By Canadian Press

‘There is no Oka crisis 2.0,’ Kanesatake chief says as land dispute simmers

Jul 29, 2019 | 11:55 AM

MONTREAL — Kanesatake’s grand chief says his people are not heading towards a second Oka crisis despite tensions over a land dispute and a highly publicized war of words with the mayor of the nearby Quebec town.

In an open letter published this morning, Serge Simon says that as far as he’s concerned, the current dispute over a developer’s intention to donate a parcel of land to the Mohawk community will not lead to a repeat of the 78-day confrontation that shook the region in 1990.

But he says that still doesn’t excuse what he calls the neglect of the federal and provincial governments to settle the questions surrounding land rights, nor the inflammatory comments of Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon.

Quevillon has previously raised concerns that the land donation would lead to his community being encircled by Kanesatake, and voiced fears of illegal dumping and an expansion of cannabis and cigarette merchants.

Simon said the mayor’s words are an example of a widespread lack of knowledge that exists about Indigenous history, realities and rights.

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He called on Quevillon to stop using what he called colonialist language and to instead turn to the future and understand that the interest of his community is in social peace rather than confrontation.

The Canadian Press