Comparison of Omushkegowuk and Eeyou Istchee unfair

CBC recently aired a documentary television story that compared the Crees of northern Ontario to the Crees of northern Quebec.
Flooding, sickness and suicide are rampant in Kashechewan, the CBC reporter says, while similar issues reign in Attawapiskat along with its much-publicized housing crisis.
Images of dilapidated homes and flooded streets accentuate the words.
Meanwhile, the Crees in northern Quebec are “flourishing.”
The Eeyou Istchee in Quebec has well-run schools, health services and well-built homes.
The reporter asks how the Eeyou Istchee are able to accomplish this. Well, Grand Council of the Crees Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come says, we are open to resource development.
This is where the comparison of the two sides of the James Bay coast becomes unfair and missing the proper context.
The story proceeds to provide background on the historic James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) signed by the Eeyou Itschee, the province of Quebec, and Canada in 1975.
The agreement allowed Quebec to develop a massive hydroelectric project on the traditional territory of the Eeyou Istchee. In exchange, the Eeyou Isctchee received a large financial compensation and the ability to administer its own education, justice system, and social and health services.
The Eeyou Istchee initially opposed the project, the reporter notes, but by agreeing to it, it has given them prosperity – unlike Attawapiskat, Kashechewan, or any other First Nation suffering from the socio-economic issues we all know.
So if most First Nations agree to allow resource development companies into their territory, they may prosper like the Eeyou Istchee, right?
While that seems to be the point of the CBC story, in reality it is not that easy.
The Eeyou Istchee had something that most First Nations do not have during their negotiations with Quebec: leverage.
In the 1960s, Quebec began developing potential hydroelectric resources in the north without consulting First Nations and Inuit people. When it wanted to develop the James Bay Hydroelectric Project, an ad hoc group that represented the Eeyou Istchee and Inuit people sued the government.
In 1973, it won an injunction in the Quebec Superior Court, successfully blocking hydroelectric development until the province negotiated an agreement with the Aboriginal people of northern Quebec.
By that time, the Quebec government had already invested more than $150 million in developing the project, which would represent almost half of Hydro-Québec’s total output and capacity in later years. The government’s other option – developing a nuclear power plant – was met with strong opposition.
So with a court decision favouring the Aboriginal people, Quebec and Canada had little choice but to negotiate.
The CBC story implies all First Nations open to resource development stand to greatly benefit similarly to the Eeyou Istchee.
In 2005, Attawapiskat signed an Impact Benefit Agreement with De Beers, a giant diamond mining company, allowing De Beers to extract precious diamonds from its traditional territory.
As the housing crisis and poverty prevalent in the community suggests, the agreement does not greatly benefit the First Nation.
In CBC’s 8th Fire series, Chief Theresa Spence lamented that the IBA, negotiated and signed by her predecessors, was a poor deal for the community.
But what leverage did Attawapiskat have? Not as much as the Eeeyou Istchee.
De Beers is an independent company that mines for profit. It is not a governmental entity that has a desperate need to fulfill towards a population. Theoretically, it can simply take its millions of dollars and thousands of job opportunities and go somewhere else.
And De Beers’ diamond mine - expected to last 17 years - is not on the same scale as the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. The hydroelectric dams in Quebec will operate as long as the rivers flow.
And the Eeyou Istchee needed to be compensated for the hectacres of traidtional territory it would lose due to flooding as a result of the project.
The CBC story failed to highlight this difference.
Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit responded to the story by calling the the agreement between Quebec and the Eeyou Istchee a “modern-day treaty.”
“The happiness and prosperity enjoyed by the Eeyou Istchee in northern Quebec is a direct result of a treaty being honoured and implemented,” he wrote. “And this is exactly what we want.”
Mushkegowuk, however, does not have the leverage.
The tribal council is attempting to gain some leverage by filing a lawsuit calling for natural resource sharing in its territory. The course case is still in process.
Meanwhile, with mining and resource companies exploring the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, there is opportunity for NAN communities to learn from Attawapiskat and the Eeyou Istchee and reach agreements that offer great benefits to the community.
Perhaps one lesson that can be learned from the Eeyou Istchee is unity.
After they learned about Quebec’s plans, the Eeyou Istchee along with Inuit peoples united to sue the government, which led to the injunction.
The signing of the JBNQA led to the creation of the Grand Council of the Crees and all revenue provided to the Eeyou Istchee is administered and dispersed by this body of government, as opposed to each individual community. It is a model that appears to be working for them.
Of course, the JBNQA is a unique example because of the scale of the project and the vast area affected.
Meanwhile, First Nations in northern Ontario often deal with resource companies individually.
But it might be wise for those that have collective interests and traditional territory to work together.
That way, some leverage might be gained.