Tensions resume in Natashquan around the Pointe-Parent file, while members of the neighboring Innu community have illegally settled in abandoned houses in the area.
On Tuesday, Bernadette Landry, 88, learned that a couple and their child had broken into her property and moved in. Gilles Vigneault’s little sister now resides in Quebec, but she still owns the house where she raised her children in Pointe-Parent. “That worries me a bit,” she said. “There are people in our house and I don’t know who. »
Pointe-Parent is a district of the municipality of Natashquan. The rapid population growth of the neighboring Innu community (Nutashkuan) meant that the sector became completely isolated, to the point where the two levels of government began to talk about relocating it. However, the case has been dragging on for decades.
In 2018, the Quebec government promised residents of Pointe-Parent that they would be settled the following winter. But at present, only part of the houses have been taken over, those where the residents still lived. Cottages and secondary residences like Mrs. Landry’s are always the responsibility of their owners.
According to the local newspaper The Porter, no less than 13 houses are currently “occupied”, almost all that remains of the neighborhood. This is not the first time that this sector has been under tension, as vandalism has been commonplace there for years.
Overpopulation in the Innu community
Joined by The duty Thursday, the mayor of Natashquan, Henri Wapistan, affirms that “it is not normal” that people occupy these houses without authorization. Mr. Wapistan, who himself resides on Innu territory, believes this stems from “overpopulation” on the reserve.
“It’s because the world, they are overcrowded, they saw houses in Pointe-Parent almost abandoned, the world almost all left, so they said to themselves…” In addition, he adds, the COVID- 19 makes the problems of overpopulation even more glaring.
The municipality of Natashquan has approximately 250 inhabitants while the Innu community of Nutashkuan is home to more than 1,000 residents.
On Wednesday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière spoke with Mayor Wapistan and Nutashkuan Chief Real Tettaut. The latter then committed to sending letters to the occupants of the houses and communicating about it on social media and by local radio.
The Minister believes that this case could pose serious problems of “living together” but he is confident that he acted early enough to prevent it. “There are already things that have been undertaken since yesterday (Wednesday),” he told the To have to on the sidelines of an announcement Thursday in Wendake.
“Next door, there is an overflowing community. I don’t agree with what they did, but the houses were empty and they took their liberty. This is unacceptable “.
Police intervention in Pointe-Parent Tuesday evening
Another cause for concern: the police had to intervene in Pointe-Parent on Tuesday evening after a woman fired on one of the houses with an air gun. According to the Sûreté du Québec, the woman in her fifties was released after her encounter with the police.
Questioned on this subject, Minister Lafrenière declared via his press officer that “all the issues of cohabitation concern him”.
It remains to be seen when the sale of the last properties will be able to be concluded. “I want this to be resolved,” insists Mayor Wapistan, speaking of “phase two” of the Pointe-Parent relocation.
“We must explain what is coming,” said the minister. “The community and the municipality really want to work together. I’m hopeful in that. Subsequently, the houses will be transferred to an NPO that will be able to manage them. »
Originally, the government wanted to transfer the houses and the territory to the native reserve to counter the housing shortage. However, Minister Lafrenière now recommends making it a tourist site dedicated to Aboriginal traditions.
As to whether the current tensions could have been avoided by settling the file earlier, the Minister retorts that he cannot “take the blame”, having himself been challenged in this old file only very recently.