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The official groundbreaking ceremony at the Mesgi’g Ugju’s’n Wind Farm was on June 22. Nearby Chiefs and councils were in attendance, along with members of Innergex Renewable Energy, nearby mayors and MLAs, the Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Ghislain Picard, elders, and the Quebec Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Geoffrey Kelley.

“We did it in an aboriginal way,” said Troy Jerome, the Executive Director of the Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat. “We wanted to make sure the Mi’gmaq were incorporated into it. We had a group of young drummers sing the honor song.”

Jerome reported between 150 and 200 people in attendance, with shuttles bringing people from Listuguj, Gesgapegiag, and Gespeg to the site in the Avignon Regional County Municipality.

There were lots of reasons to celebrate.

Technically, it’s the symbolic start of construction. The land has already been cleared, and 28 Mi’gmaq workers are already there daily. But construction of the actual towers are just about to begin.

By the end of the season, 47 bases will be constructed.

“We have to put about 40-50 cement trucks in each of those bases, full of cement,” said Jerome.

The plan is to also burying cables this year. Next year the towers will be erected, and turbines will be installed.

This year also marks the completion of training – a major priority for the team.

“Our guys are recognized to work in Quebec now,” said Jerome.

The Commission de la Construction du Québec prevented many Mi’gmaq works from working in the province, even if they were experienced.

“By the partnership with them, we’ve managed to get people to take the exams, and when they go and write the exams, they’re passing,” said Jerome. “They’re already experienced, they just didn’t have the certification in Quebec. Now they’re certified.”

Jerome said the lists have already been made for the different trades during the construction phase, and more people will be hired as time goes on. However, there is still some training for young people who wish to be involved with the maintenance of the windmills for the next 20 years.

Jerome is careful not to credit luck – because a lot of hard work has been put in – but a lot of elements of the project are lining up nicely.

“Things are coming along – the right time at the right place, good relationship with the region, with the government on this particular project,” said Jerome.

The next major milestone for the project will be September 2016, when the blades start spinning, and the two-month testing period begins. By December 2016, everything should be operational and feeding electricity to the main grid – enough to power 27,000 homes.

In the meantime however, there is a big job – finding consensus on how the profits will be distributed.

“The first thing we want to do is put a time line on the table,” said Jerome.

A consensus building team is being put together to work with the communities. The goal is to come up with a plan, spend three months making sure all the community members are aware, and then sign off – all before any profits are generated.

The process will begin right after the summer elections in Gesgapegiag, and Gespeg – both of which will result in governments serving four year terms.

Even though weather prevented people from marching this year, Migwite’tm’nej still brought people together to remember the 1981 raids.

“Today is a very sad and special day for our community,” said Madelien Germain, from the stage in the Bingo Hall. “Some of the men that were brutally abused, beaten … Some women were also abused, children were abused. And we’re remembering all of this today.”

Typically, there is a march from the wharf to the bingo hall, where a salmon meal is prepared. However, with threats of a large lightning storm, the decision was made to just gather at the hall.

Councillor, Derek Barnaby spoke.

“History has shown that Quebec and Canada have done everything in their power to eliminate us, to stop us from traditional harvesting of our food,” he said.

“They made it illegal for us to fish Salmon, they made it illegal for us to hunt and to provide for our families.”

The raid on June 11, 1981 was over an attempt to limit Listuguj salmon fishermen.

“At the end of the day, when people were going to jail, when people were abused, when people were hurt, our people here in Listuguj got together, and we said ‘enough is enough.’”

People gathered around the bridge in 1981, where the Quebec Provincial Police had set up a blockade, and were protecting game wardens as they destroyed fishing nets.

“From the process we learned that we need to stay together. Division does not help us in any way,” Barnaby said. “We’ve come to the understand that we are very strong, we’re very powerful. And we recognize our power in our existence today.”

Barnaby concluded by calling on everyone to “never forget 1981, and to be proud of who we are as Mi’gmaq people.”

Click here to see video of Barnaby’s speech.

A portion of Listuguj’s fishing quota has been allocated to Kildare Fisheries in Prince Edward Island. Chief and Council made this decision early May.

“The last few years we could only fish 75 per cent of the quota with our boats,” said Chief Scott Martin.

This year the quota is also higher than it was last year.

The remaining 25 per cent has been sold “on the water,” which is essentially leasing a portion of the license. This year, plans for the 25 per cent are being done ahead of time. And for more money.

The decision has been described as entirely financially driven. A quarter of Listuguj’s 2 million pounds will go to Kildare Fisheries.

The price for snowcrab was        approximately 10 cents more per pound in PEI last years. The higher quality crab typically sell for higher prices, and it is expected to do the same this year.

There are other small benefits  as well.

Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia all fish snow crab out of zone 12. This is the biggest zone in the region, with a quota of 20,000 more tons than the next largest area, says Steve Hachey, the Communications Advisor with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 

This deal allows four of the Listuguj fishermen to bring their catch to PEI instead of Quebec, which means a larger portion of the zone can be fished throughout the season.

Increasing the range – and the odds of catching quality crab – is especially beneficial this year. This season started May 11, but it usually begins April 15.

“We figured that if PEI is offering us a little bit more money, why not explore that area,” said Martin.