Newfoundland and Labrador–Quebec border

The dependency of Labrador was created in 1763 and given to the colony of Newfoundland by a royal proclamation so that it could administer fishing rights. At that time, Labrador was limited to the coastal strip. Eleven years later, the Quebec Act 1774 gave the Province of Quebec control over all territories, islands and lands that had been appropriated to Newfoundland in 1763, but Newfoundland continued to regulate fishing. This created tensions between the colonies as Newfoundland no longer had any authority over the area. This state was short-lived because in 1809, Newfoundland got back the territories it lost in 1774 after lobbying in London. The southern border of Labrador was then defined by the British North America (Seigniorial Rights) Act 1825 (6 Geo. 4. c. 59). The act moved Lower Canada's border east from the Saint-Jean River to Blanc-Sablon. Lower Canada also gained territories from the coast up to the 52nd parallel north. At Confederation, the Province of Canada was split in two. The eastern part, or Lower Canada, was renamed Quebec and became one of the four original provinces of the Dominion of Canada. Quebec's northern border was at the Laurentian Divide. That meant that it still shared the border with Labrador, a dependency of Newfoundland; however, the border was not clearly nor officially delimited. , then Premier of Quebec, in London lobbying for Quebec in the Labrador dispute, October 1926 Two expansions happened following Confederation. In 1898, Quebec and Canada adopted the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1898, which extended the northern frontier to the Eastmain River. This meant annexing a part of Labrador known as Ashuanipi (most of the southwestern part of the region); however, the area was not defined precisely, so the border remained officially undefined. Nine years later, Quebec requested an expansion of its territory further north to include the district of Ungava, which was granted by the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912. However, the act defined the border in the eastern part of Labrador as neighbouring the area "over which the island of Newfoundland has lawful jurisdiction", so it was not helpful to understand the precise course of the border. This border was also ambiguous as some islands were connected to the mainland at low tide, and thus the precise extent of the "Labrador shore" was unknown. In 1924–25, the Dominion of Newfoundland proposed to sell interests in the eastern part of the peninsula to Quebec for million ($– million in dollars), but Quebec Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau refused. He believed that the territory lawfully belonged to Canada (and thus Quebec), and decided to wait for the Privy Council's decision. The government in St. John's then repeated its offer after a favourable Privy Council decision, this time to Canada, asking $110 million (equivalent to $ in dollars) for the land, but that deal was also rejected. When Newfoundland surrendered its autonomy to British authorities in 1934 due to the government's severe budgetary crisis, it was ready to sell Labrador again, but Quebec was not receptive. == Judicial determination of the boundary ==

In 1888, a trial judge in Labrador presided over a murder trial in which the defendant moved to dismiss the proceedings due to lack of jurisdiction. As a result, he advised his superiors in St. John's that the border of Labrador was not clearly defined and urged them to settle it, but the issue was not considered a high-priority one and was left for later resolution. The governments of Canada and Newfoundland had agreed to do so by 1907, but it took them 15 years to agree to a common protocol. According to that set of rules, the Privy Council went on to determine "the location and definition of the boundary as between Canada and Newfoundland in the Labrador Peninsula under the statutes, orders-in-council and proclamations". The stakes were high because of the large area of contested land (), but more importantly, forest resources estimated at $250 million ($ million in dollars) could be lost, or retained, depending on the perspective. Additionally, the Churchill Falls, then a full-blown waterfall higher than the Niagara, was in the area, which would prove to be an important asset in hydroelectricity. Privy Council decision Oral arguments were held from late October to mid-November of 1926. According to ''L'actualités analysis of documents of the ', a government inquiry tasked with determining the soundness of Quebec's claims, Canada, which also represented Quebec, defended its claims very poorly. It first started arguing that the border did not exist at all even though its existence was an assumption upon which the arbitration had been launched. The island's lawyers also showed documents confirming the government's presence in the area, including an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company in which the company was obliged to pay royalties to Newfoundland for fur concessions located on the other side of the watershed (from HBC's point of view). The Council's border also divided the Innu and other First Nations, whose future it did not take into consideration. As a result of such changes, the boundary between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador has become the longest interprovincial boundary in Canada, going for over . == Newfoundland enters Confederation ==

