Greater participation of the Atikamekw in forestry activities, consultations from the start and a better system of royalties…. These are some of the recommendations of the joint working committee on forestry which brings together the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, the Conseil de la nation atikamekw and the Quebec government.
The Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks has just made public the report, dated June 3, which should, technically, try to calm the game between the Atikamekw and the government regarding forest management and development.
Because a few months ago, Manawan decided to put a moratorium on all cuts, two companies had to cease operations during the last season and a dam prevents any passage to the forest near kilometer 60 between Saint-Michel-des-Saints and Manawan.
These decisions were made after the territory chiefs, responsible for making decisions on their family territory, expressed their frustration, first to their council and then to the Premier of Quebec. They reproach bogus consultations, a voracious appetite of the foresters, the devastation of their territory, the non-respect of the agreements but also of the royalties which they describe as ridiculous.
A committee was then set up with the objective of better respecting the Atikamekw way of life in land use planning and management.
About ten meetings and exchanges took place between mid-March and the beginning of June.
They made it possible to arrive at these 15 recommendations, which are divided into three parts: the consultation process, the harmonization of uses and rights on the territory, and finally, the economic spinoffs related to the management and implementation of value of forests to the community of Manawan.
Essentially, the committee recommends that the concerns and issues identified by the Atikamekw be given greater consideration. For example, they must be consulted before any forest management plan and the consultation process must be reviewed.
According to Manawan, listening is too late in the process and much too parsimonious to pretend to grasp the complete vision of the Atikamekw.
In particular, the committee suggests evaluating adequate funding in order to allow real consultations.
Manawan wants these to be spread over an area of 20,000 km2 rather than the 11,000 km2 currently. The MFFP will forward this request to the Secretariat for Indigenous Affairs, responsible for this part.
Economical consequences
The question of royalties is also raised. According to the report, the community of Manawan receives about two million dollars a year via contracts for the performance of silvicultural work, permits for the harvesting of wood or funding for participation in the consultation on forest management plans.
However, the forest industry pays the Government of Quebec average annual royalties of approximately $16 million for the territory of Manawan, it is specified by the joint committee.
The community wants to get 40% of these royalties. The MFFP will therefore forward this request to the ministries concerned.
In addition, Manawan would like to obtain sufficient funding to allow the construction and operation of a sawmill, but the recommendations are vague on this subject and the committee proposes that the MFFP explore, for example, the possibilities of local transformation of the volume of wood.
A dispute resolution mechanism
As far as logging companies are concerned, the MFFP demands that they have a list of harmonization measures – agreements with families, for example, to offer them wood or maintain roads in compensation for work – before programming their operations.
The MFFP recognizes in the document that the piecemeal private agreements between forest industry and community members can create inequity.
The MFFP will have to coordinate a dispute settlement mechanism if necessary and improve its mechanisms for monitoring and controlling foresters’ commitments.
In mid-May, the government released its investigation into contested cuts in a maple grove owned by an Atikamekw family in Manawan. Even if she concluded that the responsibility was shared between the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs and the Scierie St-Michel, no penalty or compensation was foreseen, which caused the dissatisfaction of the family.
Last week, the Council of the Atikamekw Nation (CNA) and that of the Atikamekw of Manawan (CDAM) had already said they were satisfied with these recommendations. But they had decided to maintain the moratorium on logging as long as there are no formal and concrete agreements for the implementation of these recommendations.
An implementation and monitoring committee is planned. The implementation of this revised consultation and harmonization process is scheduled for April 2023.
Marie-Laure Josselin (go to the author’s page)
Source: Radio-Canada
