Wendake, September 9, 2025 – After several months of discussions and exchanges in good faith, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) Chiefs Committee on Forests has concluded that there is no guarantee that First Nations proposals would be incorporated into a significantly amended version of Bill 97, An Act mainly to modernize the forestry regime (PL 97).
In this context, it became impossible to continue the work without real assurance that the essential elements put forward by First Nations would be fully incorporated into the legislation.
However, these fundamental principles have been repeated and are consistent:
- Respect for our ancestral and treaty rights, recognized by the Canadian Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly with regard to governance and economic development;
- The establishment of genuine co-management of forests, from government to government, rather than administrative delegation decided unilaterally by the state;
- The complete withdrawal of priority forest management zoning, which is incompatible with our rights and has been denounced by a majority of experts.
Despite some signs of openness, a great deal of uncertainty remains due to an uncertain and unpredictable political context: the cabinet reshuffle announced for September 10, the postponement of the parliamentary session from September 16 to September 30, and the possibility of the National Assembly being prorogued.
The AFNQL is therefore calling for Bill 97 to be withdrawn in its entirety. “At this stage, continuing to work on the bill is tantamount to continuing to invest time and resources with no guarantee that our fundamental demands will be met. Only by completely withdrawing Bill 97 and returning to the drawing board together can we begin a genuine process of legislative co-construction and envision a balanced future for our forests, while alleviating the tensions currently observed in the field,” said AFNQL Chief Francis Verreault-Paul.
The AFNQL reaffirms its willingness to work on developing a new forestry regime, but reiterates that this work must be done upstream and in a spirit of genuine collaboration, government to government, and with full respect for First Nations rights.
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