Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government (french: Gouvernement régional d’Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, cr, ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᐊᔅᒌ ᒉᐃᒥᔅ ᐯᐃ ᐊᔅᒌᐤ ᑎᐹᔨᐦᒋᒑᐎᓐ, italic=no ) is a
local municipality in the (TE) in
administrative region
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of .
History
On July 24, 2012, the
Quebec government signed an accord with the
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
(''Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the Gouvernement du Québec'') which resulted in the abolition of the local municipality of
Baie-James and the creation of the local municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay.
The agreement came into force on January 1, 2014, and is designed to give the Cree expanded powers over lands and resources outside of the Cree municipalities and associated reserved land. The new government consist of Cree and Baie-James residents each having an equal number of votes.
Overview
The territory comprises all lands of Jamésie (TE) minus the four
local municipalities (''municipalité locale'') — also known as the ''enclosed municipalities — of
Chibougamau
Chibougamau () is the largest town in Nord-du-Québec, central Quebec, Canada. Located on Lake Gilman it has a population of 7,504 people (2016 Canadian Census). Chibougamau is surrounded by, but not part of, the local municipality of Eeyou Istc ...
,
Lebel-sur-Quévillon,
Chapais, and
Matagami, and eight of the nine
Cree communities (''communautés crie'') of
Eeyou Istchee TE.
However, the territory includes three
unconstituted localities (''localités''):
*
Radisson
Radisson Hotels is an international hotel chain headquartered in the United States. A division of the Radisson Hotel Group, it operates the brands Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Country Inn & Suites, and Park Inn by Radisso ...
*Valcanton
*
Villebois
Villebois () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ain department
The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France.
The communes cooperate in the follow ...
Government
Composition & local governance
The territory outside the enclaved Cree communities (Category III lands) is governed by the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government (''le Gouvernement régional d’Eeyou Istchee Baie-James'').
Local governance is carried out by way of the council of regional government, which for its first ten years is to be composed of 11 Cree representatives, 11 Jamésien representatives, and one non-voting representative of the government of Québec.
The Cree representatives consist of the Grand Chief of the
Cree Nation Government and then ten members appointed by the Board of the Cree Nation Government from within its own ranks. The Jamésien representatives consist of members of the local municipal councils of Chapais, Chibougamau, Lebel-sur-Quévillon, and Matagami as well as non-Crees in the Eeyout Istchee James Bay Territory and are appointed by the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.
Finally, the non-voting representative of the government of Quebec is appointed by the Deputy Minister of the Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire (MAMROT) from amongst its staff.
Regional governance
The enclaved settlements are not under the jurisdiction of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government unless an enclaved settlement, by a unanimous vote of its local council, requests partnership with the regional government.
In that instance, the territorial regional government may carry out the powers of a
regional county municipality
The term regional county municipality or RCM (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, MRC'') is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county r ...
(RCM).
References
External links
Website of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government
{{Authority control
Municipalities in Quebec
Territories equivalent to a regional county municipality
Cree reserves and territories
*
2012 establishments in Quebec
States and territories established in 2012
First Nations geography
Power sharing