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Rapid Lake, Quebec – As the logging stand-off in Barriere Lake moves towards confrontation, Grand Chief Carol McBride of the Algonquin Nation, has called for a special meeting with Federal and Quebec government Special Representatives to end the impasse.

It’s been just under a month since the Algonquins of Barriere Lake (ABL) ordered a stop to all logging on their territory. They were responding to the decision by the Federal government to walk away from the Trilateral Agreement, a pioneering land management process, which would balance logging interests with the traditional needs of the Barriere Lake people.

Grand Chief McBride who was recently appointed by the ABL to be their Special Representative in dealing with Trilateral issues, is worried that if the Federal government doesn’t return to the table, a confrontation with the logging companies operating in the territory is inevitable.

“I am advised that forestry companies will soon be out of areas over which they are authorized to cut under the Trilateral Agreement,” McBride wrote to Federal and Quebec Special Representatives, “[The Algonquins of Barriere Lake] are very anxious to avert unnecessary conflict. Therefore, I believe it is in the interests of all parties to meet and try and find a resolution.”

The ABL have made it clear they will not allow a return to the large-scale industrial logging which pushed their traditional hunting and gathering way of life to the margins. In the late 1980s, a series of dramatic blockades in their territory garnered international attention over the plight of the ABL. As a result, the Federal and Quebec governments signed the Trilateral Agreement in 1991.

The agreement was lauded as a model for resource management and conflict resolution between governments and First Nations. However, the development of an integrated management plan for the territory has been slow due to the fact that both Quebec and the Federal government have, at times, tried to walk away from the agreement.

Now with the first land management plans nearly tabled, the Federal government says it doesn’t want to finish funding the process. The ABL say that no logging will take place unless it meets the requirements of the land management process.

Grand Chief McBride stated today “in our estimation, this territory probably generates, over $100 million annually in revenues from hydro, tourism and forestry activities, none of which goes back to the Algonquin community, although they suffer impacts from these activities. The Barriere Lake people are not employed in any of these sectors and suffer an unemployment rate of 80% to 90%. The least the governments can do is ensure some funding is provided to develop and implement a proper land and resource management plan, in order to protect Algonquin rights and interests, and traditional way of life.”

Grand Chief McBride has written to Provincial and Federal Special Representatives. She has asked both levels of government to attend a special meeting at the Rapid Lake reserve on Friday September 7th at 10:00A.M.

“I want to move quickly and try to find a solution to the current impasse in the trilateral process,” Grand Chief McBride wrote in her letter. She is hopeful this meeting may put the process back on track.