## author : odin@gate.net
## date : 24.10.94
--------------------------------------------------------------
[PNEWS.D]
[Excerpts]
ELIZABETH THOMPSN
GAZETTE QUEBEC BUREAU
QUEBEC - The Quebec government cannot arbitrarily change
any aspect of the constitution or treaties involving
Quebec aboriginals with- out first obtaining the consent
of native leaders, Premier Jacques Parizeau's
parliamentary secretary for native affairs said
yesterday.
"I agree that native nations consent is needed to amend
any constitutional aspect or treaties related to them,"
David Cliche said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"We will not and we cannot unilaterally amend the James
Bay and Northern Quebec agreement nor can we modify the
existing legislation applicable to the native nations. It
is not our intention to modify the existing titles and
native interests in tbe province without their consent."
However, that does not have to stop Quebec from achieving
sovereignty, he said.
"This being said, if the citizens inhabiting the
territory of Quebec through a referendum vote Yes to a
question something like, "Do you want Quebec to become a
sovereign country," and if the other countries in the
wvorld recognize Quebec as a state, Quebec will be a
sovereign state."
In the event that Quebec becomes a sovereign state,
Quebec's first nations won't lose any of the rights or
benefits they currently enjoy, for example those
contained in the James Bay agreement, Cliche pledged.
"Existing Canadian obligations under this treaty will be
assumed and taken over by the Quebec government. "
And if first nations are willing to sit down at the
negotiating table, deals could be worked out that will
give Quebec aboriginals even better conditions, he added.
Cliche said he also wants native leaders to help the
Quebec government draft clauses that concem them in an
interim constitution for a sovereign Quebec before the
referendum is held.
In fact, Cliche said, the Quebec government's offers to
native leaders are going to be so good that it will have
nothing to fear from threats by native leaders to take
their case to the international arena. Cliche said the
government will be out there in the international forum
as well, convincing other countries that Quebec has no
plans to strip aboriginal communities of their rights.
Cliche's comments come a day after native leaders meeting
north of Quebec City drafted a declaration setting the
stage for tough talks in coming months with the new Parti
Quebecois government.
They said Quebec cannot declare sovereignty or do
anything to change Canada's constitutional framework
without first obtaining the consent of Quebec's first
nations and categorically rejected the concept that
Quebec's borders cannot be changed. First nations also
have the right to choose whom they want to be associated
with - Quebec or Canada, they added.
Ghislain Picard, regional chief of the Assembly of tbe
First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, said native leaders
see a threat to their rights looming in the prospect of
Quebec sovereignty and statements made in the past by
some members of the current government that Quebec could
defend its borders through force, if necessary.
[...]
But Cliche said native leaders don't have anything to
worry about. He said the Quebec government has made
negotiating self-government deals with the various native
nations a priority and he said he is confident that deals
can be worked out in the near future with nations like
the Montagnais, Huron, Inuit and Attikameks. Relations
are also surprisingly good with the Kahnawake Mohawks and
Chief Joe Norton, he said.
While the framework for native self-government would be
worked out with each nation individually, Cliche said
many of them could provide for sharing of government
incomes on the territory - everything from mining
royalties to logging fees and even taxes.
The native governments would have jurisdiction over a
territorial base but would be answerable to the Quebec
government and would have to observe Quebec law, similar
to the existing situation with the James Bay agreement,
he said.