Mushkegowuk Council marine region manager Lawrence Martin is hoping the Ontario government and Mushkegowuk will walk away from today's meeting with an agreement to establish a treaty round table.
Today, Mushkegowuk chiefs are meeting with Mayor George Pirie and Ontario ministers Greg Rickford and David Piccini at Cedar Meadows Resort.
They'll be discussing responsible resource development and sustainability in the James Bay and Hudson Bay regions as well as establishing a treaty round table and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the province and Mushkegowuk.
“The treaty round table is the beginning of our discussions with the province. Let’s keep this door open. That’s the main thing I’d like to see being agreed to,” Lawrence said prior to the meeting.
Rickford is the provincial minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, and Piccini is the minister of Indigenous Affairs and Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Chiefs from Taykwa Tagamou Nation, Chapleau Cree, Moose Cree, Kashechewan, Fort Albany, Attawapiskat, Missanabie Cree First Nations gathered at the meeting this morning.
They were joined by Mushkegowuk Council Deputy Grand Chief Rebeca Friday and Mushkegowuk staff including the executive director Ernest Beck and the director of lands and resources Vern Cheechoo.
Representatives from Five Nations Energy and Canada Nickel were on hand, too.
The meeting, facilitated by Pirie, was closed to the media and the public.
The City of Timmins will be providing more information on the meeting and its outcomes later this afternoon.
