Quebec auto insurance board to finally open office in Eeyou Istchee
Crees will be able to take driving tests, pay registration fees and complete other vehicle-related paperwork in their own community for the first time when Quebec's automobile insurance board opens an office in Chisasibi this fall.
Local Chief Davey Bobbish made the announcement this week at the community's annual general assembly.
More than 700 Chisasibi residents signed a petition four years ago asking for a Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) office in their community. Chisasibi's population is close to 5,000, making it the biggest Cree community in Quebec.
"The reaction was happiness and relief for my people when I told them about the news," Bobbish said.
Chisasibi residents currently have to travel 100 kilometres to the SAAQ office in Radisson, a francophone village created in the 1970s to house the Hydro-Québec employees working on the La Grande hydroelectric complex.
In its heyday Radisson's population reached 2,500, but now it is around 300.
"People were saying things like: 'I lost a day of work because the office was not open, even if it was supposed to have been,'" said Bobbish. "Some even called ahead, and sometimes there was no answer, but they still went because they needed to do their business.
"There were many complaints of that kind where people felt that they did not get served properly."
The new SAAQ office will offer all the usual services, including licensing and road tests. Two Crees are currently in training to work there.
The target office opening date is set for the end of October, and the Radisson office will then close.
