The leader of the Quebec Party (PQ), Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, welcomed the Supreme Court of Canada's decision regarding the rights of Indigenous children.

The highest judicial authority in Canada ruled last Friday in favor of the federal government, rejecting the Quebec government's appeal and considering the federal law affirming the Indigenous peoples' right to full self-governance in matters related to child and family services as constitutional.

"We, at the Quebec Party, support, first and foremost, the principle of self-determination for Indigenous peoples. Therefore, given the depth of the matters, the fact that each Indigenous nation cares for its children is, in my view, logical and completely clear," said yesterday the party leader advocating for Quebec's independence from the Canadian federation.

This reaction may be surprising at first glance, as the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the claims of the Quebec government, which challenged two articles of the federal law "C-92": one granting all legislation issued by Indigenous peoples in child protection matters the same validity as federal law, and the other confirming that Indigenous legislative texts in this field "take precedence" over provincial laws.

The government of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), led by François Legault, had challenged the federal law arguing that it exceeded Quebec's exclusive jurisdiction, which is child protection, while simultaneously altering the constitutional structure of the separation of powers.

Saint-Pierre Plamondon, a lawyer, said that the appeal filed by the Quebec government "was not related to a principle that seems clear to me, which is the Quebec Party’s approach (to the Canadian government) from nation to nation, but rather concerned the manner in which the federal government intervened without consulting the provinces."

This approach by the federal government, according to Saint-Pierre Plamondon, is further evidence of the validity of the Quebec sovereignist party's desire to "leave Canada."

Saint-Pierre Plamondon, out of caution, did not want to comment on "the legal battle and how the federal government conducted it," but he was keen to reaffirm that "a government formed by the Quebec Party always operates on the assumption that Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination."

"And this led us to successes like 'The Peace of the Braves,'" said Saint-Pierre Plamondon, recalling the agreement concluded in 2001 between the then leader of the Quebec Party government, Bernard Landry, and the "Grand Council of the Cree of Quebec."

This agreement, which is unprecedented, allowed the Cree Nation of Indigenous peoples to participate in the development of natural resources on their lands and to receive a large share of the economic returns from hydroelectric projects in the James Bay region.