‘We reject your bill:' First Nations heads urge Quebec to scrap forestry reform bill
QUÉBEC - Representatives of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador have told a provincial legislature committee that they reject the government's proposed forestry reform.
AFNQL Chief Francis Verreault-Paul said today that Bill 97 does not respect First Nations' ancestral rights.
The proposed legislation would divide the province's public forest land into three zones: conservation zones, multi-purpose zones and forest development zones where the forestry industry is prioritized.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina wrote in a recent memo that the government hopes at least 30 per cent of public forests in each region will become development zones by 2028.
The AFNQL says that premise is unacceptable and would amount to privatizing one-third of First Nations territories for industrial interests.
The leaders are urging the government to scrap the bill in its present form and restart the process with First Nations as co-authors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Observer
42 minutes ago
- National Observer
BC First Nation builds small island, fisheries officials check for possible habitat damage
A British Columbia First Nation has built up a small artificial island in the tidal shallows of Coles Bay off Vancouver Island, triggering an investigation by fisheries officials into whether it involved habitat destruction and if authorization should have been required. Two yellow excavators could be seen at work last week in the bay, heaping up stones and gravel on top of an existing rock outcrop, in a project the Department of Fisheries and Ocean said was linked to a "clam garden." Nearby resident Richard Smith said he watched dump trucks carry loads of rock to the shore, where the excavators hauled it into the bay, also building a temporary land bridge during the construction process. He said the rock outcrop was previously visible at low tide, but the island is now exposed at all times after the construction, which lasted from May 26 to May 30. The Canadian Press watched the excavators at work on May 30, then saw that they had left the scene later that day. That afternoon, about 20 workers, some wearing outfits with the logo of the Pauquachin First Nation, were on the bay's mud flats spreading what one described as "shell hash." The worker declined to be identified. Shell hash, made of finely ground sea shells, is used in some aquaculture operations to promote growth of mollusks, such as clams. The Department of Fisheries and Ocean was asked by The Canadian Press about the construction last Friday, and on Tuesday the department said in a statement it was "aware of work being undertaken involving excavators and dump trucks to move and stockpile rocks in Coles Bay, BC, to facilitate construction of a clam garden," a traditional form of aquaculture. It said fisheries officers and biologists visited the site on Monday to evaluate the work. "Assessment of the work will determine whether there has been any harmful alternation, disruption or destruction of fish and fish habitat that would require authorization under the Fisheries Act," the statement said, adding that "it would be premature to comment further at this time." Work above the high-water mark occurred on Pauquachin territory, maps show. The First Nation did not respond to questions about the work. But it had previously announced an event in August to build a "traditional sea garden" in Coles Bay, with guests invited to help construct a 250-metre long wall on the tidal flats using "mindfully sourced and prepared rocks" from a quarry. "A traditionally designed sea garden will nurture clam beds, welcome the return of numerous sea life, provide food sustainability, awaken sleeping traditional teachings, harvesting practices and sharing to future generations," a description says on a Pauquachin First Nation website. Shellfish harvesting in Coles Bay was prohibited in 1997 on health grounds because of pollution from septic systems. The Pauquachin First Nation of 423 people along the western shore of the Saanich Peninsula has said the prohibition represents an "infringement" of traditional fishing rights granted under an 1852 treaty. Chief Rebecca David said in a June 2023 letter to the provincial government that government-authorized septic systems represent the "primary source of pollution," calling on Ottawa and Victoria to fulfil obligations under the 1852 treaty by cleaning up the bay so shellfish harvesting can resume. The University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre said in a report attached to David's letter that the closure of shellfish harvesting had deprived families of a critical food source and "failure to redress the pollution" represents "a grievous breach of treaty rights." David's letter calls for the decontamination of Coles Bay to serve as a "pilot project for developing a systemic approach to decontaminating shellfish beaches in British Columbia." The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a statement the province "has supported Pauquachin's efforts to rehabilitate shellfish harvest in Coles Bay through regularly scheduled meetings and other technical support." It did not respond directly to questions about the construction in Coles Bay. The lack of public information about the work has frustrated Smith, who said he is a 'big supporter of reconciliation' and supports 'anything that we can do to assist, co-operate and partner' with First Nations in almost any sphere. "My frustration is really with the enforcement people or the people that are supposed to be governing this, who provide me with no information at all," he said. Smith said this uncertainty is weighing heavily on him given the environmental stakes. "It's the ocean and we all have to protect the ocean," he said. "That's part of our lives … theirs (the First Nation's), everybody's, and I'm constantly out on the beach, cleaning it, pulling tires out of the water." North Saanich Mayor Peter Jones said on Tuesday that neither he nor the council received any notice about the work, but would have to confirm whether the First Nation contacted the municipality. "I know for myself, I have not been contacted," he said, adding the municipality has a "very, very positive and very open" relationship with the First Nation. Jones said he does not know what the First Nation is doing, but said it has been working for a long time with Victoria, Ottawa and the Capital Regional District on restoring clam beds. "This council is very, very hopeful that the (First Nation) can, in fact, restore the clam beds to a level that would make them very, very useful to them," he said. "Again, I hope they are successful, and with regard to what's happening there right now, council and I have no idea." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
