The chief of the Uashat-Maliotenam Innu First Nation, Elie-Jacques Jourdain, has announced he will sign a compensation deal with Hydro-Quebec on the SM-3 hydro-project.
Chief Jourdain refuses to specify exactly when he will sign the agreement, according to an article in La Presse. For a few weeks, the Band Council has hesitated to sign the compensation deal because of a referendum on June 13 which showed that the Innu are very divided on the issue. A majority of those in Uashat support the S60-million compensation package, but a majority of those in Maliotenam are opposed.
Chief Jourdain hinted that the vote suggests the two communities should be split into two bands. A majority of Maliotenam residents voted in favour of such a split in a referendum in Oct. 1992. But Chief Jourdain has previously stalled on implementing the split, angering many in Maliotenam.
