in Quebec - are in Category III.
- Environmental and Social Protections
- The accord provides for two consultative committees composed of native and government officials, to advise the government on the environmental and social consequences of policies. Below the 55th latitude, the James Bay Advisory Committee on the Environment has this responsibility, while in NunavikNunavikNunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...
, which includes all territories north of the 55th latitude, it belongs to the Kativik Environmental Advisory Committee. The accord also established a system of environmental evaluation for new development projects involving the oversight of both the governments of Canada and Quebec as well as the Cree Regional Authority and the Kativik Regional GovernmentKativik Regional GovernmentKativik redirects here. For the statistical area, see Kativik .The Kativik Regional Government encompasses most of the Nunavik region of Quebec. Nunavik is the northern half of the Nord-du-Québec administrative region and includes all the territory north of the 55th parallel...
.- Economic development and financial compensation
- In return for their signatures, the governments of Quebec and Canada and Hydro-Quebec agreed to provide northern Quebec natives with extensive direct financial compensation - some CAN$225 millionCanadian dollarThe Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
to be managed and used for native economic development through three native-owned development corporations: The Cree Board of Compensation, the Mak Corporation and the Naskapi Development Corporation.- Education
- The agreement provided for the establishment of the Cree School Board for Cree villages, the Kativik School Board for the residents of Northern villages, who are mostly Inuit, and a special school for Naskapi students of Kawawachikamach. The use of native languages for instruction in schools is explicitly encouraged.
- Local government
- Cree communities in Quebec were established as Cree villages (municipalities) and Inuit communities of Nunavik were established as Northern villages with universal suffrage for Inuit and non-Inuit residents. In addition, the Cree Regional Authority was established to provide regional government for the Quebec Cree and the Kativik Regional Government was established to provide regional government for the residents of Nunavik (with the exception of the Cree village of Whapmagoostui which is governed by the Cree Regional Authority).
- Health and Social Services
- Responsibility for health and social services in Cree communities is the responsibility of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James BayCree Board of Health and Social Services of James BayThe Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay is responsible for delivering health and social services in the Cree territory of Northern Quebec, Canada. The Cree are one of Canada's indigenous First Nations....
. In Nunavik, these services are provided by the Kativik Health and Social Services Council.
External links
- Complementary Agreements 13 to 18 and other agreements - Quebec government