N.L. speech therapist says she can't get a job, despite 2-year waitlists for kids needing help
A speech therapist eager to provide publicly-funded services to kids in Newfoundland and Labrador says despite long waitlists for patients, the province simply isn't hiring professionals in her field. Long waitlists for child autism and ADHD assessments are often followed by another wait for speech therapy, according to speech-language pathologist Molly Clarke. Unless families can afford private practice, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services told CBC, waitlists can be between 18 and 24 months long, depending on the child's location. Clarke said that waitlist isn't because of a shortage of speech therapists in the province, though: instead, she says it's due to a shortage of jobs within Newfoundland and Labrador's public health-care system. "I think parents are kind of led to believe that the lack of services and the wait times are due to the fact that there's a shortage of clinicians, similar to the way there's like a shortage of family doctors," Clarke told CBC. "There's actually so many clinicians." Other provinces and territories are reaping the benefits. "Me and two other girls here. We work for the same school district in the Northwest Territories. We're servicing these kids," Clarke said. Speech-language pathologists help address speech delays and disorders, language delays and disorders, fluency disorders, and swallowing and feeding disorders. From Paradise, Clarke says she became an SLP to help Newfoundlanders and Labradorians by working within public health care. After working remotely for other provinces, she opened a private practice in Mount Pearl in addition to her public practice in the Northwest Territories. N.L. speech therapist says kids are waiting up to 2 years for MCP-covered services 5 hours ago Duration 2:41 Molly Clarke is a speech language pathologist working in private practice in Newfoundland and Labrador. She says it's not a shortage of professionals causing a waitlist for publicly funded services, it's a shortage of jobs in the province's health-care system. The CBC's Jenna Head has more. "I always thought I would work in public. Both my parents work in the public system," Clarke said. Then she noticed her colleagues working in the public system were casual call-in staff, and had been for years. "Kids here are being massively underserved, both in the school system and in the health system," she said. Importance of early intervention For children, Clarke said, early intervention is key. "A lot of the time parents don't really notice some things on the go until two because there is a bit of a range in which children acquire language," she said, adding that family doctors may encourage parents to "wait it out" before diagnosing a problem. "If they're two, by the time you put them on the waitlist, I think it's currently like 14 to 18 months for a [speech-language] assessment. After that, it's an additional year for treatment," Clarke said. "We're looking at the child being four, 4½ years old, moving towards kindergarten." Once a child reaches kindergarten, Clarke said they age out of the waitlist that could have provided them with SLP services offered at the hospital. Delayed language can also delay reading and writing. "If you let a child go who can't communicate, and they go to age two, age three, age four, and they're still not communicating — the long-term impacts of that are much more severe than if they were just treated at two," she said. Government quiet except PCs Clarke contacted the provincial government in the hope that making the case for early intervention would open up some public jobs. Otherwise, she says, children from low-income families will be disproportionately affected. "I was like, maybe they're just like completely unaware that there's like a surplus of us out here," she said. "Most parents who are low-income or on income support ... they can't afford this for their kids." Clarke only heard from MHA Paul Dinn, and PC Leader Tony Wakeham, who brought up some of her concerns in the House of Assembly in May. Wakeham said a group of parents of children with autism contacted him concerning the waitlists for psychological assessments and the lack of intervention during their early development period — a time when someone like Clarke could step in. "If I was premier of this province right now, I'd ask you for her number, because this is too important. We need people," Wakeham said. "We owe it to these parents, we owe it to these families to make sure that we can provide these services." Available supports Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell responded to Wakeham in the legislature. She said an assessment or diagnosis does not determine that early intervention that is required. "No one is waiting for a specific diagnosis to offer supports to our children," Howell said. "Once a challenge is identified ... there can be measures implemented. This can happen through our early childhood windows, in some of our early childhood centres or it can happen in our school system. If a teacher or support person identifies that a child has a particular need, then supports can be put in place immediately." Last week, the Department of Health released phase one of its health human resources plan, which focuses on the retention and recruitment of health-care professionals, including nurses, therapists, laboratory workers, and pharmacists, over the next decade. Of the 21 health-care professions listed, speech-language pathology was not one of them.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
