The Beginning of a Dialogue 

This is but one example. In Senneterre, in the Abitibi region, the third bylaw adopted by the municipality, founded in 1919, prohibited Indians from homesteading within city limits. (Bordeleau and Matte) Luckily, that is no longer the case. On the eve of the 2019 celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of this small municipality, the municipal council and the Native Friendship Centre of Senneterre signed the Mutual Commitment to Improve the Living Conditions of Urban Aboriginal People. At a news conference announcing the commitment, Jean-Maurice Matte, Mayor of Senneterre, stressed that [TRANSLATION] “the two bodies have been working together for several years to encourage social, cultural and economic rapprochement. This commitment is just a way of formalizing the existing partnership.” (Deshaies 2017) 

Valentin Méquish, chairman of the Friendship Centre’s board of directors, says that one area of joint action is access to good quality housing, especially for seniors. Another priority is the Shabogamak II project, which aims to convert the old municipal chalet, which the Friendship Centre acquired, into a place that offers activities to facilitate the transmission of Aboriginal culture to new generations. The project will get the municipality’s full support in developing access to the site. The Shabogamak Chalet will also provide tourist accommodation for the benefit of the entire region. 

It is impossible to talk about cohabitation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people without mentioning the events that triggered a profound social crisis in the Val-d’Or area in March 2015. During Radio-Canada’s investigative program, Enquête, Aboriginal women reported having been victims of sexual and physical abuse, intimidation and abuse of power at the hands of provincial police officers. The women’s troubling and moving stories sent shock waves across all of Québec society. Although no criminal charges were laid against the police officers following investigations into the allegations, the Québec government created the Public Inquiry Commission on Relations between Indigenous Peoples and Certain Public Services in Québec (the Viens Commission). In tandem with these events, a number of prominent figures from the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region reminded the public that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people had a long history of living side by side in the region. Several First Nations advocates responded, saying it was imperative to question the very nature of this so-called “cohabitation.” In an interview granted to the journalist Thomas Deshaies (“Le Citoyen” in L’Écho Abitibien. Sept. 27, 2017), Lucien Wabanonik, a member of the Nation Anishnabe de Lac Simon band council, opined that it was inappropriate to state that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have always lived side by side in Val-d’Or. That opinion was shared by anthropologist and professor Marie-Pierre Bousquet, who used the words “dispossession, destruction, misunderstanding and racism” to describe an overlooked side of the region’s history. (Idem.) Underlining the efforts made to improve relations since the “Val-d’Or crisis,” Mr. Wabanonik wants to look to the future, but also thinks it is necessary to look history in the face: [TRANSLATION] “That’s what we find unfortunate. An effort must be made to acknowledge Anishnabe history.” 

As sad as they may be, the previously mentioned events in Val-d’Or provided an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and drove a remarkable local mobilization of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike to improve relations. Remember, it was in Val-d’Or that the mayors of nine Québec municipalities and the executive directors of nine Native Friendship Centres signed the Mutual Commitment to Improve the Living Conditions of Urban Aboriginal People in March 2017.