When Newfoundland entered the Confederation in March 1949, the Newfoundland Act (then known as British North America Act 1949) specified that Therefore, the law stipulated that the borders as determined in the 1927 Privy Council decision were recognized by Canada and Newfoundland and from that time became internal rather than international borders. ==Land border dispute==

Problems with demarcation According to the 1927 Privy Council decision in London, the land border's shape was in part defined by the Laurentian Divide. According to Henri Dorion and Jean-Paul Lacasse, cartographers and geographers have stated that it was impossible to define the exact border based on the Privy Council's ruling, as there are polyrheic areas (belonging to both river basins at the same time) and arheic areas (belonging to neither). Other issues also exist; therefore, they argue that the possession of these areas should be negotiated during demarcation. Moreover, the area between the 52nd parallel north and the watershed is subject to an active dispute, as Quebec contends that the region was granted despite Newfoundland not requesting it (ultra petita). Legal scholars say this argument may have merit, but only a political resolution to the problem is possible. In 2018, there were no voters in the contested area registered on the Quebec electoral list. Position of Canada and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador The government of Newfoundland and Labrador believes that the Privy Council decision has legal force. Joey Smallwood, the premier of Newfoundland at the time it joined Confederation, stated that Quebec had nothing to do with the definition of the border as it was not a separate dominion of the British Empire. The province further argues that since Quebec did not officially oppose Newfoundland's entering Confederation in 1949 (sealed by the Newfoundland Act), it tacitly recognized the border. It also cites the Constitution Act, 1982, which contains the Newfoundland Act, to confirm it. In 2007, John Ottenheimer, N.L. minister for intergovernmental affairs, said in relation to the Labrador border: In cartographical representations of the country, the federal government also uses the border with a straight line at the 52nd parallel north. Position of Quebec , drawn according to the standards set by the provincial government. Two boundaries may be seen to the south of Labrador – one on the 52nd parallel (recognized by Canada and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador) and the other on the St. Lawrence-Atlantic watershed (claimed by Quebec). Quebec has never officially recognised the decision of the Privy Council. Several theories and accusations have been put forward to explain the unfavourable ruling: the judges' alleged conflict of interest (either by favouring the colony of Newfoundland to the more autonomous Dominion of Canada, or by having financial stakes in mining companies), the lack of representation of Quebec, or the will to award more than was asked for, which resonate in Quebec's society. Following the news of the unfavourable judicial ruling, Taschereau was displeased with it, but successive governments largely tended to avoid the issue. In 2001, when Newfoundland sought to amend the Newfoundland Act by changing its official name to Newfoundland and Labrador, two Quebec ministers issued a statement, which said: With Quebec contesting the border, it also sought to assert its official position on maps. • the territory of Labrador must appear but should not be expressly identified; • the border symbol used for the border between Labrador and Quebec must be different from other interprovincial or international boundaries (in the legend, they propose to name it "Quebec–Newfoundland and Labrador border (this border is not binding)", ); • on the length of the border with Labrador, two markers saying "1927 delineation of the Privy Council (non-binding)" () must be put, one on the 52nd parallel and the other north of Schefferville, whenever possible; additionally, Labrador must be coloured in a way that does not offer too much contrast with Quebec; • Quebec's territory should be coloured to the watershed, rather than to the 52nd parallel north. However, both Quebec's claimed border and the Privy Council delineation should appear. Reaction from legal scholars Legal scholars have generally considered Quebec's claims and accusations to be dubious at best and frivolous at worst. While they said that ultra petita claims might have some merits and could therefore serve as a possible justification for partial adjustment of the border (though not through the court system), they state that the Privy Council decision is binding and has full legal force, dismissing allegations of conflict of interest or lack of representation of Quebec as unproven or not valid reasons to review it. Henri Dorion initially conceded, despite his opposition to the border as described in his 1963 book, that legal remedies are unavailable and that the border as drawn in 1927 was becoming more and more entrenched, which politicians also recognized at the time. Later in his life, he seemed to have changed his position towards deeming Quebec's claims baseless as he believed that the passage of time and politicians' actions further undermined Quebec's cause. He stressed that the government of Quebec had implicitly recognized the Privy Council delineation in several separate instances, for example in the case of Iron Ore Company of Canada, which tried to make estimates of the amount of provincial taxes due to exploitation of the natural resources and whose estimates Quebec accepted. He later also pointed to the fact that and Aimé Geoffrion, the litigants on behalf of Canada, were both from Quebec, so the contention that Quebec was not represented was, in his opinion, unfounded. ==Maritime border dispute==