A new harm reduction group is creating a safe space to do drugs in St. John's
In response to an increasing number of overdose deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador, a new group of harm reduction advocates are opening what they say is St. John's first overdose prevention site. Overdose Awareness and Response St. John's (OARS) provides safe use supplies and naloxone, and its founder says both volunteers and nurses trained in overdose intervention are on hand. "Whether that's folks that are street-entrenched or just folks downtown partying, we provide a space where people can do drugs in safety," said Luca Schaefer. Schaefer describes the operation as similar to a supervised consumption site, which are controversial in Canada. The Health Canada website describes such sites as "a safe, clean space for people to bring their own drugs to use, in the presence of trained staff. This prevents accidental overdoses and reduces the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV." Individuals or organizations who want to open a supervised consumption site can ask the federal government for an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but OARS has not yet made an application. In contrast, overdose prevention sites — which Health Canada also calls urgent public-health needs sites — "are established on a temporary basis to respond to urgent needs in a specific region or community." Ottawa can authorize the provincial health minister to set up one of these sites, but in an emailed statement to CBC News, spokesperson Khadija Rehma said OARS has not yet contacted the Health Department. "We appreciate the valuable work of community organizations and volunteers to ensure safe substance use supports and services," the statement said. Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services spokesperson Mikaela Etchegary said the provincial health authority supports harm reduction efforts, but hasn't established an official partnership with OARS. Rigel Penman, a volunteer with OARS, told CBC News the group hasn't yet applied for legal exemption because it's still in talks with various levels of government. Penman said OARS is trying to set up as "quickly as possible," especially with summer around the corner, and says the group decided not to wait for what could be a lengthy application process. WATCH | Harm reduction advocates create pop-up overdose prevention site in St. John's: Harm reduction advocates create a safe space to use drugs in downtown St. John's 5 hours ago Duration 2:44 The site won't supply or provide substances, Schaefer said. "If using in the space is what they need at the moment, then we're able to provide that support. And if not, they're free to take what they need," she said. For now, the site will be a pop-up tent in downtown St. John's — a setup that's "able to move and be wherever is needed or necessary," said Schaefer. OARS has run the site twice so far, on the evenings of May 23 and May 30. Schaefer says public response has been mixed, with some people approaching to get supplies, and others expressing curiosity or negativity. "This group is addressing and providing support to a marginalized and at-risk population," she said. "We should be looking to our most vulnerable people and asking ourselves what we're able to do to step up." Overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites were a talking point during the latest federal election, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre calling them "drug dens" and a "bizarre social experiment" and vowing to restrict them. According to Health Canada, supervised consumption sites operate in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. The first site opened in Vancouver in 2003, and the model spread throughout the country in the ensuing decades. In 2016, as overdose deaths skyrocketed, several unsanctioned overdose prevention tents sprung up in the city's Downtown Eastside — ground zero for Canada's opioid crisis. Activists at the time told CBC the pop-up sites were an effort to save lives without waiting for sluggish bureaucratic approval. Last year, however, Ontario implemented a new law banning drug consumption sites near schools and child-care centres. That law forced the closure of nine sites in Ontario, despite a court injunction allowing them to remain open while a judge to examines the law's constitutionality. Schaefer says she's ready to respond to concerns from the community. Rising overdose numbers In April, the RCMP warned of rising drug toxicity deaths in the province, and said cocaine is now the leading drug responsible for overdose people died from consuming drugs in Newfoundland and Labrador last year. Last month, police seized a record amount of fentanyl from a St. John's trailer — enough to kill nearly half the province. Schaefer says OARS is responding to those statistics. "There's a lot of reasons why people use drugs," she said. "They shouldn't have to worry about whether or not the drugs that they're gonna take are going to kill them." OARS outreach advocate Loo Vatcher says Newfoundland and Labrador is in desperate need of better overdose prevention. "This world is hard enough for all of us, and whether we like it or not, people are going to use substances," they said. "It's really important that we meet people where they're at." OARS will run a site once a week for now, but Vatcher says its long-term goal is to set up an indoor location to host safe use and harm reduction services. For that to happen, OARS will be fundraising more money, applying for government grants and continuing its advocacy. Vatcher said volunteers want to "put a bit of pressure on the government to do what's right, to help us create the safe space for people who deserve it."
