JOHN CIACCIA DIES AT 85
Negotiator for Oka Crisis
Serge Simon says he can still remember the almost daily police harassment he endured during the 1990 Oka Crisis.
At the height of the crisis, Simon looked to Quebec Indian Affairs Minister John Ciaccia as the “one government official trying to keep the peace.”
As armed Mohawk Warriors faced off against the Canadian military and provincial police in Kanesatake that summer, Simon was a 29-year-old welder trying to support his family. But to some Sûreté du Québec officers, he was just a Mohawk.
“I lived in the Oka village, and I couldn’t walk anywhere without getting slammed against the hood of a patrol car and having my pockets searched,” said Simon, now Grand Chief of the Kanesatake Mohawks.
“I always respected that man,” Simon said of Ciaccia. “He was a guy who, when he said he was going to help, he wasn’t just saying it. He actually did it.”
Ciaccia — a Quebec Liberal cabinet minister in the governments of Robert Bourassa and Daniel Johnson Jr. — died at age 85 Tuesday.
Born in Italy during the reign of fascist leader Benito Mussolini in 1933, Ciaccia and his family moved to Canada four years later in hopes of a better life.
As a young man, Ciaccia seized the opportunities available to him in his adopted home. He excelled at Thomas D’Arcy McGee High School in Montreal, graduated from the McGill University School of Law and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1957.
Ciaccia was first elected to the National Assembly in 1973, winning the Mount Royal seat for the Liberals and holding it until he retired 25 years later.
But despite his storied career in politics, Ciaccia will mostly be remembered for his role as a negotiator during the Oka Crisis.
Joe Delaronde remembers the South Shore Mohawk territory of Kahnawake being surrounded by police in 1990. He only left the reserve twice, using a small boat to get groceries in Montreal that summer.
“Both times we landed on John Ciaccia’s personal dock in Dorval,” said Delaronde, the director of communications for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.
“That’s the kind of man he was. That was the safest way to leave the territory and it was because of him. I’m devastated to hear about his death.”
Ciaccia had offered his dock as a way of getting medical supplies and food across Lac St-Louis to Kahnawake.
“There were so many excesses that summer, human rights abuses by the police and military, but you could count on (Ciaccia) to help cool things down,” said Simon. “I offer my deepest condolences to his family.”
Gordie Oke — who co-founded a food bank to feed families and the Warriors as his community was besieged in 1990 — said he was saddened to hear of Ciaccia’s passing.
“Unlike his federal counterparts, who didn’t move an inch, John Ciaccia came to the pines and negotiated in good faith,” said Oke. “You have to remember we were secluded and it was an extremely tense time.
“So to see someone from the government walk into our (pine forest) and negotiate with masked Warriors, it’s not every politician that would have done that.”
Premier Philippe Couillard said Wednesday that Ciaccia “made a huge contribution to the advancement of Quebec.”
Prior to his role in the Oka Crisis, two other events stand out in Ciaccia’s political career.
He was suspended from the Liberal caucus in July of 1974 after he opposed Bill 22, which limited the ability of non-English parents to send their children to English schools, but was reinstated two months later.
Ciaccia, who worked for the federal Department of Native Affairs before entering provincial politics, represented former premier Robert Bourassa during the negotiation of the James Bay Agreement in 1975. He also held several portfolios in Liberal governments, including energy and resources and international affairs.
I always respected that man.Hewas a guy who, whenhesaid he was going to help, he wasn’t just saying it.