Background , on the boundary between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador The maritime border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, unlike the land border, has never been defined by statute or a regulation between the provinces and the federal government. In 1964 and 1972, the Atlantic provinces and Quebec signed an agreement in which they limited their licensing jurisdiction for fossil fuel searching and drilling on the line equidistant from the shores of the provinces. This division depends on the assumption that the waters are in fact the internal waters of Canada outside federal jurisdiction. In the case when the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are international, there are no provincial borders as such; and even if these are recognized as internal waters, no provincial boundaries are in place again if these are recognized to be under exclusive federal jurisdiction. Most of the governments (with the notable exception of the United States) generally recognize the territory of the Gulf of St. Lawrence not to be international waters. For the United States, the waters, just like the Northwest Passage, are of strategic importance, and are therefore not under Canadian sovereignty; the French also protest its assertion. As for intra-Canadian borders, the arbitration ruling in 2001 between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland found that the 1964 agreement delimiting the borders of the provinces was not binding; that said, Canada and the provinces generally respect the boundaries set in that deal. Federal government's position The federal government asserts that the Gulf of St. Lawrence's waters are internal federal waters, That said, according to the federal government, which has pronounced more and more acts asserting sovereignty over the waters, the territories of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador end at the seashore. The federal government's position was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1967 in Reference Re: Offshore Mineral Rights, in which the Court held that British Columbia did not have jurisdiction over the territorial waters or the continental shelf, In March 2010, Kathy Dunderdale, then Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, stated that the border was yet to be defined and that the 1964 agreements had never been ratified. That said, she expressed joy upon news that Quebec and Canada agreed on the terms of exploitation of the resources in the Old Harry oil field in 2011, the exact shares of which were to be determined by arbitration. The oil field ultimately went unused: in July 2020, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador sided with environmentalists and revoked the permission to exploit the Old Harry field on Newfoundland's side, while in December 2021, the government of François Legault banned oil drilling in the waters of Quebec. Position of Quebec Quebec recognizes the maritime border with other Atlantic provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, as being equidistant from the shores of the provinces. In fact, the provincial authorities, who initiated the 1964 and 1972 agreements on sea borders with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, consider them binding; ==Impact==

The border between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, apart from being partially disputed, often disrupts services if these are straddled across the border and no agreements exist on them, or if the governments close the border. For instance, after the agreement on health services in mining settlements of Fermont and Labrador City ( apart) expired, childbirth operations for women living in Fermont had to be made in Sept-Îles, where prospective mothers had to be delivered by plane, as the city is away from Fermont. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck Canada, the provincial borders were closed for two months, impairing travel between border communities. The border dispute, as well as the Churchill Falls project by Hydro-Québec also contributed to animosity between residents and governments of the two provinces. This partly relates to the fact that Newfoundland residents often manifest their nationalism by attachment to Labrador and by showing that Newfoundland exercises its powers there, while Quebec nationalists strive to return the territory back to Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador's and Quebec's officials often express anger or disappointment over what they see as wrong maps. For example, in 2023, Jordan Brown, a Newfoundland and Labrador politician, criticized the Bloc Québécois for exhibiting a map of Quebec on which the whole of Labrador was depicted as part of Quebec. ==See also==