January 18, 2002
Debate heats up on landmark deal
Consultations on a historic
$3.6-billion Quebec-Cree deal are entering a final phase, and debate surrounding
the deal is heating up.
A consultation tour by
Cree leaders began in mid-January and is scheduled to wrap up by the end of
the month. The nine Quebec Cree communities will then hold community assemblies
to decide whether to approve the deal.
Consultation meetings have
been tense and emotional. At a gathering in Nemaska, elders were critical of
the deal. "Most of them feel the land has already suffered enough,"
said Lindy Moar, a school administrator in Nemaska.
The Oct. 23 deal, which
includes a hydro mega-project on the Rupert River and some new self-government
powers for Crees, has faced withering opposition in James Bay, where many Crees
feel the deal betrays years of opposition to hydro projects.
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