Backgrounder

• the Betsiamites reserve, created for the Montagnais of the upper North Shore of the St. Lawrence River in the latter half of the 19th century, is located between Tadoussac and Baie-Comeau, Quebec

• the reserve was established partly to protect the Montagnais against the encroachment of non-aboriginal settlement along the North Shore and partly as a result of Canada’s new Indian policy which sought to encourage migratory aboriginal populations to settle and adopt an agricultural way of life

• through the latter half of the 19th century, farming was slow to take hold at Betsiamites: hunting and fishing continued to be central to the Montagnais economy

• in 1914, the Surveyor General of Quebec noted that an absence of roads and easy communications hindered settlement of the region and introduced the concept of a regional road

• in 1924, the Province of Quebec asked Indian Affairs to open a section of road across the Betsiamites reserve to link the settlement roads in the area: the federal government initially refused to contribute to the project, claiming it would not benefit the Montagnais

• Indian Affairs agreed to raise the issue with the Band: three months later, the Band consented to construction of the road

• by July 1928, following repeated postponements by the Quebec government, the federal government decided to assume full financial responsibility for building the road

• when work began the following month, the right of way issue was relegated to the background: there it would remain for the next decade until the province assumed unofficial jurisdiction over the road that was to become Highway 15 and later Highway 138

• the Great Depression of the early 1930s all but destroyed the fur trade, an event that had severe repercussions for the Betsiamites community

• both the Indian agent at Betsiamites and the Band’s chief recommended that work on the road be resumed as a form of economic aid for the Montagnais

• the proposal was approved and over the next few years, Betsiamites band members worked on the construction for less money than they had been paid for the same work the previous decade

• between 1931 and 1936, the federal government withdrew about $2,800 from the band council’s fund, ostensibly to spend on construction of the road: not all these funds, however, were spent on the new road

• in 1938, the Quebec government took charge of construction of Highway 15: from then on, Quebec assumed full responsibility for the project and Indian Affairs made no further investment in it

• jurisdiction over the highway across the Betsiamites reserve was transferred to Quebec in 1940 and the highway was completed in 1942

• over the next few years, the federal government made it clear that it considered the economic benefits derived by the Band from construction of the road to be sufficient compensation for use of their lands

• the issue of title would lie dormant for several years until a proposal was made in early 1954 to build a bridge over the Betsiamites River

• the location for the proposed bridge required the use of almost 42 acres of reserve land but the province never sought approval for the project either from the Betsiamites Band or from Indian Affairs

• having originally refused to consent to construction of the bridge, the Band reversed its decision and approved the province’s proposed site, which the Band asked be located close to the reserve so that future road infrastructures would not bypass the reserve

• the federal government gave permission to the province to begin building the bridge; however, the province never completed the administrative procedure required by the Indian Act

• the right of way issue resurfaced in the 1960s when the province undertook work to straighten Highway 15

• it is probable, according to the evidence, that the Band received compensation for the construction of the bridge and a new segment of Highway 15, consisting of the paving of the village’s streets and roads—completed in 1967

• attempts to clarify the status of the highway, i.e., to determine whether an order in council had ever been granted transferring reserve land for the right of way to the province, continued in the late 1960s, but to no avail

• it was not until the late 1970s that the Band became aware of the irregularities in the status of the highway which by then had become Highway 138

• for the next several years, the Band enlisted legal help to take action against the agencies involved in the right of way dispute

• the Band’s displeasure reached a zenith in July 1990 when it threatened to blockade Highway 138 in an effort to force the province to act on their file

• in May 1995, the Band filed two specific claims with the Specific Claims Branch of Indian and Northern Affairs

• in April 1999, the Specific Claims Branch officially rejected the claims

• on June 5, 2000, the ICC agreed, at the request of the Betsiamites Band, to inquire into the Band’s two claims

• in October 2002, Indian and Northern Affairs asked the Commission to adjourn its inquiry for six months to allow Canada to re-examine the two claims: the ICC agreed with the consent of the Band

• on January 8, 2004 the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs accepted the two claims for negotiation: the Band accepted the Minister’s offer on February 13, 2004

• on March 15, 2004, the ICC issued an order that, as a result of the Band’s acceptance of Canada’s offer to negotiate, the Commission’s inquiries into the claims were concluded

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