“The Quebec government has acted in bad faith, giving companies the go-ahead to log while they ignore their legal obligations, leaving us with no choice but to ask forest companies to end operations until Quebec complies with the agreement. We have waited almost 3 years for Quebec to implement it. Our patience is running out,” says Norman Matchewan, a community spokesperson.

Barriere Lake wants Canada and Quebec to uphold signed agreements dating back to the 1991 Trilateral Agreement, a landmark sustainable development and resource co-management agreement praised by the United Nations and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Canada has been in breach of the agreement since 2001. Quebec signed a complementary Bilateral agreement in 1998, but has stalled despite the 2006 recommendations of two former Quebec Cabinet Ministers, Quebec special representative John Ciaccia and Barriere Lake special representative Clifford Lincoln, that the agreement be implemented. The agreement is intended to allow logging to continue while protecting the Algonquin’s traditional way of life and giving them a $1.5 million share of the $100 million in resource revenue that comes out of their territory a year.

“Quebec is now using the leadership confusion created by the federal government’s interference in our internal affairs as an excuse not to implement the agreement and to let forestry companies have their way on our land,” says Matchewan.

In March 2008, the Canadian government rescinded recognition of Acting Chief Benjamin Nottaway and his Council and recognized individuals from a minority faction whom the Barriere Lake Elder's Council says were not selected in accordance with their Customary Governance Code.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake have won the support of the Green Party of Canada, New Democratic Party, Council of Canadians, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), as well as dozens of grassroots organizations across the country. The Algonquin Nation Secretariat, the Tribal Council representing three Algonquin communities including Barriere Lake, continues to recognize and work with Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway and his Council.

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