MCK concerned as Quebec says there is no link between Bill 85 and Seigneury

08/16/2017

The Mohawk Council of Kahnaw�:ke (MCK) is expressing serious concerns following a presentation made at the Quebec National Assembly yesterday in which a government committee � which includes Martin Coiteux, the Minister responsible for Bill 85 � stated that there was no link between the proposed legislation and Kahnaw�:ke�s rights and interests in the Autoroute 30 lands.

The presentation to the Committee on Planning and the Public Domain was made by Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton and Francis Walsh, a member of the MCK�s legal team.

�It was astonishing to witness the utter lack of understanding of our position in this important matter,� said Grand Chief Norton. �Either that, or they are playing a dangerous game.�

�Additionally, it is very disturbing that something as integral to Canada�s legal systems as Aboriginal interests seems to be beyond the government�s understanding,� he added. �I hope that Premier Couillard is paying attention to all of this, because he�s the person responsible and most accountable.�

Bill 85, a proposed piece of legislation currently being debated in the National Assembly, is designed to fast track economic development � including the industrial development of currently undeveloped lands � along a corridor that includes Autoroute 30. Lands identified in the Bill cut through the heart of the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis lands and over lands which Kahnaw�:ke holds title.

�If the government of Quebec believes it can waltz right in and create an economic corridor on the Seigneury lands � our lands � without our say, it would be best if they better inform themselves of the situation at hand,� Grand Chief Norton concluded. �Last night�s event was a real eye-opener. The provincial government has a lot to learn about Indigenous land issues. We�re willing to help teach them, but they have to be willing to sit together and deal with this issue as a matter of priority � not as a sidebar or afterthought. That these issues come up right after governments talk a big reconciliation game is a step in the opposite direction.��