The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake wishes to issue the following statement so as to clarify our position on the planned check-points at Oka park and other sites, situated around our immediate settlement, within the unceded territory.
As Grand Chief, and with Council Chiefs, we took the necessary steps in order to declare a State of Emergency on March 23rd. At that time, we enacted the Emergency Response Unit (E.R.U.) to manage the pandemic with all resources available to Kanesatake, while Council would support the E.R.U. politically and financially to the best of our abilities.
The E.R.U. has since made incredible progress in a very short amount of time, and continues to do so under difficult conditions, while at the same time helping with food distribution to our most vulnerable as well as other security issues.
One of the most difficult issues the E.R.U. has had to deal with, was staying out of any political perceptions and this is why, as Grand Chief, I remain as ex-officio at the E.R.U. table and fulfill my role as liaison between the E.R.U. and MCK.
As Grand Chief, and with the support of the council Chiefs, I’ve made requests for resources for the E.R.U. in the form of community testing by Public Health as well as eventual check-points in order to keep non- residents out of Kanesatake during this pandemic.
All merchants have agreed to the requirements of MCK that they had to close, as their businesses were attracting large numbers of clients from highly infected areas, therefore posing a direct as well as indirect health threat to the people of our territory and that of our neighbors.
The E.R.U. was in the process of enacting the check-points by hiring our local people to assist in this task, when the Mayor of Oka called me to see if there was something that we could do in cooperation together to protect both our people. I explained to him that the E.R.U. is the authority during this pandemic and that he should speak to them about his request.
He did contact the E.R.U., and a discussion was held where they invited the Mayor at their table to work-out a common plan, but the Mayor said he would need to speak to his council before committing to a meeting.
During our discussion, I’ve stated many times that the politics should be set aside and that our common focus should be the preservation of health in the region. This, unfortunately, was not the case when the Mayor posted on social media that “the Mohawks would be putting up check-points in our (Oka) territory” with the support of the municipality.
The affirmation of territory was not the E.R.U.’s impetus. Our motivation is to protect our people within the boundaries of Oka, and by extension all citizens of the area.
It is our belief that the Mayor’s post in support of the check-points could have been written without the mention of assertion of territory and that a joint statement of mutual cooperation would have been more helpful for all.
As Grand Chief I must reiterate that the E.R.U. will proceed with its plans to implement the check-points without political position or statement, but remain firmly within its mandate to safeguard the health of our region.
I must also add for further clarity that we did not, nor shall we, ask permission to achieve our common goal to keep all human life safe from this virus, as well as remember that it was world politics that brought this here and that only our non-political experts will help get us out of it.
Finally, I do not speak for the E.R.U., but I am confident that despite the political diversions, the E.R.U. still extends its hand for mutual cooperation with the Mayor of Oka as well as any other entities that have the same goals.
