- John
Melenchuk | Jim Pankiw's pamphlet is
being investigated | Dudley
George | J.J. Harper |
David Ahenakew |
- Oka
-
-
- Kanesatake divided over
police chief's legitimacy
Thompson's opponents say they have no intention of recognizing
his position
IRWIN BLOCK , The Gazette,
April 12, 2004
Kanesatake remains a community
divided today as interim police chief Ed Thompson continued to
avoid patrolling the highway that runs through it.
Route 344, at the border of
the village 50 kilometres west of Montreal, remains under the
effective control of his opponents, who said yesterday they have
no intention of recognizing the legitimacy of Thompson and six
of his police officers.
Thompson and his staff are
limiting their patrols to the village of Oka where Mohawks live.
Policing responsibilities and
the authority of Grand Chief James Gabriel are among several
issues that have divided the community into two camps.
The situation exploded on Jan.
12, when Gabriel brought in an outside force of aboriginal officers
to take control of the police department.
The community's police commission,
backed by Gabriel's rivals on the Mohawk band council and Gabriel's
opponents on the council, balked at the move. A mob then surrounded
the station, and later torched Gabriel's house.
Gabriel fled the community
along with eight of 12 Kanesatake officers loyal to him. None
has returned to this day.
Chief John Harding, one of
several Kanesatake leaders who oppose Thompson and Gabriel, said
yesterday the situation will not change until there is an agreement
with the community on policing.
"Until such time as the
community has ratified an agreement, they are not welcome here,
and they are not trusted," Harding, who is allied with chiefs
Steven Bonspille and Pearl Bonspille, said yesterday.
The main problem with the police
under Thompson, Harding added, was lack of an independent body
to ensure the separation of the police from political power in
the community.
"The powers that are controlling
the police right now reside in Laval under James Gabriel and
three other chiefs," Harding said. "A politically controlled
police is not acceptable under international standards or for
a Mohawk community."
The only way to resolve the
conflict is for the appointment of former Kahnawake police chief
John Diabo to take over, pending talks with Ottawa and Quebec
City on a permanent solution that is broadly acceptable in the
community, Harding said.
A supporter of Gabriel and
Thompson, who asked that her name not be used, confirmed that
police patrols are limited to the village of Oka.
"The highway is controlled
by a group of animals, standing at the top of the hill,"
she said.
Thompson's men are unable to
patrol the highway without being challenged, she said.
"They try, but a group
of people meet them, push their weight around and threaten them."
© 2000-2002 Thunder
Bay Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the
author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint,
and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those
of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF
IMC. Disclaimer |Privacy
Grand Chief calls for
government aid
cbc, January 13, 2004
MONTREAL -The Grand Chief at Kanesatake is calling
on the federal and provincial governments to help bring an end
to the current standoff at the reserve, but both governments
say they have no plans to use force to resolve the situation.
Although Gabriel had fled and
no one was hurt in the blaze, he said the crowd intended to burn
him and his family alive.
Last April a group of dissident
Mohawks, led by three chiefs, put up a blockade of Highway 344,
the only road leading into the community of Oka.
The protest was triggered by
a policing deal agreed to by Gabriel and the federal government.
The community was already upset
by Ottawa's insistence that it only deal with Gabriel, despite
the fact he lost a non-confidence vote two years ago. A federal
court overturned that vote.
Neither the federal nor provincial
governments seem interested in intervening in the current dispute.
Federally, Anne McLellan is
in the minister responsible for public safety and emergency preparedness.
Speaking with the CBC Tuesday morning, officials in McLellan's
office said they consider the standoff a local police matter.
In Quebec City, public security
minister Jacques Chagnon's office parroted that sentiment, saying
that officials are keeping a close eye on the situation.
Both levels of government said
that while they will try to help bring a peaceful end to the
standoff the use of force is not yet an option.
Premier Jean Charest's office
said the provincial government is watching the situation at Kanesatake
closely, but for now, there is no plan to intervene in the dispute.
A spokesperson for the premier
said the government still recognizes Grand Chief Gabriel as the
leader of the band council, despite the fact some band members
are rejecting Gabriel's authority.
- Mohawk protesters torch
chief's house
- Demonstrators were angered
at a decision to bring in outside police.
CP , January 13, 2004
KAHNESATAKE, QUE. -- Demonstrators
burned a house, torched a car, blocked a highway and occupied
a police station last night to protest the firing of the police
chief in this Mohawk community. Grand Chief James Gabriel, who
has reportedly received threats after seeking a tougher stand
on crime on the reserve, left the community shortly after his
house and car were destroyed by fire. No one was in the house
at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.
About 30 people also felled
trees to block a highway near the reserve and occupied the headquarters
of the Peacekeepers, the reserve police force.
"It's a bad reaction on
the part of a criminal element," Gabriel said in a telephone
interview with Montreal Le Devoir. "Most of these people
are involved in criminal activities."
Most of the activity took place
earlier in the day and there were reports calm had been restored
in the evening.
Some said the protest was sparked
because of indications the RCMP was about to intervene on the
reserve.
The band council announced
in November it had concluded a deal with Ottawa to crack down
on contraband cigarettes on the reserve.
Some on the band council did
not support intervention by the federal force.
"It's not necessary to
have that kind of intervention." John Harding, a dissident
band council member, told Radio-Canada, the French-language network
of the CBC.
Quebec provincial police did
not immediately intervene and were not asked to help out, said
Const. Chantal Mackels of the provincial force.
She said provincial police
stationed a lone cruiser on the highway to reroute traffic and
prevent drivers from running into the obstacles. Provincial police
do not have jurisdiction on the reserve.
The band council recently voted
to install a new police chief in an effort to curtail such activities
as cigarette smuggling.
On Highway 344, which was blocked
by the protesters, there are now 27 different places to buy cigarettes
where there were only three two years ago.
The new police chief started
yesterday.
Reports said several cars --
including some belonging to the Peacekeepers, the reserve police
force, were damaged in the protest.
The reserve, near Oka, gained
national headlines during the 1990 Oka land claims standoff that
saw a police officer killed when police stormed barricades erected
to prevent expansion of a golf course onto land Mohawks considered
sacred.
Copyright © The London
Free Press 2001,2002,2003
Negotiations to calm
situation ongoing
CANADIAN PRESS, January
13, 2003
KANESATAKE, Que. - Grand Chief
James Gabriel, whose house was burned after tensions boiled over
on the reserve over policing, said today he's convinced it was
an attempt on his life.
Gabriel said he and his wife
and children had left the house before the fire started on Monday
night.
"They missed their chance,"
he told RDI, Radio-Canada's all-news channel, without naming
who he believes was responsible for the fire.
Gabriel said he has "no
doubt" the aim of the fire was to kill him.
"They had no clue that
I wasn't there."
The reserve, near Oka just
west of Montreal, gained notoriety in 1990 over a land-claims
standoff that saw one provincial police office killed when officers
stormed barricades erected to prevent expansion of a nearby golf
course on land Mohawks considered sacred.
RDI also reported today that
negotiations could be taking place on the reserve to help end
the crisis.
Some protesters have said they
were angry because the current chief was fired because he was
deemed soft on crime. Others said the uproar stemmed from fears
that the RCMP was being called in to curtail a lucrative contraband
cigarette trade.
Terry Isaac, the new police
chief, has said he's on the reserve to fight the drug trade.
Isaac arrived on Sunday with
60 officers drawn from 18 aboriginal communities. Aboriginal
officers from outside the reserve have been blocked inside police
headquarters and prevented from doing their job. Some of the
Mohawks on the reserve want the aboriginal police from outside
their community to leave.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
