Eastern Door Volume 9 Number 8 Story 2

Volume 9 Number 08

March 17, 2000

Cree incensed at removal of judge
Call for reasserted control over territory

By: Ross Montour

The removal last Wednesday of Quebec judge Jean-Jacques Croteau has infuriated Cree leaders. The response was swift and to the point. Unless and until Croteau is reinstated, the Cree have threatened to withdraw from the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and are considering reclaiming control of all lands covered under the agreement.

Justice Croteau, who had presided over a $500-million lawsuit initiated by the Crees in 1998 over logging rights on Cree territory, was removed from the case by Quebec Superior Court Chief Justice Lyse Lemieux.

At issue in the case was the Cree’s contention that forestry firms’ cutting practices are destroying their traditional way of life and their rights under the JBNQA. Those rights define the ground rules for the use of the land by all parties covered by the agreement.

Justice Croteau found in his initial ruling of December 20, 1999 that the Quebec government had “openly and continually violated” Cree rights under the JBNQA. In his initial ruling Croteau also gave Quebec six months to amend its forestry laws to conform to the requirements of the agreement.

Quebec and the other defendants in the case which include 27 logging companies and the federal government, appealed the ruling and demanded the removal of Croteau, arguing that he wasn’t impartial.

In a move seen as cynical, Justice Lemieux agreed to remove Croteau on grounds that he might have prejudged the rest of the case in his December 20 ruling. Adding to the ire of the Cree, Lemieux replaced Croteau with Justice Danielle Grenier, a former lawyer for the government of Quebec.

Commenting on the ruling, James O’Reilly, a lawyer for the Cree, said he was stunned by the action. Describing Lemieux’ ruling as incredible, O’Reilly added, “She can’t say that (Croteau’s ruling being prejudicial). She’s hypothesizing what Croteau would have decided. It’s an elementary error of law.”

In an interview with The Eastern Door, Sam Etapp of the Grand Council of the Cree’s forestry policy office said that, “The Cree have temporarily suspended their participation in the court proceedings in order to consult with the people in the communities.”

According to Etapp, GCC Grand Chief Ted Moses along with other members of the GCC will be travelling through the Cree communities meeting with the people. They will be apprising the people of the recent developments in the case, the removal of Justice Croteau and the implications of those developments to the people.

The GCC leaders will be looking to the people for their direction in any response to the latest actions of the government and the courts.This process will see the Cree leaders visiting three communities a day.

Grand Chief Ted Moses travelled to Ottawa last Friday to make a presentation to the Cree-Naskapi Commission with regard to the Cree-Naskapi Act which addresses all legislation relevant to the self-government of those nations.

Asked for his commentary on the removal of Croteau, Etapp responded, “You have to remember that we’re dealing with a separatist government which has continually tried to suppress and isolate the Cree people. They have been unresponsive to all of our initiatives to participate in the management of our resources.”

Etapp recounted a litany of difficulties faced by the Cree in their relationship with the government. In particular, he cited the Matthew Cooncome cases. Numbered one and two, they represent 350 breaches of the JBNQA. Etapp stated that the Cree have had to deal with intimidation tactics from the government of Quebec. “We have been threatened with the cutting off of monies if we didn’t back away from our court cases.”

Etapp cited one instance where funds for a youth center in the community of Waswannapi were withheld midway through the construction of the building. “Now that building is going to waste.”

“We older people have been patient in our dealings with the government, following the council of the elders, but now the majority of our people are young. I can’t say how they will react to what’s happened here.”