| What is a Land Claims Agreement? |  |
| The face of Labrador is changing. There are new opportunities in resource development... in tourism... and in business. But before we can share in these opportunities we should settle the Labrador Innu and Inuit land claims. As the first non-Aboriginal immigrants to North America spread out across the continent they introduced their own system of government. They negotiated treaties with many of the Aboriginal peoples. These treaties were the first agreements to set out the roles of the settlers and the Aboriginal people and helped create the social and economic certainty upon which Canada was built. | |
| Modern Treaties | |
| However, some Aboriginal groups never signed treaties. Among these are the Labrador Innu and Inuit. | |
| Final agreements on these claims will give the Labrador Inuit and Innu a modern treaty. Protected by the Canadian Constitution, the treaty will define land and resource rights and other benefits. A legally binding document on these terms will remove any uncertainty that may have affected economic and social progress in Labrador. | |
| Stages in the Process | |
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Land claims settlements usually involve a series of stages including a
framework agreement; an agreement-in-principle; and a final agreement followed by ongoing
implementation. The terms of a treaty can be anything the negotiating parties want them to
be. The objective is consensus. The process is guided in part by Canada's Constitution. It protects existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in Section 35 (1). |
| In Section 35 (3) it extends protection to future treaties such as the ones now under
negotiation in Labrador. The Province believes a final agreement ought to advance cultural awareness and protect the traditional lifestyles of the Labrador Innu and Inuit and at the same time protect the interests of all the residents of the Province. |
| Negotiating a Settlement | ||
| Since 1990 the provincial and federal governments have actively negotiated separate land claims with the Labrador Inuit and Innu. It is through honest and frank discussion, not lawsuits or protests, that we will reach the best land claims settlements for the people of the Province. |  |
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| When the dust finally clears on this process we will have a new relationship with each other and with the land-a relationship built on dignity, respect, and co-operation. | ||
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