The Innu of Pessamit reject the more than $2.5 billion agreement with Hydro-Québec and the Quebec government

The Jean-Lesage Dam, formerly known as Manic 2, located on the territory of the Pessamit Innu, photographed on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

The Innu of Pessamit voted Sunday in a referendum and rejected, by a 63 per cent margin, the agreement reached with Hydro-Québec and the Quebec government, which could have settled once and for all the legal disputes that have been ongoing for years and allowed for the development of energy projects. A total of 1,287 members of the Innu community cast their votes.

“The Innu of Pessamit have spoken. They are not authorizing Chief René Simon to sign the agreement,” said Alexis Wawanoloath, the referendum chair, after the votes were counted in the evening and broadcast live on social media. “Democracy has spoken.”

The “New Relationship Agreement on Energy Development,” also known as the Aishkat Agreement, provided for the payment of more than $2.535 billion over 50 years, as well as other sums, to the community of some 4,000 people located just under 60 km southwest of Baie-Comeau on the North Shore.

However, the 42-page document would have prevented the community from going to court to challenge future energy projects and opened its territory to projects by the state-owned corporation—provisions that have sparked controversy within the community.

“We acknowledge the decision of the members of the Pessamit community,” explained Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, on social media. “I agreed with the elected officials that we would take stock of the situation tomorrow.”

“The community has spoken,” he added.

“We acknowledge the result of the referendum and respect the democratic decision of the members of the Pessamit community,” said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Jonathan Côté in an email. “The decision belongs to the community, and we will respect the next steps they choose to take.”

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 13, 2026.

— With information from Pierre Saint-Arnaud.