Quebec First Nation cites ancestral land use rights to sue province over logging permits
Globe and Mail, February 20, 2026: Indigenous group launches lawsuit to block forestry permits on large territory in northern Quebec
A group of Indigenous elders and chiefs is suing to void all forestry permits on a vast territory in northern Quebec, claiming that the land’s ancestral occupants were not properly consulted and the logging activities violate their traditional rights.
It is the first time a group of land defenders – a traditional role not clearly defined in Canadian law – has claimed Aboriginal title in Canada, lawyer Frédéric Bérard said.
The region about five hours north of Montreal has been the site of blockades by Indigenous groups in recent years to protest clear-cutting and the Quebec government’s recent reform of the province’s forestry regime.
The lawsuit against the Crown, filed in Quebec Superior Court Thursday, comes at a sensitive time for relations between the resource sector and Indigenous communities, as the federal government tries to accelerate projects in the name of economic sovereignty and national unity.
Link to Globe article (requires Globe account) . . .