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Not long after Charest was elected in 2003, the AFNQL succeeded in persuading the government to discuss establishing a permanent mechanism for debating issues related to lands and resources. “We managed to get off the ground, but we never found the landing strip,” wrote Picard. In fairly short order, he noted that the AFNQL ran up against a brick wall and found itself engaged in a futile dialogue, where neither party was truly listening to the concerns of the other. It became apparent that “Jean Charest was not prepared to talk about land unless it was on his terms.” Subsequent to these talks, the government went back to negotiating with each First Nation individually.
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