Interim Measures Agreement - Backgrounder

Labrador Inuit Claim

The Labrador Inuit Association, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Government of Canada signed the Labrador Inuit Agreement-in-Principle on June 25, 2001. The Agreement-in-Principle forms the basis for Final Agreement negotiations.

Agreement-in-Principle

The Agreement-in-Principle contains details of land ownership, harvesting rights, environmental assessment processes, economic development opportunities, resource revenue sharing and self-government. The Agreement-in-Principle provides for a Labrador Inuit Settlement Area totalling 72,520 square kilometres (28,000 square miles), including 15,800 square kilometres (6,100 square miles) of Inuit-owned lands known as Labrador Inuit Lands. In Labrador Inuit Lands, Inuit will enjoy benefits such as a share of revenues from subsurface resources, exclusive harvesting rights and control of new developments. In the rest of the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, Inuit will receive a smaller percentage of subsurface resource revenues and priority subsistence harvesting rights.

Interim Measures Agreement

The Interim Measures Agreement is a protocol to ensure that the rights and benefits identified in the Agreement-in-Principle are not eroded during the period that the Final Agreement is being negotiated. The Interim Measures Agreement will remain in effect for two years, or until a Final Agreement has been reached, whichever comes first.

The provincial and federal governments have committed to continuing existing practices in relation to Inuit harvesting for food, social and ceremonial purposes, and will not authorize new commercial wildlife operations in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area. Existing land owners and other existing third-party interests will not be affected by the Interim Measures Agreement.

The governments have agreed that Labrador Inuit Association consent will be required for:

• New grants, leases, licences or easements of land in Labrador Inuit Lands
• Permits for development or processing of minerals in Labrador Inuit Lands
• Commercial water developments in Labrador Inuit Lands
• Archaeological permits in Labrador Inuit Lands
• Creation of any new protected area in Labrador Inuit Lands

The governments have committed to consulting the Labrador Inuit Association on the following issues:

• New grants, leases, licences or easements of land in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, outside of Labrador Inuit Lands
• Environmental assessments in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
• Commercial water developments in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
• Possible additional commercial fisheries access
• Issuing new timber permits in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
• Archaeological permits in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
• Permits under the Navigable Water Protection Act in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
• New legislation related to Interim Measures Agreement issues

• LIA News Release (November 16, 2001)