'We are rights holders': First Nations chiefs push back on Quebec's draft constitution

First Nations leaders in Quebec are calling out Premier François Legault's government, saying the province's proposed constitution was drafted without their consent and fails to recognize their status as sovereign nations.

The Legault government tabled the legislation last month, with the stated aim of protecting Quebec's common values, including the French language, secularism and equality between men and women.

Francis Verreault-Paul, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), said Tuesday leaders were not consulted in the leadup to Bill 1 and that the constitution does not reflect "a vision of co-existence" between nations.

"What about our self-determination as First Nations? What about our sovereignty?" he asked in an interview with CBC News.

Verreault-Paul and more than 30 chiefs from First Nations communities met with Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette in Montreal on Tuesday to discuss the constitution — only days before hearings are set to begin at the National Assembly. 

"This is something that we asked the minister to have for a long time," he said, referring to the meeting. The AFNQL is made up of the chiefs of 43 First Nations communities in Quebec and Labrador, and represents a total of 10 nations.

As it stands, the draft constitution doesn’t take into account the distinct identities of First Nations in Quebec, Verreault-Paul said.

"I don’t think this is the way you want to build something," he said of the lack of consultation.

"You want to build things together."

The bill has been the subject of growing controversy. Civil rights groups and legal experts have also criticized the government for failing to consult the population prior to it being tabled.

There are also concerns it would limit individual rights and make it more difficult to challenge legislation in court. Hearings on the bill are set to begin next week. 

In a brief exchange with reporters outside the meeting, Jolin-Barrette said only that the government is "always listening."

Bill 1’s preamble includes a passage saying the "Quebec State recognizes the existing ancestral and treaty rights of the Indigenous nations of Quebec," and the right of "the descendants of the country’s first inhabitants to maintain and develop their language and culture of origin."

But Lucien Wabanonik, the chief of the Anishinaabe council of Lac Simon, said those words are insufficient — noting they are not included in the draft constitution itself.