EYE ON LABRADOR

Eye on Labrador -

It was one small step for the Innu, but one giant leap for St. John's.

Last Wednesday, it was revealed that the Innu Nation and the province had signed off on the New Dawn agreement, which is part of the paperwork that will make the Lower Churchill hydro project a reality.

Deputy Grand Chief Peter Penashue leaked the signing via Twitter, which seemed strange and fitting all at the same time. Strange because it's such an informal way of announcing the end of such a formal process; fitting because it shows the Innu leadership has taken a cutting edge way of communicating and doing business. Twitter has become a fast, informal, straight-from-the-messenger-to-the-masses way of getting information out.

So what did last Tuesday night's signing mean? Does this mean the Lower Churchill is a go and that the Danny Williams government has managed to do something no other administration could?

Yes and no.

Yes because previous attempts between the province and the Innu to negotiate a deal had always faltered. No because this signing basically closes off the provincial part of the deal but opens up a whole new level of red tape: Ottawa.

An agreement between the Innu and Ottawa for 13,000 square kilometres of land must be settled. Compensation for aboriginal title also remains unresolved. Hunting rights, the ongoing presence of 5 Wing Goose Bay and other issues still aren't sorted.

And of course, there's the biggest hurdle: the people of the Innu Nation must, when and if agreement comes from Ottawa, ratify the deal through a vote. If they vote it down, all bets are off.

Undoubtedly there are also a bunch of (relatively) smaller issues that must be taken care of before Ottawa and the Innu give their final consent to the deal.

What it all boils down to now is how fast Ottawa takes care of its end of the negotiations. Typically, federal governments (regardless of their political stripe) move slightly faster than glaciers and a bit slower than your average snail.

That's because deals like this must be pulled apart, studied, debated and then, finally, green lighted by cabinet ministers and, undoubtedly, the prime minister's office. It's a whole new world of red tape run by a whole new bunch of bureaucrats.

So what we're looking at, most likely, is a multi-year wait for Ottawa to get its part of the job done (that would be considered fast). Then, if everything is approved, and the Innu vote passes, the Lower Churchill will finally be off to the races. By then, hopefully, that small matter of how to transmit the power to markets in Canada and the U.S. northeast will have been settled.

The Williams administration, which should be congratulated for completing its end of the deal, now faces a new challenge. It must give up its favourite sport: slamming Stephen Harper.

This prime minister has shown that he isn't above petty politics and score settling, so Danny Williams had better watch what he says or he might find the federal red tape swamps his dream of developing the Lower Churchill before his time in politics is up.