Innu reach deal on Lower Churchill hydro project

OLIVER MOORE

Globe and Mail Update

September 26, 2008 at 1:38 PM EDT

Innu leaders in Labrador have hammered out a land-claim deal with the province that includes approval for the repeatedly delayed hydro-electric project on the Lower Churchill.

The Innu will get royalties from the new project and, as part of the same agreement announced Friday, will receive millions in compensation for losses suffered in the 1960s when the Upper Churchill project flooded their lands. They also have secured varying rights to 27,000 square miles of land, with legal title to about one-fifth of that.

“We called this agreement Tshash Petapen because it means ‘new dawn,' ” Innu Nation Grand Chief Mark Nui said Friday. “With this agreement we will now be able to ... create the foundations for our future as Innu and as Labradorians.”

The agreement still has to be presented to the Innu people early next year for ratification, and some negotiation will continue in the meantime, but government and native leaders praised the deal.

“The Innu Rights Agreement will bring tremendous new benefits and opportunities to the Innu people of Labrador, and signals a new era of partnership and co-operation between their people and our government,” said Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“We are extremely pleased to have these details agreed upon, as this signals an extremely important and significant step on the road to development of the Lower Churchill project. Today, Newfoundland and Labrador is substantially closer to finally seeing this project developed.”

The land claims portion of the deal gives the Innu legal title to 5,000 square miles of land, royalty and consultation rights to another 23,200 square kilometres. They will have access to further 33,500 square kilometres in which they will be able to hunt without provincial permits.

Compensation for the Upper Churchill project is pegged at $2-million annually until 2041. That year will mark the end of the 65-year agreement that has seen power sold cheaply to Quebec, much to the anger of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. After 2041 the Innu will receive a portion of revenue from the Upper Churchill.

With regards to the Lower Churchill project, the provincial government said that the Innu were given the option of an equity stake or a royalty and opted for the latter. They will be in line to receive 5 per cent of net project revenue.