Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Presentation by the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec

This file contains a presentation by Matthew Coon Come, Grand Chief of the Crees of James Bay; Romeo Saganash, Deputy Grand Chief; Chief Billy Diamond; and Bill Nemagoose, Executive Director, Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec. Their presentation focuses on the proposed James Bay Phase II, consisting of two hydroelectric projects: the Great Whale River project and the Nottaway-Broadback Rupert project. The damming, flooding and construction done during the first phase of the project in the 1970s destroyed Aboriginal fishing and hunting grounds and animal migration paths. The group calls on the Commission to not allow James Bay Phase II duplicate the same environmental disaster that the first phase accomplished, and also to enshrine Aboriginal self-government as a right protected by the Canadian Constitution. A lengthy question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.