The Pessamit Innu are relaunching an $11-billion lawsuit against Quebec, the federal government and Hydro-Québec, saying 13 dams were built on their ancestral land 50 years ago without their consent.
Innu Chief Raphael Picard says the three parties violated his people's rights by building the hydroelectric dams.
He figures $11 billion is about the amount that Quebec society has made from the development of the land.
The suit was first launched in 1998 for $500 million, but Picard suspended it when he became chief four years ago.
Now he says that was a mistake, and that negotiations with the government are going nowhere.
Picard says the money will be a first step toward redressing the wrongs committed against his people.
"The first goal for my community: that the two governments respect our titles and native rights on the territory because 50 years ago, the Quebec government [did] not respect our rights and titles," Picard said Tuesday.
The lawyer representing the Innu says he's confident they will win the lawsuit because of powerful evidence proving the governments failed to protect Innu rights.
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