Grand chief demands apology, says Innu can't back Churchill Falls deal with Quebec

Jodie Ashini, grand chief of Innu Nation speaks with Prime Minister Mark Carney following his signing of a new agreement on the Churchill Falls generating station and the launch of new hydro, wind and transmission projects, in St. John's, N.L., on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN’S — The Innu in Labrador need an apology before they can back a proposed energy deal with Hydro-Québec on their traditional lands, Grand Chief Jodie Ashini said Tuesday.

Ashini said the Newfoundland and Labrador government must acknowledge the hurt and harm it has caused by holding what the Grand Chief has described as a “fringe belief” that Innu arrived in Labrador about 300 years ago, after the Europeans.

The Innu have been in Labrador for thousands of years, and the theory erases that history, the grand chief has said.

The issue remains unresolved, she said, despite Premier Tony Wakeham opening the provincial legislature this week to debate a proposed energy deal that could see new power projects, worth billions of dollars, built along the Churchill River in Labrador. The river cuts through traditional Innu territory, known as Nitassinan, and empties into Lake Melville along Labrador’s southeast coast.

“This is all our land,” Ashini said in an interview Tuesday. “I don’t know how they expect to collaboratively work with the Innu people when they continuously keep denying our history.”

Earlier this year, the Innu Nation announced it was cancelling a planned cultural exhibit, called Innu Pakassiun, at the Labrador Interpretation Centre, which is run by the provincial art gallery, The Rooms.

The Innu Nation represents about 3,200 Innu in Labrador, including the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation in central Labrador, and the Mushuau Innu First Nation in Natuashish, along the region’s northeast coast.

Ashini said at the time that officials with The Rooms told her days before the exhibit’s planned opening that the province disputed the timeline of Innu presence in Labrador that was to be included in the show.

The Innu Nation decided to cancel the show, rather than make changes or add disclaimers they felt were insulting, Ashini said in June, before she was elected grand chief.

The government further angered and insulted the Innu people when it announced earlier this month that it would audit all of its research and holdings at the provincial archeology office related to Innu history, Ashini said Tuesday.

“These works and papers … are colonial papers,” said Ashini, who has studied and worked in archeology. “They are people that have never met Innu, never lived in an Innu tent. They don’t know the land. They don’t know the way we have survived.”

In a Facebook post Monday evening, she said Innu history did not begin when the government of Newfoundland and Labrador began documenting it.

Officials hope to sign final energy agreements by the end of the year, but Ashini’s Facebook said that would not happen unless Wakeham changes his tune.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Wakeham said his government needs to meet with the Innu leadership and discuss their concerns.

“We have work to do with the Innu Nation,” the premier acknowledged.

When asked how long the Innu have been in Labrador, he said: “I’m not an archeologist or a historian. I’m not going to make any comments on that right now.”

Ashini said the premier has given her the same response, and she has told him he’s had plenty of time to learn. She walked out of a meeting with him earlier this month because she felt he was pushing the idea of the audit and refusing to consider Innu histories, she said.

Last week, the Innu Nation announced it would open the Innu Pakassiun exhibit after all, on Sept. 30, which is Truth and Reconciliation Day.

In the provincial legislature on Tuesday, the leader of Newfoundland and Labrador’s NDP said he would not vote in favour of the 50-year framework energy agreement if the Innu weren’t on board.

“It’s really up to the Innu to approve this, in the end,” Jim Dinn told reporters.

John Hogan, the leader of the Liberal Opposition, said his party supports the Innu and their history.

“I would say that this will not be developed without the support of the Innu,” Hogan said.

Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro co-own and operate the 5,428-megawatt Churchill Falls generating station, described as the second-largest underground hydroelectric plant in North America.

The framework agreement proposes several new developments in the Churchill River area, including a new power station at Gull Island and a possible wind farm.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.