Quebec Cree chiefs:Saviours or sellouts in hydro deal?

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An historic Quebec-Cree deal for a $3.8-billion dam complex has prompted an emotional debate in the community. Provincial and Aboriginal officials are praising the deal as a breakthrough in Canada's strained relationship with First Nations, but the agreement has generated anger among ordinary Crees.

Supporters say the deal will open the door to billions of dollars of new development projects in resource-rich James Bay and create much-needed jobs for the nine Cree communities there. Detractors allege Quebec has strong-armed the chiefs into accepting a new mega-project in the pristine heartland of their territory and wonder if the deal, negotiated in secret, will force them to go quietly along if Quebec separates. They are also worried they won't be allowed a voice in deciding whether the deal gets the final go-ahead or not. So far, Cree chiefs have waffled on whether there will be a referendum.

The agreement represents a stunning turnaround for Quebec Crees. For more than a decade they have opposed the province's plans for new hydroelectric dams in James Bay. Only last year, rank and file Crees voted at an annual general assembly against more hydro-projects.

The Oct. 23 deal, signed by Quebec Premier Bernard Landry and Cree Grand Chief Ted Moses in the National Assembly, would give Crees $3.6 billion over 50 years for economic development, housing, infrastructure, support for trappers and to fulfill outstanding promises from the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

In a first, the payments would be partially indexed to revenues from forestry, mining and hydro projects in Cree land.

Crees would also be able to make recommendations-albeit non-binding ones-on how forestry companies log in Cree hunting areas.

In exchange, Quebec gets to build a long-sought $3.8-billion, 1,280-megawatt hydro-project that would dam up the Rupert and Eastmain rivers, diverting water to the existing La Grande dam complex to the north.

Crees must also drop $8 billion in lawsuits filed against Quebec. In one controversial clause, they also agree not to file any new lawsuits or complain about Quebec to the media or international forums-without first going to an arbitration hearing-for the next 50 years.

The deal is now being taken to the Cree communities for debate and ratification. Quebec and Cree officials hope for final approval by Christmas.

They paint the deal as a model for all Aboriginal peoples.

"This is an agreement that every other First Nation across the country has dreamed of," said Abel Bosum, head Cree negotiator on the deal.

"The path of the future for Native people is to give them the opportunity to exploit resources and share in that," said Quebec Native Affairs Minister Guy Chevrette.

But the deal has already smacked into a wall of protest.

"We're shocked. We feel defeated by our own leaders," said Roger Orr, a Cree small-business owner in Nemaska, some 1,000 kilometres north of Montreal. "Everything was done behind closed doors."

Cree officials have made an initial tour of the nine communities to explain the deal and answer questions. The reception was heated.

In Nemaska, most residents were strongly opposed. Youth entered a community assembly with a banner saying, "Let our rivers flow freely." A young Cree man asked an embarrassed Moses to read from a poster that opposes dams that he had once autographed.

"It was very lopsided. I would say 95 per cent were against it," said Neil Diamond, a witer for the Cree magazine The Nation.

Concern runs high because Nemaska is just 40 kilometres south of one of the possible sites for the planned 350-square-kilometre reservoir on the Rupert River. Some 1,500 to 1,700 workers would be housed at a camp just outside the community.

The chiefs are trying to sell the agreement as good for young Crees, but youth seem to be among the strongest critics. The youth council has come out against the deal and many young people were vocal opponents in the community assembies.

"The vast majority [of youth] I've talked to don't like it. They want to get together and fight against it," Orr said.

Trappers are also worried. Tallyman Freddy Jolly will see part of his trapline flooded and another section dry up if the Rupert is dammed.

"I can't sleep since they signed the agreement," he said. "All the fish will be gone. All these rivers will dry up. A lot of young people, trappers and Elders are mad here.

"What about the future? The young people who are not born yet, they're the ones who are going to be affected. They're going to turn to drugs and prostitution. They'll be carrying a shovel, picking up the garbage and cleaning up the mess. Those are the jobs they will have."

There is also the question of whether the deal binds Crees' fate too closely to that of the provincial government.

"What happens if Quebec separates?" asked Lindy Moar, the head administrator of Nemaska's school. "Are we tied to them in this partnership? Do we have to go with them?"

Some Crees said the deal was the result of blackmail by Quebec. One Cree official who requested anonymity said Landry told Moses there would be no deal on forestry or funding for housing and community infrastructure if Crees did not accept new dams.

In an interview, Chevrette acknowledged the Rupert hydro-project was the condition of settling the issues.

"We wanted a long-term agreement but on condition that we can develop the north. We didn't force them. We didn't scalp anybody."

Paul Dixon, a Cree trappers' representative, was outraged.

"When people are desperate and hurt, others want to take advantage of them." He said he was "disgusted" when told of Chevrette's reference to scalping in an interview.

Dixon said Cree chiefs had no mandate to agree to the Rupert hydro project.

"It's the same guys we signed the deal with 25 years ago. They promised the traditional way of life would continue undisturbed. Today, the whole territory has been slated for development."

The secrec that has surrounded negotiations is also a concern. Even the chiefs were kept largely in the dark until a few days before the announcement.

The lack of openness is becoming a sore point as Crees wonder if they will even have a voice in whether the deal is approved. The chiefs have expressed reluctance to hold a referendum and they claim to have the authority to ratify the deal by themselves.

The question is being called a test of democracy in Cree land.

"If there is no referendum, it would show that the imposed band council system is really a totalitarian system," said William Nicholls, editor of The Nation. "What we really have is like communism or what they have in Afghanistan, for that matter."