Crees have sent an overwhelming message to the Parti Quebecois government. They want no part of the separatist project.
Crees voted 96.3 per cent against allowing Quebec to take them and their territory out of Canada in the event of a Yes vote in the Oct 30 Quebec referendum.
Despite the short time available to publicize the referendum and long distances involved for many travelling to polls, 4,915 Crees participated in the Oct. 24 vote—77 per cent of eligible Cree voters.
“We have spoken as unanimously as a people can,” said Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come at a press conference in Montreal to announce the result.
“The message is clear and now others must listen: We will not be separated from Canada. We have withheld our consent. The message is clear: We won’t go.”
Chief Returning Officer John Henry Wapachee and his assistant, Robbie Dick, went to great lengths to ensure full participation in the referendum during the middle of the hunting season. Three helicopters were chartered to bring polls out to over 100 bush camps throughout the Cree Territory.
The Grand Chief said any attempt by the PQ to remove Eeyou Astchee from Canada would amount to “kidnapping” and would be resisted. “This would be hijacking of a whole people and their lands. This we will not allow the separatists to do.”
The Cree referendum followed the first-ever assembly of the Cree Legislature in mid-October in Chisasibi.
At press time, the situation appeared tense with the Yes and No sides neck-and-neck in the polls. No side activists were reported to be panicking as the separatists appeared to gain momentum in the last days before the referendum.
In the event of a Yes, Coon Come said Crees would appeal to Canadians and the federal government to live up to Ottawa’s constitutional obligation to act as guardian of First Nations rights. If Canada balks, Crees could launch a court action seeking federal protection.
Crees have already received pledges of support from First Nations in the rest of the country, he added.
He said Crees would also appeal for protection from the international community, which could imperil recognition of Quebec as an independent country.
In an article in The Montreal Gazette, Coon Come also singled out Hydro-Quebec installations as a possible target to fight Quebec secession. He rejected the possibility of Crees occupying Hydro facilities and emphasized that Crees are a peaceful people, but according to the article he also suggested that Crees might go to court to invalidate Hydro’s ownership of the dams in an independent Quebec.
