DRAFT RESOLUTION
Subject: Fighting Diabetes
WHEREAS community members of Waskaganish and representatives of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay have brought to the attention of the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority the current status of diabetes:
WHEREAS diabetes continues to be a serious threat to the well-being of the Cree Nation requiring greater efforts of awareness and education by all public institutions of Eeyou Istchee:
IT IS RESOLVED
THAT the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority hereby request that all public entities, including but not exclusively the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority. Councils of the Cree Nations of Eeyou Istchee, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay, the Cree School Board, the Cree Trappers’ Association, Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association, the Elders’ Council, the Cree Nation Youth Council devote time in the agenda of governing meetings to identify representatives for the development of concrete measures, such as subsidies, media campaigns, or educational programs to bring awareness to the threat of diabetes to the Cree Nation and educate the Cree Nation on healthy practices to help bring an end to diabetes.
Subject: Community Development Issues Specific to the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation and all Cree Communities.
WHEREAS the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation has adopted and tabled a Resolution at the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority in relation to the negative impact of the current policy/program of the Cree Regional Authority on “Space Allocation” for public building related to community centers and that this may create a barrier to the community’s ability to meet the needs of community members for public space for communal activities;
WHEREAS the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation has adopted and tabled a Resolution at the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority in relation to the need for the construction of a community swimming pool;
WHEREAS the Crees of Waskaganish First Nation has adopted and tabled a Resolution at the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority in relation to the allowable allocation for housing unites subsidies requesting that it be raised to one hundred and forty thousand dollars ($140,000.00) to reflect the actual costs of constructing in the community due to poor soil conditions;
WHEREAS the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation has adopted and tabled a Resolution at the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority in relation to the state of the access roads for communities requesting that efforts be to ensure that there are proper maintenance budgets and required improvements such as paving;
IT IS RESOLVED
THAT the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Regional Authority hereby mandate the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority to undertake efforts to assist the community of Waskaganish in meeting its community center needs, the increase of the housing unit subsidy to reflect actual construction costs in the community and the request for swimming pool facilities;
THAT the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority hereby mandate the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority to undertake efforts to address the needs for the paving of community streets and the necessary maintenance and improvement to the access roads of the communities of Eeyou Istchee.
Subject: Cree Science Technology
WHEREAS the Cree Trappers’ Association had developed and implemented a Trapper Training Program in the past as a pilot project with the assistance of the Cree School Board and the Ministry of Education of the Government of Quebec;
WHEREAS the inclusion of Cree traditional knowledge, expertise and know-how is not standardly required to be included in all natural resource development environmental assessment and protection programs;
WHEREAS the Niskamoon Corporation has developed and administers College certified environmental sciences programs which included elements of Cree traditional knowledge;
IT IS RESOLVED
THAT the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority hereby mandate the Cree Trappers’ Association, the Cree School Board, the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority and the Niskamoon Corporation to seek cooperative action to ensure the revival and delivery of Cree Science and Technology Programs.
Subject: Waskaganish Hospital
WHEREAS the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation has adopted and tabled a Resolution at the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority in relation to the need for the construction of a new hospital in Waskaganish;
WHEREAS the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority recognize that the current medical facilities in Waskaganish, the third largest community in Eeyou Istchee are insufficient and the expansion of current facilities is unfeasible;
IT IS RESOLVED
THAT the members of the 2012 Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority hereby support the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation in their claim for the construction of a new hospital in the community and mandate the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay to initiate discussion with the Council of the Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation on the construction and operation of a new hospital in the community of Waskaganish.
