The Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Canada, see Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification as a way to help them secure recognition of their land rights and to gain some benefits from resource exploitation on their traditional lands.
Mitchikanibikok Inik or, in English, Algonquins of Barriere
Lake, is one of ten Algonquin First Nation communities inhabiting the Ottawa River watershed along the border between the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Mitchikanibikok Inik means ‘the people of the stone fence’ or ‘the people of the stone fish weir’ and is taken from our former rendezvous place on Barriere Lake at the headwaters of the Ottawa River. We speak a distinct local dialect of Algonquin, a language native to this region.
Resource industries and businesses, settler governments and their institutions and a rapidly growing population have squeezed our First Nation into an ever more limited world of options for adapting to change. By the late 1980s the combined effect of clear-cut logging, flooding and fluctuating water levels from the operation of dams and reservoirs within our territory, and the depletion of fish and game by sports users, caused us to organise a peaceful campaign of protests and blockades against logging. After a great deal of pressure, the governments of Canada and Quebec responded by agreeing to sign the Trilateral Agreement which provides for Algonquin input into resource management decisions within our traditional territory, 10,920 km2 in the area of the La Verendrye Wildlife Reserve in Western Quebec.
Signed in 1991 (and recommitted in 1998) by the governments of Barriere Lake, Quebec and Canada, the Trilateral Agreement was inspired by the Brundtland Report on Environment and Development and the doctrine of sustainable development. The objective of the agreement is to develop for implementation, a draft Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) with a commitment to the principles of sustainable development, conservation and continuation of our traditional way of life, while at the same time allowing versatile resource use. The Agreement seeks to reconcile forestry operations within the territory with the environmental concerns and social and economic needs of our First Nation.
The Trilateral Agreement is an important pilot project in that it puts the doctrine of sustainable development into practice; establishes a partnership between government and an aboriginal community; blends traditional knowledge with contemporary processes; and promotes a working relationship between aboriginal people and other stakeholders within the territory.
For our First Nation, sustainable development implies the recognition and incorporation of all uses of the forest, not just commercial uses, into the development planning process. Forest management and operational planning within the Trilateral territory must evolve to take into account the environmental regime, land tenure and subsistence activities of the Algonquin people.
Our First Nation has designed a set of criteria and indicators in order to know if ecosystems are being managed sustainably and in a culturally appropriate manner from the Algonquin perspective. These indicators, when used in concert with criteria and indicators for other objectives of the Agreement, should provide a basis for the development of a certification audit protocol for use on the Trilateral territory.
Although we have managed to force the federal and provincial governments to take measures to mitigate impacts on our traditional way of life by getting them to sign the Trilateral Agreement, the fact is that neither Canada nor Quebec recognises or respects Algonquin aboriginal title. In other words, contrary to FSC principle 3 (‘The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognised and respected’), they do not recognise and respect our First Nation’s right to own and manage our lands, territories and resources. As a result, we do not have de facto control of our traditional lands and, other than subsistence activities, we derive no economic benefits whatsoever from resource development activities that are taking place on our lands, including forestry activities. Despite the fact that we have never signed away our aboriginal title by treaty or otherwise, the province of Quebec claims outright ownership of our territory and takes all the benefits for itself. Quebec signs forestry agreements, issues permits and receives stumpage dues and taxes.
Could Barriere Lake benefit from FSC certification? Yes, we could if this implied the full implementation of principle 3. Our community is extremely socially and economically disadvantaged. We suffer from 80–90% unemployment. Our houses are extremely over-crowded; education levels are very low — we only have a few high school graduates; and we depend almost exclusively on government transfers. In contrast, millions of dollars in revenues are being generated from our traditional territory. We estimate that Canadian $95 million per year is generated from our waters. In 1994, $56.5 million was made from forestry, tourism, services and nature activities within the Trilateral territory. This includes $33.0 million in the forestry sector. We would benefit if we were able to obtain even a fraction of those revenues.
Our First Nation favours FSC certification. We are well positioned for it and we have encouraged companies operating within our territory to pursue FSC certification. However, we will insist that the principles and criteria be adhered to. More specifically, we will ensure that social benefits to which we are due, accrue to our community.
Contact:
dndaystar@sprint.ca
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