Question Period Note: Treaty Negotiation with the Regroupement Petapan

• Canada has reached a consensus on the federal issues in Treaty negotiations with the Regroupement Petapan. We are confident that negotiations with all parties to the Treaty will reach a positive outcome in the near future.

• Canada will continue to work in a spirit of reconciliation and partnership to chart a new course based on the Treaty relationship.

• Our government remains committed to meeting its legal obligations to consult with Indigenous groups involved and with overlapping interests before the Treaty is signed.

The governments of Canada and Quebec are currently negotiating a final agreement (hereinafter "the treaty") concerning the land claims and self-government of three Innu First Nations of Quebec (Mashteuiatsh, Essipit and Nutashkuan) represented by the Regroupement Petapan (formerly the Mamuitun mak Nutashkuan Tribal Council). The total population of the three First Nations is close to 9,000 members. The territory under negotiation is divided between the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, the St. Lawrence North Shore regions and the greater Quebec City area.

Originally, the comprehensive land claims of the Atikamekw and Montagnais (Innu) were accepted by Canada in 1979 and by Quebec in 1980. After the dissolution of the Atikamekw-Montagnais Council, the various Aboriginal groups negotiated of their claims separately.

On March 31, 2004, Canada, Quebec and the Mamuitun mak Nutashkuan Tribal Council signed an Agreement-in-Principle of a General Nature. Back then, the Mamuitun mak Nutashkuan Tribal Council represented the communities of Mashteuiatsh, Essipit, Nutashkuan and Pessamit. The community of Pessamit stopped negotiating in 2005, opting instead for the judicial way.

December 2014, the Federal Court ordered Canada “to engage without delay in serious and thorough discussions with the plaintiff to reconcile as far as possible and in a manner consistent with the honor of the Crown the differences between the Huron-Wendat Nation and the Mashteuiatsh First Nations and the Essipit Innu as to the territory to be covered by the Agreement-in-Principle of General Nature”. Discussions as part of this process initiated in January 2015, are ongoing.

In the fall of 2022, the Innu chiefs, the Premier of Quebec and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations committed to doing everything possible to conclude the negotiation of a draft Treaty no later than March 31, 2023.

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