Kanesatake Grand Chief says he and family facing threats
Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon won’t say whether he’s still living in his community amid threats against his family.
“I can’t let these people know I’m in town, or they might take action,” Simon told the Montreal Gazette. “These have been going on for years, but I’m at a point where I have to take them seriously.”
Simon filed a police report last week, including screenshots of Facebook posts threatening his safety. These came months after a local business owner threatened the chief’s daughter and grandchildren during a meeting over reopening Kanesatake’s lucrative cannabis shops, according to Simon.
About 100 band members gathered in the parking lot of the Kanesatake Mohawk Council in July, calling on Simon and vice-chief Patricia Meilleur to resign. There are concerns regarding Simon’s handling of land claim negotiations with the federal government.
Simon says negotiations are moving along, but that he can’t discuss specifics with community members because of a non-disclosure agreement both parties signed.
“I’ve offered to have representatives of the (traditional) longhouse present just so they know I’m not selling anyone out,” said Simon. “If I give details to the community, the government will leave the negotiations and we get nothing.
“My record as grand chief speaks for itself. We were over $5 million in debt when I took over (in 2011); now we’re almost in the black. We post audited financial statements online every year, but the latest ones have been delayed because of COVID.”
One source, who attended the July meeting, said the band council’s authority stems from just a few hundred voters in a community of 2,000 and that there needs to be serious reform.
“The situation is about enacting real, meaningful change for Kanehsatà:ke,” the source said.
“Bringing people together not to follow behind one or a small number of people blindly, but rather put the power back into the community’s hands.”
Tensions also ran high in the spring when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Kanesatake’s band council to close all local businesses for an indefinite period.
A federally funded coronavirus response unit emerged at the outset of the pandemic, giving local health-care workers emergency powers to fight the spread of COVID-19. Sources close to the cannabis industry and other businesses say the unit acted unilaterally on decisions that affected everyone in Kanesatake.
There are also rival power centres in town that do not recognize the authority of chief and council because it is a creation of the Indian Act.
Prior to the pandemic, Simon was working on an effort to regulate local cannabis dispensaries, which operate outside federal and provincial laws. He believes that may be fuelling some of the threats.
At least one threat, according to Simon, alluded to James Gabriel — the former grand chief who saw his house burned down and had to flee the territory in 2004. Back then, Gabriel had tried to seize control of the local police force and raid properties suspected of growing pot.
His raid failed when local men and women surrounded Gabriel’s task force, triggering an armed standoff that ended with Gabriel going into hiding to protect his family.
“There isn’t a single person in this community who wants to see 2004 repeated,” said Clifton Nicholas, who launched the community’s first cannabis dispensary in 2018. “I have been trying to get (Simon) and Patricia Meilleur to sit down and draft cannabis legislation for years. He hasn’t shown leadership on this. At all.”