Charlottetown — The Governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island are committed to working with the PEI Mi’kmaw towards a renewed government-to-government-to-government relationship based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.

“This is an important day for the Mi’kmaq of PEI. We have advocated for over a decade for a process that commits all of our respective governments to cooperative negotiations to resolve our outstanding Mi’kmaq Rights issues. This is just the beginning but it is an incredibly important first step in rebuilding our Mi’kmaw Nation in PEI, bringing life to our inherent right to self-government and, ultimately, socio-economic health to our people and communities.” – Matilda Ramjattan, Chief of Lennox Island Mi’kmaw First Nation

On January 15th, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Honourable Wade MacLauchlan, Premier of Prince Edward Island and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Matilda Ramjattan, Chief of Lennox Island First Nation, and Jacob Jadis, Councillor for Abegweit Mi’kmaw First Nation, celebrated the signing of a tripartite Framework Agreement.

“With the signing of this Agreement the path to self-determination and the recognition of our rights is clearer than it has ever been. We have a great deal of work to do but the agreement gives us a respectful framework and a process for our governments to turn that w ...