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From the Harricana river in Abitibi to the Utrecht Canals in the Netherlands, we follow Samian, a young Québecois rapper of Algonquin origins.

He makes his way to Utrecht, Holland as the city celebrates 300 years since the signing of its famous 1713 treaty. Samian is not there for the party, he is rather on a quest to understand the extent of the influence this crucial document has had on Canada and its people.

The Utrecht Seals explores in four chapters the Treaty's repercussions on the people living in and around Newfoundland, the Hudson Bay and Acadia regions. They were the first to experience the consequences of its signing. Samian examines the sections 10,12 and 13. It is a glimpse through the eyes of those who were not invited to sign the treaty, and demonstrates the heavy consequences they were forced to carry. The strorytelling uses animation with over 150 archives and maps which makes this documentary as informative as it is entertaining. Inspired by the era, DJ Horg’s music carries the story with pomp and presence.

In The Utrecht Congress (Chapter 1) - we meet the key actors: the Algonquin people, the British and the French, as we discover the events that the War of The Spanish Succession triggered on North American soil.

Section 13 (Chapter 2), is a penetrating look at Newfounland's sociological, historical and ecological importance as the stepping stone into Canada. The crucial role of its’ fisheries in the destiny of the three nations, and the annihilation of the Beothuk are discussed.

Section 12 (Chapter 3), revisits the many upheavals that the wars between England and France caused within the Acadian colony. Strong ties were formed between the Acadians and the Mi'kmaq, who became mere pawns in a much larger game.

In the last chapter Section 10, we are submerged in the immensity of the Hudson Bay, the epicenter of commerce for nearly four centuries. First, the progressive land-grabbing of western territories (which lead to the North-West rebellion), and now the economic projects tied to the extraction of resources from both land and water, as well as the future impact of the next great commercial frontier : the Great White North. Will we be compelled to put a stop to this gratuitous and environmentally ruinous exploitation? Samian, in his protest slam about Québec's Plan Nord, sings "when will you realise that you cannot eat money". Perhaps in the next three hundred years.....

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