To resolve the impasse that is currently paralyzing the Kanesatake band council, marked by strong internal dissension, the great Mohawk chief Victor Bonspille hopes to be able to call elections “within six to eight months”, after the adoption of a new electoral code, he explains in an interview with Duty.
Mr. Bonspille does not hide it: his band council “is extremely divided”. On one side, we find his twin sister — chef Valerie Bonspille — and him; on the other, three other chiefs, who systematically oppose them. “They are against everything we do,” he denounces. These positions are irreconcilable, recognizes the great leader. “The only way that unity can return to the community and the band council is when we have completed our new electoral code and I can launch a new general election. »
He hopes to be able to call a ballot “within six to eight months”, nearly two years earlier than expected. But first and foremost, Kanesatake needs to overhaul its electoral code, “with appropriate guidelines,” which would better represent the community, he says.
During this rare interview with a French-language media, he confirmed that he had canceled the weekly meeting in which the members of the council participate every Tuesday because of the disputes which plague its operation. “It’s simple, I cancel because it always turns into a dispute,” he said, defending himself from wanting to slow down the democratic process.
In addition, he sharply criticizes the former grand chief Serge Otsi Simon, re-elected chief in January 2023, a role equivalent to that of adviser. Last week, a federal court judge forced him back on the board; he had been excluded following the annulment of the results of the by-election he had won in January.
According to Grand Chief Bonspille, Mr. Simon is not “in a position to know how a community like ours should be managed”. He continues: “Me, I was elected because I am someone transparent who says things and I am accountable for my actions. If I make a mistake, I admit it. »
“Towards a rehabilitation of the site”
The intensification of dissension within the band council comes as the environmental situation of the site of the G&R Recyclage company arouses reactions and questions in both Quebec and Ottawa.
Mr. Bonspille admits that the location is problematic. He is due to meet soon with the Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, and the Quebec Minister Ian Lafrenière. “We have not yet decided on the moment and a precise date, but it will be done soon. »
“My environmental department and I have already had discussions with the federal government on this subject. I also had discussions with G&R Recyclage and the Gabriel brothers. And things are moving towards a rehabilitation of the site, ”he said, without however detailing the initiatives taken.
Well known to the authorities, the company of Mohawk brothers Robert and Gary Gabriel has made the headlines on several occasions. The Quebec Ministry of the Environment had to revoke its operating permit in 2020 after noting breaches over the years: storage of materials outside the authorized area, reception of unauthorized materials ( such as fine tailings), absence of a water treatment system, flow of leachate and blackish water into the environment.
Since then, no site decontamination plan has been filed. In April, the Quebec Ministry of the Environment told the Duty have “used all necessary remedies […] in order to obtain a return to compliance in this file”, recalling that the G&R Recyclage site was not part of the “environmental liabilities of Quebec”.
At the federal level, Environment and Climate Change Canada maintained that the file was not within its jurisdiction, referring it to Indigenous Services Canada.
In an e-mail, a spokesperson for the latter ministry wrote to us that “the use made of these lands is the responsibility of the Mohawks of Kanesatake, and the responsibility for decontaminating the lot rests with the person who occupies it, it is i.e. G&R Recycling”.