Mr. Speaker, on April 20, 1989, an aboriginal leader rose in the State House in Augusta, Maine, to speak to its representatives about the James Bay agreement. He said that as a people, they had won the assurance that they would be able to preserve their way of life, including hunting, fishing and trapping rights and their language and culture.
Thanks to the agreement, they obtained what they never had before: full responsibility for education, through the Cree School Board, for social and health services, for the management of their land, and a strong voice in the approval of new developments on their land, rights that respect the land's resources, rights that guarantee police protection and a justice system adapted to their needs, and guarantees that they will be able to participate fully in the development of sub-arctic Quebec.
The speaker was none other than Matthew Coon-Come.