Time running out for Algonquin environmental agreement

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Time is running out for the Algonquins of Barriere Lake to complete environmental assessments under a trilateral agreement signed by the Algonquins, the federal and Quebec governments.

The agreement was signed in 1991 but the Quebec government refused to honor it, delaying the implementation. Now, the work will not be completed by the time the agreement expires, said Russell Diabo, Algonquin spokesperson.

"We're concerned the Quebec government is going to come in and say the job wasn't done. We're asking for a two-year extension."

The agreement allows the Algonquins to provide the governments with information as to existing stocks of wildlife. It also gives them the opportunity to monitor the forests in their area and to assess potential impacts of exploitation and development.

"The main point is for Indigenous people to have a say in the way their land is used, and be able to keep their way of life alive."

The struggle dates back to the 1980s, when the Algonquins proposed a conservations strategy to the governments of Canada and Quebec to fight clear-cutting, flooding, and the depletion of fish and game.

The strategy was based on recommendations in a United Nations report on environment and developed called the Brundtland Report.

The recommendations were ignored, so the Algonquins began a non-violent campaign of protests and blockades of logging roads.

IN 1990, despite a full-fledged effort to get through to the governments, the government of Quebec signed a series of 25-year timber contracts that threatened the survival of the Barriere Lake people's way of life.

In response, they stepped up their blockades and protested on Parliament Hill, said Diabo.

"The ability to put food on the table was being affected, so these measures were necessary."

But the expiration of the agreement isn't the only hurdle for the Algonquins.

"We are at an uncertain period because of the Quebec election" Diabo said.

"We don't know what the Quebec Liberal party would do about the extension. They were the ones who created the delay in the first place. And the PQ have said they will not honor any previous federal decisions with respect to Quebec."