New programs will ensure stewardship of lands, waters, and ice based on Indigenous values and cultures
The Government of Canada is committed to a process of reconciliation and renewed relationships with Indigenous peoples based on recognition, respect, co-operation, and partnership. The recognition of the important role Indigenous peoples play in the protection, conservation, and stewardship of lands, waters, and ice based on their cultures and their knowledge is central to the management of Parks Canada administered places.
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced more than $2.4 million over three years to establish two new Innu Guardian Programs in Quebec; $1.3 million for the program at Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, and $1.1 million for the program at Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve.
These new programs will be in addition to the Wolastokuk Guardians of the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation at Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, the Haida Gwaii Watchmen at Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site in British Columbia, and the Guardians of the Nattilik Heritage Society at the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site in Nunavut.
These Innu Guardian Programs were developed by the local Indigenous communities of Essipit and Ekuanitshit, in collaboration with Parks Canada, to reflect the unique realities of the place. They aim to restore and maintain the privileged ties that the Innu of these communities have maintained with the lands, waters, and ice for millennia, strengthen their role as stewards and ensure the transfer of knowledge between generations.
Parks Canada is committed to ensuring that the system of national heritage places recognizes and honours the historical and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples, their histories and cultures, and their special attachment to traditional lands, waters, and ice.
