NunatuKavut Community Council ‘seriously concerned’ with present approach to Churchill Falls MOU debate
NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) President Todd Russell today issued the following statement as the Provincial government begins its special session to debate the latest Churchill River Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):
“NCC is warning the provincial government not to go down the path of proceeding with Churchill River developments without the engagement and consent of NCC and NunatuKavut Inuit. ‘Nothing about us without us.’
NCC has very serious concerns with the present approach and with the most recent MOU. To date, NCC has been left out of discussions with either utility (NL Hydro and Hydro Quebec) or with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador regarding impacts on our lands and communities. It is feeling like Muskrat Falls 2.0, where only one Indigenous group, the Innu Nation (to the tune of $1.7 billion), are benefiting while NCC and the rest of Labrador is left out in the cold.
I applaud Keith Russell for making the bold decision to cross the floor to sit as an independent. His decision to put the people of Labrador before party politics and a bad deal is commendable. We stand with him.
Compounding matters, the federal government recently terminated NCC’s Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination (RIRSD) table. This is a 180-degree change from 2018 when the federal government, based on the evidence, accepted that NCC is an Indigenous collective capable of holding section 35 rights.
The government subsequently entered into an MOU in 2019 to that effect. This latest decision by the federal government is one that has been manufactured and fabricated by federal officials with the assistance and collaboration of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Nunatsiavut Government and Innu Nation. This is in spite of the federal government’s own independent report which confirmed the government findings and decision of 2018. This in spite of the 2024 federal court decision to uphold the NCC MOU. It is a corrupt decision coming from corrupt actors in the bureaucracy.
This decision to terminate the RIRSD process will only deepen divisions and create additional uncertainty. It also has the potential to disrupt the Churchill River and other major projects. As I have said before, there will be no development within our territory without the express consent of our people. And we stand ready to defend our rights and our lands, whether on the ground, in the Courts or in the political arena.”
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