Subject: Development projects Involving Cree entitles
Proposed by: James Visitor Seconded by: George Snowboy
The members of the Cree Trappers Association having met at Whapmagoostul, Quebec, this 18th day of August 1993
WHEREAS industrial society’s intrusion upon the traplines by development projects, including the Nemaska-Chibougamau Road project, causes considerable and irreparable damage to the land, particularly to traplines directly in their path;
WHEREAS development projects now involve Cree entities whose basic responsibilities are to protect the land and the Cree people, not to make profits from the environment’s destruction;
WHEREAS development of the land, whether or not Cree entities are involved, shall not be made without the express consent of those directly affected;
WHEREAS the pattern of fair compensation for damages to traplines and to Cree Beneficiaries should not cease when Cree entities are involved in the development of the land;
WHEREAS the trappers’ rights guaranteed by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement should not be violated, particularly by Cree entities;
WHEREAS Cree Beneficiaries directly affected by development projects on the land should not be consistently requested to accommodate the development on their traplines without fair compensation for damages;
WHEREAS the traditional role of tallymen as stewards of nature which has survived for thousands of years should be emphasized by Cree entities;
WHEREAS the land, being the garden of life given by the Creator for the Cree to utilitize, is protected by the trapline system and should not be threatened by development projects which are not in the best interests of future generations;
BE IT RESOLVED:
THAT the development of the land by Cree entities should not lose sight of respect for the land and should emphasize protecting it and the Cree way of life.
THAT where a Cree entity is involved in a development project, negotiations for the planning of such projects and compensation for damages should directly involve representatives of the affected traplines.
THAT when a Cree entity carries out activities detrimental to the land and its people, such Cree entity should be bound to provide for reconciliation and for fair compensation established by independent and impartial people such as Cree arbitrators and mediators;
THAT it be declared that there is no incompatibility between collective compensation to the Cree Nation and collective compensation to Cree users of the land for damages to their traplines and the way of life it represents.
