Apuiat wind power project - The CAQ does not understand a thing
WENDAKE, QC, Aug. 14, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - "The AFNQL thinks that any political party which excludes First Nations from Quebec's economy is wrong", has stated Chief Ghislain Picard, while questioning the real motives of François Legault, Leader of the CAQ, in his opposition to the Apuiat wind power project.
"The position of Coalition Avenir Québec in this energy project on which the Innu Nation has had its sights set for several years now, cannot give a better indication of the place that First Nations issues would have under a CAQ government", notes the Chief of the AFNQL.
It should be noted that the Apuiat project is part of a commitment on the part of the Quebec Government to engage First Nations in the development of the wind power sector, and a block of 200 MW of this project was granted to the Innu Nation in December 2015. The AFNQL has taken a clear stance on the place that First Nations should hold in the management of major development projects. They should have a say and be party to the projects.
While the AFNQL has made representations since the 2000s to the effect that First Nations can fully participate in the development of major projects, the position of the CAQ and of its leader bring us back to the status quo which maintains our Nations in the state of dependency which we want to get rid of.
"Just days before the launching of the provincial election, if First Nations were to ask the question as to the positioning of the CAQ on the reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they now have a pretty good idea of the response", concluded Chief Ghislain Picard.
About the AFNQL
The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador is a political organization regrouping 43 Chiefs of the First Nations in Quebec and Labrador. Follow the AFNQL on Twitter @APNQL.
SOURCE Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador
News published on and distributed by:
