The Quebec government has submitted to the National Assembly a legislative proposal that will decimate Quebec’s public forests, which cover 92% of the province, or an area of 761,000 sq. km. (one and a half times the size of France). The bill, called Law 97, hands almost complete control over the forests to the lumber industry, which has overexploited the forests for decades, leading to the near eradication of old growth forest and the near extinction of the woodland caribou. To get a sense of how extreme the measure is, check out the list of some its provisions below.
The Indigenous opposition to the overexploitation of the forests is long-standing. First Nations peoples in Québec began recognizing Land Defenders thirty-five years ago. Their role is to spearhead the assertion of Indigenous sovereignty and the protection of the land. The territory is unceded. There are two large land claims in southern and central Québec. Together, they cover a significant portion of the province: Nitassinan (Innu) and Nitaskinan, the eastern border of which extends close to the 3E land (Atikamekw). The claims have been stalled by the provincial government, which has long enabled destructive forestry practices, even before the intensified onslaught that will be unleashed by Law 97.
Nine Indigenous nations have formed a new association called Premières Nations Mamo to fight Law 97 (“Mamo” means “together” in Anishnaabe languages). They have served the lumber industry with an “eviction notice.” They vow, if necessary, to bring logging and timber transport to a halt. Indigenous people throughout Nitassinan and Nitaskinan are setting up symbolic tipis along forest roads and organizing blockades of forest industry access roads. They emphasize that they are not against all logging, but that they are for sustainable logging and an end to the alarmingly high levels of wastage in the present system. They also emphasize that the fight is for everyone, and have called on non-Indigenous people to join them. Non-Indigenous opposition to the law is strong, including from the union representing forestry workers (many of whom are Indigenous), hunting and fishing associations, some local municipalities, and environmental groups.
3E recognizes that the 3E land is located on unceded Atikamekw territory. Although it is not officially within the borders of Nitaskinan land claim, Atikamekw leaders have confirmed to us that the 3E land is part of their ancestral territory (in addition, historically, to being in a region of overlap frequented by a number of First Nations, notably the Weskarini). 3E participants are answering the call to join the mobilization. Two of us spent the afternoon a few days ago at one of the symbolic tipis not far from the 3E land, which was set up to encourage people driving by to stop, discuss the issues, and sign a Mamo petition. They suggested we erect a symbolic tipi on the 3E land, and instructed us on how to do it, including the symbolic system of coloured ribbons that mark the cardinal directions. The next day we set up the tipi near the 3E greenhouse (photo above), and placed petitions in all of the stores in Ste-Anne-du-Lac (all three of them). A few days later we drove 6 hours across Nitaskinan on unpaved roads to attend an emergency gathering called by the Mamo land defenders in the town of La Tuque. There we learned that blocades are now set to begin in the western part of Nitaskinan, the area closest to 3E. 3E participants will continue to support these actions.
Donations can be sent to : Association des Gardiens du territoire Nehirowisiw Aski associationgtna@gmail.com (Nehirowisiw Aski is another name for Nitaskinan).
Law 97
– Directs for all government-owned forest land be divided into three categories, priority logging zones, multi-use zones, and conservation zones.
– Priority logging zones (zones d’aménagement forestier prioritaire – ZAFP) are a new land designation that lie at the heart of the proposal.
– The law gives the logging industry exclusive rights over these areas, with no limit on how much is clear-cut, and without any public consultation or consent from indigenous peoples.
– The law guarantees logging companies control over a minimum of 30% of forest lands under the priority logging designation.
– In those areas, all conservation laws will be suspended. There will be no way to intervene legally against the industry’s actions.
– “Multi-use” zones are also open to logging, but the logging has to be balanced against other uses – in theory. The law’s priority for these areas is improved road access, with the ostensible goal of improving industry access to priority logging areas.
– Even “conservation” areas will be open to logging if the industry demands it, subject to a public consultation process that the law’s new forestry governmental structure ensures will be skewed toward industry interests.
– There is no mention of the province’s obligation under the UN Convention on Biodiversity to preserve 30% of the province’s land. The 30% target is already a reduction from the 50% promised to indigenous people in the northern tier of the province under the “Plan Nord” economic plan.
– The law has taken on momentum in the context of Trump’s tariffs, as a means of shoring up the logging industry.
