The “political instability” that reigns in the Mohawk community of Kanesatake could give way to “organized crime”, fears the Quebec Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafrenière.
“The political situation is more than complex. It poses a problem at the moment, ”launched the elected representative of François Legault’s government on Tuesday, in reaction to the revelations of the Duty on the tense situation in the North Shore community in the Montreal region.
“It leaves room for people from organized crime,” said the ex-policeman during a press scrum in Quebec. “Political instability, it’s proven, it leaves a vulnerability and organized crime people like that. »
Mr. Lafrenière assures that he does not want to “interfere” in Kanesatake’s affairs, but is monitoring the situation “very closely”. He also got in touch with his counterpart at the federal level and with “the people who are in Kanesatake” as soon as he was made aware of the tensions. “Everyone has this fear that it leaves room for acts of violence,” said the CAQ minister, before rushing into the Blue Room for question period.
A legal remedy
The situation has deteriorated in recent months in Kanesatake. An internal struggle between two factions, which openly clash within the Mohawk band council, is currently paralyzing the functioning of the organization.
On the one hand, Grand Chief Victor Bonspille and his twin sister — Chief Valerie Bonspille — denounce a rebellion on the part of the four other chiefs who sit on the council and who strongly oppose several of their decisions. The latter explain their opposition by the fact that the decisions taken are not for the good of the community.
The duty reported Monday that the conflict had taken a legal turn following the cancellation of the results of a by-election which took place in January. The elected candidate, Serge Otsi Simon, actually turned to the Federal Court to be able to join the Council. He believes that the cancellation of the results has no reason to exist.
A well-known figure in Kanesatake, Serge Otsi Simon was grand chief of Kanesatake for ten years, from 2011 to 2021. His victory symbolized his return to politics, as chief this time, the equivalent of a position of adviser.
“Crazy Stiff”
In the legal proceedings, Mr. Simon claims that the cancellation does not respect Kanesatake’s Mohawk Electoral Code. More importantly, he argues that the appeal committee, which invalidated the results, “did not act as an impartial decision-making or appeal body”.
According to him, the committee would rather have been “guided by a political program […] acting in collusion with and for the purpose of furthering the interests [de ses] political opponents, including Grand Chief Victor Bonspille, and his sisters, Chief Valerie Bonspille and Respondent Shirley Bonspille”. It was the latter – defeated candidate in the January election and sister of the Grand Chief – who filed a complaint that led to the cancellation of the results.
In interview at Duty, Mr. Simon had also confided that he feared that the current crisis would lead to violent altercations: “It’s crazy stiff. I have never seen that. It’s already brewing, and I’m afraid it’s getting worse. There are already people who pass by and who make starts fast [des crissements de pneus] in my parking lot, even at night. I expect there to be [un jour] violence. »
For his part, Grand Chief Bonspille did not respond to our interview requests.