DanSpeak: "final"

Late last month, as reported by Rob Antle on October 31st, Premier Williams told the Telegram editorial board:

The province and Innu leaders have finished fine-tuning a land-claims agreement that could clear a key hurdle to the development of the Lower Churchill - or throw a big wall up in front of it.

"There was an agreement in principle, and then there was fine-tuning that had to be done," Premier Danny Williams told the editorial board of The Telegram Wednesday.
"Over the course of the last three months, they've worked away at that. They've finally got that done. So that's now done, and all the detail has been finalized."

[...]

The final agreement is now complete, Williams said. When it is put into print, it will go to a vote by the Innu for ratification.

"So that's very, very close to being finalized," the premier said.

Hold on, there, pip. Sue Bailey of CP gets the other side of the story today:

A multimillion-dollar deal to win aboriginal support critical to the development of Labrador's Lower Churchill hydro megaproject is beset by delays, an Innu Nation leader says.

Days after Premier Danny Williams said the agreement was near completion, deputy grand chief Peter Penashue said legal wrangling has slowed ratification of the Tsash Petapen or New Dawn Agreement.

[...]

A ratification vote for the Innu community of about 2,500 people was initially slated for early in 2009. That ambitious goal was missed, and the vote has been repeatedly put off.

...Penashue said it could be three or four years before the agreement winds its way through federal channels and is ultimately approved and voted on by his people.