CREE NATION GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AUGUST 8, 2012
WASKAGANISH
EEYOU / JAMES BAY CREE
NATION / EEYOU ISTCHEE
PERMANENT URANIUM
MORATORIUM
WHEREAS the Eeyou, the James Bay Cree Nation, has owned, lived in, governed and protected Eeyou Istchee for millennia and since time immemorial;
WHEREAS the Cree Nation possesses and exercises our inalienable fundamental aboriginal and other human rights, including the right of self-determination;
WHEREAS the economies, culture, way of life and well-being of Eeyou are inextricably tied to the land, the waters, the fish and animals, and all of the environment of Eeyou Istchee and adjacent lands and waters;
WHEREAS Eeyou have always carried out and affirmed our responsibility to protect the land, the waters, the fish and animals, and all of the environment of Eeyou Istchee, for all current and future generations;
WHEREAS Eeyou are committed to the principles of sustainable and equitable development and responsible stewardship;
WHEREAS uranium mining exploration activities have been pursued by other governments and corporations in recent years in Eeyou Istchee;
WHEREAS uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining and transport, and radioactive and toxic uranium mining wastes, create unique and grave risks for human health, and the environment, both today and for thousands of future generations;
WHEREAS the risks inherent in uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining and transport, and in radioactive and toxic uranium mining waste, are incompatible with our stewardship responsibilities in Eeyou Istchee, and pose a grave threat to our way of life, economies, culture, and well-being;
WHEREAS there are no independently established or objectively known ways to effectively mitigate these risks on the time-scales that are involved in uranium mining, milling, refining and transport, and in radioactive and toxic uranium mining waste, namely hundreds of thousands of years, and indeed there are grave doubts about these issues especially where they have affected other indigenous peoples in their lands and waters;
AND WHEREAS the people and the Cree Nation of Mistissini, the first Cree community located close to proposed uranium exploration and mining, has expressed its total opposition to these activities and called upon the Grand Council of the Crees and Eeyou to support it in this opposition;
BE IT NOW THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT EEYOU, THE JAMES BAY CREE NATION:
1. Declares and enacts a Permanent Moratorium on all uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining, transport and uranium mining waste emplacement in Eeyou Istchee;
2. Authorizes and mandates the Grand Council of the Cree (Eeyou Istchee), the Grand Chief and the Board of the Cree Regional Authority to take all necessary and appropriate steps as may reasonably be required to ensure the full and immediate recognition and implementation of this permanent moratorium in Eeyou Istchee and to give effect to this Eeyou Assembly Resolution.
GRAND COUNCIL OF THE CREES (EEYOU ISTCHEE)/
CREE REGIONAL AUTHORITY
ANNUAL GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
RESOLUTION 2012.
SUBJECT: AGREEMENT ON GOVERNANCE IN THE EEYOU ISTCHEE JAMES BAY TERRITORY
WHEREAS a dispute arose between the Crees and Québec regarding (i) the Act to amend the James Bay Region Development Act and other legislative provisions (S.Q. 2001m c, 61) and (ii) the Act respecting the ministère du Développement économique et régional et de la recherche (S. Q. 2003, c. 29) with respect to the Regional Council of Elected Officers and the Regional Development Fund;
WHEREAS on May 27, 2011, the Crees and Québec signed the Framework Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory (“Framework Agreement”);
WHEREAS the Crees and Québec undertook in the Framework Agreement to negotiate a final Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory:
WHEREAS representatives of the Crees and Québec have negotiated the “Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory” (“Governance Agreement”)
WHEREAS the Governance Agreement aims to promote greater autonomy and greater responsibility on the part of the Crees for governance on Category II lands in the Territory, in particular with respect to land and resource use and planning;
WHEREAS the Governance Agreement also envisages greater participation by the Crees in the governance of the Category III lands within the Territory in partnership with the other residents of the Territory;
WHEREAS the Governance Agreement is based on a governance model which relies on the principles of sustainable development, partnership and respect for the traditional way of life of the Crees in accordance with the provisions of the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (“JBNQA”) and the Agreement concerning a New Relationship between le Gouvernement du Québec and the Crees of Québec concluded on February 7, 2002 (“Paix des Braves”) as well as the government orientations and policies as adapted to take into account the context of the Crees;
WHEREAS the Governance Agreement does not contemplate and does not affect the obligations of Canada towards the Crees stipulated in, among other, the JBNQA and the Agreement concerning a New Relationship between the Government of Canada and the Cree of Eeyou Istchee concluded on February 21, 200/ (“Federal NRA”);
WHEREAS representatives of the Crees and Québec have also negotiated a draft Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory;
WHEREAS, at a meeting held on June 26, 2012, The Council/Board of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Regional Authority adopted Resolution 2012-19 approving the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory and the Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the gouvernement du Québec on the basis of the drafts of such Agreements, dated June 26, 2012, which were submitted to and reviewed by that meeting;
WHEREAS, by the same Council/Board Resolution 2012-19, the Grand Chief / Chairman, the Deputy Grand Chief / Vice Chairman and such other persons as the Grand Chief may designate were authorized to sign the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory and the Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory for and on behalf of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority;
WHEREAS, on July 21, 2012, the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory and the Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory were signed in accordance with Council/Board Resolution 2012-19 for and on behalf of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Regional Authority;
WHEREAS it is appropriate for this General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority to approve the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory and the Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the gouvernement du Québec and to ratify the signature of such Agreements, which have presented to and reviewed at this General Assembly;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
THAT this General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority does hereby approve the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory and the Agreement on certain Matters related to the Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the gouvernement du Québec and does hereby ratify the signature of such Agreements on July 26, 2012 for and on behalf of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) / Cree Regional Authority.
