Montreal Gazette – Nathalie Normandeau, Quebec’s natural resources minister, met behind closed doors Friday with 200 people from northern Quebec to discuss the Plan Nord, the Charest government’s plan to develop the resources of the north. But five Innu communities are boycotting the event and the Assembly of First Nations has warned the Charest government that unless it recognizes their ancestral rights, the Plan Nord will not go ahead. “There is an aboriginal title,” said Ghislain Picard, AFN chief for Quebec and Labrador. “There are associated rights and the reflex of the government is always to avoid that reality.”

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More information:

• Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL): “‘Without us, the Plan Nord is a Plan Nort’ First Nations demand respect of their rights,” PDF (Nov. 06, 2009).
• Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee): “Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come Calls on Premier Jean Charest to Join Him in Renewing the Spirit of the “Paix des Braves” (Nov. 06, 2009).
• The Globe and Mail: “Economic plan divides Quebec’s native communities” (Nov. 06, 2009).
• The Canadian Press: “Aboriginals demand Ottawa’s help in fighting Quebec northern development” (Nov. 06, 2009).
• CBC: “Natives want PM to screen northern Quebec projects” (Nov. 06, 2009).
• CNW Group: “Plan Nord Consultation Table: Canadian Boreal Initiative Support, with Reservations” (Nov. 05, 2009).
• CBC: “Quebec First Nations angered by development plans” (Nov. 27, 2008).