Indigenous Leaders Sue Quebec To Halt Forestry Permits
After years of protests and blockades, a group of Atikamekw elders and chiefs have filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel forestry permits across a vast stretch of northern Quebec.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Quebec’s Superior Court, challenges the province’s authority to issue forestry permits within Nehirowisiw Aski, the ancestral territory of the Atikamekw, without properly consulting them.
Lawyers for the group describe the case as unprecedented, saying it is the first time that land defenders — a traditional role not formally recognized in Canadian law — have directly asserted Aboriginal title through the courts.