A senior Land Claims Negotiator with the Innu Nation says the provincial government can “forget about Gull Island” if outstanding issues related to Muskrat Falls are not addressed.
Peter Penashue expects Premier Andrew Furey will be disappointed come March of 2024—the date the Premier had hoped would finally see completion of the decades-long process.
Penashue, who has been involved in Land Claims Process for many years, says they’re still having “silly” arguments about things like identifying Innu hunting and fishing on the land.
Penashue believes the Premier will be “shocked and surprised” that the deadline he set won’t be met.
He says the federal government essentially “changed the rules” on the Impact Benefit Agreement reached on Muskrat Falls, to address rate mitigation because the project went well over budget.
As a result, he says the Innu are not overly excited about development of Gull Island, something the NL and Quebec governments are keen to pursue.
(Muskrat Falls file photo, August 2019, courtesy Nalcor.)
He says the agreement was changed, resulting in a $1 billion loss to the Innu over the next 50 years. “So the Innu are not too excited about Gull Island, that’s for sure” says Penashue.
He says the Innu want the outstanding Muskrat Falls issues resolved first.
“If that’s not resolved, then you can forget about Gull Island” says Penashue “because it isn’t going to be happening if Muskrat Falls issues are still outstanding.”
