Crees sue Ottawa over Nunavut

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Nunavut is only days old, but it's already facing a legal challenge. The Crees of Northern Quebec say the federal government violated their rights and Constitution when it agreed to give Nunavut islands in the James and Hudson bays that have been part of Cree ancestral territory for thousands of years.

The Grand Council of the Crees filed a court action on Feb. 19 asking the Federal Court of Canada to keep the islands out of Nunavut. Crees also want to make sure no development occurs on the islands until their status is settled.

"We were very reluctant to undertake this action as we support Inuit claims and efforts to achieve recognition of their rights," said Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. "However, Canada swept our islands into Nunavut without consulting us."

The Cree complaints echo those of an alliance of Manitoba First Nations, which also say the inclusion of their lands in the new territory was done without their consent. They fear their rights in those lands could be extinguished with the new territory's birth.

The Cree islands, most of them a few kilometres from the shore, have been part of the Northwest Territories, but became part of Nunavut on April 1, the date the Northwest Territories was divided to settle a long-standing Inuit land claim. Crees have been negotiating for 26 years to get jurisdiction over the islands, but the talks have continuously broken down.

A key Cree fear is that Nunavut will require them to get export licenses to bring game from the islands when they go hunting. The rule is enforced on Amiski Island, a large island close to the west coast of James Bay, but not on the islands claimed by Quebec Crees. But Nunavut could start enforcing the rule everywhere.

"When you go into another province or territory (with freshly killed game), you require certain permits. So those may be required (of the Crees)," said James Eetoolook, first vice-president of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the political body that represents the 20,000 Inuit people of Nunavut.

Eetoolook conceded, however, the Inuit of Nunavut never claimed the Quebec Cree islands as part of their historical territory.

Nigel Wilford, a senior negotiator at Indian Affairs, said the islands were tossed into Nunavut for simplicity's sake, not because the islands were claimed by the Inuit.

"We didn't want to create a third territory out of the N.W.T."

Legally speaking, Wilford acknowledged Crees will have to get export permits if they go hunting on the off-shore islands. Whether the rule is enforced is up to Nunavut authorities.

At the same time, Wilford insisted that rights of First Nations whose lands overlap with Nunavut won't be hurt.

NDP MP Bev Desjarlais is dubious. She represents Manitoba's northern Churchill riding and took Indian Affairs to task over the issue in Parliament last month.

"One land claim doesn't trump another," she said. "The government is using the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement to get out of its treaty obligations to other Aboriginal people."

Francis Flett, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), an alliance of 26 Manitoba First Nations, said his people are worried. The MKO took Ottawa to court in 1993 to protest the inclusion of Dene ancestral lands into Nunavut, but the case still isn't resolved.

"We're not against the Inuit having self-government. But certainly, they have to respect the rights we have," said Flett. "The government is trying to shove us aside."