Oka asks Ottawa to freeze land grant
MOHAWK TERRITORY
The town of Oka is asking the federal and provincial governments to slap a moratorium on a proposed land grant to the local Mohawk community in Kanesatake and to establish an RCMP detachment on the First Nations territory to deal with illegal cannabis sales outlets.
The requests were contained in two resolutions adopted Tuesday night by the Oka town council.
The administration of Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon held its first public meeting since the start of the controversy that pitted the town council against the Kanesatake band council over a decision by a local developer to give 60 hectares known as The Pines to the Kanesatake Mohawk Council. The First Nations territory and the Quebecois town are side-byside, along the Lake of Two Mountains off Montreal’s northwestern shore.
The Oka resolutions are addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, Quebec Premier François Legault’s government and the Kanesatake band council led by Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon.
Quevillon stressed that the town of Oka was only looking to live in peaceful cohabitation with the Mohawk community.
The town also called on Ottawa to establish a consultation process that would take into account the concerns of residents in Oka and Kanesatake.
The recent conflict began when Quebec developer Gregoire Gollin announced his intention to donate the land, which was at the centre of the Oka Crisis 29 years ago, to the Mohawks.
After the 78-day conflict in 1990 over a proposal to expand a golf course, the expansion was cancelled but the property was essentially left as a no man’s land.
And then last month on the anniversary of the start of the standoff, Gollin, who’s owned the land for 15 years, said a proposed land donation agreement would go to the Mohawks of Kanesatake for consultation.
In response, Quevillon said last month he was concerned about Oka becoming “surrounded by the Mohawk territory and worried about property values.
Now, Quevillon’s administration wants access to the plans detailing what lands are at the centre of negotiations between the federal government and the Mohawk community for purchase, suggesting the talks are simply a disguised form of expropriation.
Despite its demands, the Oka council adopted an official statement addressed to the Kanesatake band council saying the town’s population wanted dialogue and peaceful cohabitation.
During the council meeting’s question period, some residents suggested the council deal with other groups that say they are speaking for Kanesatake, including Mohawk traditionalists. Mayor Quevillon replied that the town would only deal with the band council and did so out of respect for Grand Chief Simon.