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On Tuesday, July 18, I signed the Agreement on Cree Nation Governance with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett. I said at the time that this agreement remains faithful to the Cree vision embodied in our treaty, the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, signed with Canada and Quebec in 1975.

What was this vision?

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It has always been one of Cree self-government and self‑determination. The Cree have always seen our treaty as an emancipation from the Indian Act. But, more than that, we have seen the treaty as a means to regain Cree self-government in Eeyou Istchee.

So how do the governance agreement and its companion, the Cree Constitution, advance this vision?

First, they bring the governance of our communities home to where it belongs, with us, the Cree First Nations and Cree Nation Government. They remove this governance from a federal statute, the Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, and transfer it into the governance agreement and the Cree Constitution.