Quebec believes that a settlement is within reach with the Innu First Nations of the Regroupement Petapan, who have been negotiating for 40 years with the two levels of government to agree on a treaty that will recognize their ancestral rights and their right to self-determination. .
“The Government of Quebec is convinced, if all the parties agree, to be able to reach an agreement as soon as possible,” replies Marie-Ève Fillion, public affairs advisor at the Ministère du Conseil exécutif and Secretariat of the Treasury Board.
As The duty reported on Tuesday, according to the Regroupement Petapan, which is made up of the Innu First Nations of Essipit, Nutashkuan and Mashteuiatsh, there are only two major issues left to settle with Quebec to reach an agreement. The executive council did not want to confirm this information, but recognizes that “there are still some complex issues to be resolved for which we must find mutually acceptable solutions and measure their impact”. However, he specifies that “the negotiations are well advanced”.
Asked why the negotiations took so many years to conclude, the ministry recalls in particular that the negotiations “address complex issues of governance, legislative powers, territory, access to resources, financing and taxation”. He specifies that “this treaty will bring about profound and significant changes in the relations between the Government of Quebec and the three signatory First Nations”.
In an open letter published Tuesday in Dutythe leaders of Essipit, Nutashkuan and Mashteuiatsh invited future prime ministers to take a stand on the file and not to miss this “rendezvous with history”.
At the department, it is indicated that in 2021-2022, the Minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs met on several occasions with the three First Nations chiefs of the Petapan Regrouping on the sidelines of the negotiations, “with the objective of improving relations and promote the advancement of mutually acceptable solutions that will lead to an agreement as soon as possible”.