James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement - Contents

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-Quebec, 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 Nunavik, 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 Government.

• 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 million 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 Bay. In Nunavik, these services are provided by the Kativik Health and Social Services Council.