"Inuit Sign Quebec Deal"

QUEBEC (CP) - Inuit leaders signed a landmark deal with the Quebec goverment Thursday laying out a framework for talks leading to the establishment of an autonomous regional government.

The body would govern residents - both Inuit and non-native - who live north of Quebec's 55th parallel.

Simeonie Nalukturuk, president of the Nunavik constitutional committee, signed the deal with Native Affairs Minister Christos Sirros.

Paul Bussieres, an official with the Makivik Corp., which administers the $90 million the Inuit got for signing the James Bay Agreement, said the Inuit approach is consistent with an historic choice made when they signed the 1975 deal.

The Inuit have chosen to be "normal citizens, to pay taxes and have the same rights and obligations as other Canadians."

Sirros praised Inuit leaders, saying in a statement they had "chosen to be Quebecers without necessarily renouncing their identity."