Wendake, November 24, 2023 – The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) supports the action taken by the Abitibiwinni First Nation Council and the Anishnabe Nation Council of Lac Simon to denounce the lack of consideration shown toward them by Australian mining company Sayona and the Quebec government.
As the Quebec Mines + Energy (QM+É) conference is being held in Quebec City this week, the AFNQL wishes to remind the Quebec government and Sayona that they have a duty, under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and Canadian law, to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of First Nations when it comes to the exploitation of their unceded ancestral territories.
In practical terms, this means establishing a partnership with the Abitibiwinni and Lac Simon First Nations, particularly with regard to the equitable sharing of benefits derived from the exploitation of First Nations resources and territories. This partnership must also be able to respect the First Nations’ desire to protect their ancestral territories and the cultures and traditions that are intrinsically linked to them.
Quebec’s refusal to allow First Nations to identify territories incompatible with mining activity and to share with First Nations a portion of the mining royalties it collects from mines located on unceded territories, as well as Sayona’s refusal to include the First Nations of Abitibiwinni and Lac Simon in the secondary processing of lithium, which is the most profitable part of the process, demonstrate a major failure to respect the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples,” said Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.
If the desire expressed by the Quebec government and Sayona to build harmonious relations and mining development is sincere, they must collaborate concretely and without further delay with First Nations in order to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent.