[Indigsol] Media release: Algonquin Chief imprisoned for two months: Quebec criminalizes Barriere Lake Algonquins for peaceful protest, ignores signed agreements

[Barriere Lake Solidarity]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

*Quebec judge imprisons Algonquin Chief for two months for peaceful protest:
Crown asks for one year to send "clear message" to impoverished community *


Kitiganik/Rapid Lake, Algonquin Territory / - On Thursday December 4th a
Quebec judge sentenced Barriere Lake Acting Chief Benjamin Nottaway to
forty-five days in jail, in addition to fifteen already served in pre-trial
detention, for participating in peaceful blockades intended to draw
attention to violations of Barriere Lake's rights by the Canadian and Quebec
governments.

Barriere Lake has been demanding that Canada and Quebec honour signed
agreements and that Canada appoint an observer to witness and respect the
outcome of a new leadership selection in accordance with Barriere Lake's
Customary Governance Code.

"It's shameful that the government of Quebec would rather throw me in jail
than fulfill their legal obligations by implementing signed agreements,"
said Acting Chief Nottaway, a father of six who passed his twenty-eighth
birthday in jail last Thursday. "Meanwhile, the Government of Canada
continues to interfere in our internal affairs while trying to wash its
hands of responsibility for this situation."

Nottaway was charged with three counts of mischief and breach of conditions
stemming from March blockades on Barriere Lake's access road and a November
blockade on highway 117 outside the community's reserve in Northern Quebec.
Another blockade in October was violently dismantled by Quebec riot police,
who used tear-gas on a crowd that included Elders, youth, and children. More
than 40 members of the community of 450 have been charged for these actions.

"Quebec has now joined the company of Ontario, which put the leaders of
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation and Ardoch Algonquin First
Nation behind bars for peaceful protest. It seems like the provinces'
preferred method for dealing with our rights is to use* *the police and the
courts to punish us until we forget about them," said Marylynn Poucachiche,
a community spokesperson who was arrested during the November blockade.

Crown Attorney France Deschamps asked Judge Jules Barriere for a sentence of
12 months, saying a "clear message" was required "to make sure Nottaway has
no desire to do this again, and to discourage the group – because his
supporters are waiting to hear what happens here." Judge Barriere noted that
the Crown's request was "partly illegal," as 6 months is the maximum
possible sentence for summary convictions. But he agreed with Deschamps that
a prison sentence was necessary, saying it was "important to pass a clear
message to the community."

"The only message the Canadian and Quebec governments are sending is that
they are willing to criminalize our community and split apart our families
in order to avoid implementing precedent-setting agreements and respecting
our leadership customs," added Nottaway.

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.

On March 10th, 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. On March 2nd
and 3rd, community members had set up blockades on their access road to
prevent members of this minority faction from entering the reservation,
anticipating the Canadian government would try to illegally interfere in
Barriere Lake's internal customary governance for the third time in 12
years.

In 2007, Quebec Superior Court Judge Rejean Paul issued a report that
concluded that the current faction recognized by the federal government was
a "small minority" that "didn't respect the Customary Governance Code" in an
alleged leadership selection in 2006 [1]. The federal government recognized
this minority faction after they conducted another alleged leadership
selection in January 2008, even though an observer's report the government
relied on stated there was no "guarantee" that the Customary Governance Code
was respected [2].

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.

-30-

*Media Contacts*:

*Norman Matchewan*, Barriere Lake spokesperson: 819 – 435 – 2171

*Marylynn Poucachiche*, Barriere Lake spokesperson: 819 - 435 - 2113


Notes

[1]
http://web.resist.ca/~barrierelakesolidarity/resources/Rapport_du_Juge_Paul-versionANGLAISEcomplete.doc<http://web.resist.ca/%7Ebarrierelakesolidarity/resources/Rapport_du_Juge_Paul-versionANGLAISEcomplete.doc>,
pg 26-27


[2]
http://web.resist.ca/~barrierelakesolidarity/resources/Riel_Translation_Letter_2.doc<http://web.resist.ca/%7Ebarrierelakesolidarity/resources/Riel_Translation_Letter_2.doc>,
pg 2




Collectif de Solidarité Lac Barrière
*******************************************
www.solidaritelacbarriere.blogspot.com
barrierelakesolidarity at gmail.com
514.398.7432
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/indigsol/attachments/20081210/bf4352a1/attachment.html>