Quebec calls for 'urgent' extension of northern border

The Quebec government is counting on the federal government's help inresolving a century-old conundrum over itsnorthern boundary, in order to proceed with the maritime strategythat's partof itsbillion-dollar northern economic development plan.

The Couillard government's Plan Nordincludes building ports, however, Quebec's northern border, delineated by Ottawa in 1912, officially ends right at the shoreline which would leave boats dockingat those portsmoored outside of the province.

"We will have to put a place to receive boats there, and if we don't settle that frontierit will be complicated to build those kinds of structures," QuebecIntergovernmental Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Fourniertold CBC News in an exclusive interview, adding the issue is "urgent."

Jean-Marc Fournier wants to move Quebec's northern border

9 years ago

Duration 1:14

Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister says the matter needs to be settled soon.The first step to extend the boundary beyond the shoreline and into the water, he said, lies with Ottawa.

Fournier said Quebecwants the prime minister to bring together all parties provinces, territories and aboriginal groups to discuss how to resolve the boundary question.

The issue is important enough to Quebec that it was included in a letter Premier Philippe Couillard wrote to federal party leaders at the start of the election campaign, outlining his key priorities.

Fournier said he's not sure party leaders are even aware of the boundary issue and why it's problematic.

"So let's expose the problem and find solutions being pragmatic, in fact."

2,500-km border that moves with the tides

Quebec's northern border is 2,500 kmlong, and the way it was drawn is an anomaly, said Mathieu Jacques, a lawyer who has researched the subject.

If 'you're on the beach, you're in Quebec, andif you put your feet in the water, you are in Nunavut.'- lawyer and researcher Mathieu Jacques

"The moment you're on the beach, you're in Quebec. And if you put your feet in the water, you are in Nunavut."

"Just try to imagine you want to create a port innorthernQuebec," he said."You would have the boats...at the end of the dock...in a different jurisdiction from the people on the shore."

Quebec is not the only province with this jurisdictional issue. The federal government delineated the borders for Manitoba and Ontario in the same year, and their borders also exclude the water.

This means in all three provinces, the borders shift daily, from high to low tide, and they're also shifting with climate change.

Lawyer Mathieu Jacques has researched the Quebec border

9 years ago

Duration 0:57

Quebec's northern border is 2,500 km long, and the way it was drawn is unusual, Jacques says.Those borders "made no sense in 1912 and makeeven less sense today in 2015," saidJacques.

"Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec cannot develop themselves in the north. They cannot develop infrastructure correctly, while they have this problem of jurisdiction," says Jacques. "It's unfair. There is no other place in the world where you have aborderthat is fixed along the shore."

BC, NL borders extend into oceans

British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, dohavejurisdiction over their watersallowing them to exploit natural resources and share royalties with the federal government.Jacques said it only makes sense thatQuebec, Ontario and Manitoba should obtain similar power and authority.

"Every province wants to work to make economies stronger," he said. "We have to acknowledge everyone's interests and find a solution that reflects and respects all stakeholders in the situation."

Jean-Marc Fourniersaid while his government wants the province's arctic and sub-arctic boundary extended into the water, it hasn't yet establishedhow far offshore that boundary should be.

Maritime strategy at stake

A provincialcommission which spent six yearsstudying Quebec'sborders recommended in 1972 that Quebec should include about half ofHudson Bay and the Hudson Strait, which would include Sanikiluaq and other offshore islands now part of Nunavut.

The commission concluded that boundary is the "logical" option"from a geographical point of view and normal from a political point of view."

However, successive Quebec governmentsnever felt a sense of urgency to challenge the existing northern boundaryuntil recently, withCouillard'sannouncement earlier thisyear that his new PlanNordwill include a maritime strategy.