The Quebec chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - la Société pour la nature et les parcs (SNAP Québec) - wants to take a chunk of Labrador claimed by Quebec nationalists and turn it into a conservation area… in Quebec.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council set the border between the two separate countries of Canada and what was then called Newfoundland in 1927 but some Quebec nationalists claim a larger swath of southern Labrador. In the image at the top of this column, the legally defined border is the straight line across the bottom of the proposed conservation area. The upper squiggly line is what some claim is the border as it should be.
The proposed conservation area covers 29,000 square kilometres of undeveloped land, according to La Presse’s Philippe Mercure. “We know that our proposal will cause a reaction,” said Alain Branchaud, director general of the Quebec branch of CPAWS/SNAP. “but we invite the governments of Canada, Quebec, and Newfoundland [and Labrador] to evaluate it on its merits. We have an opportunity to look at an old dispute with a modern vision that includes our duties in terms of environmental protection."
There are more than a few problems with the idea. Aside from the border issue between the two provinces, the area is within the land claims of seven groups. Five Innu bands in Quebec, the Innu Nation of Labrador, and the Nunatukavut Community Council all claim the territory as their traditional lands as Indigenous people. Only the Innu land claim has been accepted for negotiation. Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Innu Nation achieved an agreement in principle in 2011.
Branchaud thinks the two provinces could be enticed into the project by letting each province claim the same territory in assessments of how much land in the province is provided for conservation.
For his part, Mercure has a bold and commendable take on things: “If it allows the Innu to protect their traditional territory while helping Quebec and Newfoundland achieve their protection objectives, it seems to me that we should study it instead of resorting to the old reflex of turning against each other.” Translation is by Monsieur Google.
His last opinion is especially sharp and appropriate: “How this proposal is received is therefore something to watch closely. Because it can be seen as a barometer of the maturity of the collective debates taking place between different groups in Canadian society.”
So far this project has gone unnoticed on either side of the border.
Maybe that will change.
Absolutely a distraction and a non-issue.
This one is a bit more clever than most and I really wanted to highlight the complex land claims issues in the region no one is paying any attention to. Then agaiun, most of what I write about is stuff people ignore in favour of childish distractions.
As Lela Evan’s states…”it’s a distraction and I am not going to be drawn into this”
Not only is it a non- issue, the whole notion is a weak attempt to pander to a constituency that, frankly, also believes that this will not have any traction. Head scratching for sure.
The cynic in me believes that this is something that Quebec will bring to the table during the pending rounds of discussion on Churchill falls. Almost like the classic red herring that ends up on the agenda of labour negotiations.
There is nothing anyone can do regarding a line on a map that is generated in Quebec and I’ll take the Privy Council demarcations any day.