The current situation

Mining

 In June 2016, while the community was negotiating an agreement with Quebec to implement 1991 and 1998 agreements, the Quebec government stealthily lifted the moratorium on mining on their ancestral and current-use territory, which had been in force since 2011.

The moratorium on mining activities was lifted unilaterally by the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources without any prior advice to, or consultation with the community, as clearly expected according to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mining activities are completely incompatible with both the terms and intent of the Trilateral Agreement of 1991, the Bilateral Agreement with Quebec of 1998, and the 2006 Joint Recommendations from Special Representatives of Quebec and Barriere Lake, which is to ensure the continuation of the community's culture and the sustainable use of renewable resources.

While the government announced its “intention” to “temporarily” suspend the claims of Copper One on the territory of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake on January 26th, 2017, the long term scenario remains uncertain. The Algonquin Nation, located largely within the La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve, asks for public support in order to protect their culture, the land, the waters and the wildlife, which are all interconnected.  

Third Party Management

In 2006, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs imposed third party management (TPM) to the Algonquins of Barriere Lake due to a $83,000 deficit, which has since been paid many times over in government-imposed accountant fees.

While the Third Party Manager Lemieux-Nolet is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars from band funds, a community member is living in the basement of a burned out home with his family because not a single new house has been built in the community in 11 years.