MONTREAL – The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has weighed in on the Quebec provincial elections on Wednesday, expressing concern over the tone of the Parti Quebecois.
While the Grand Chief maintained that the council typically would not comment on provincial or federal affairs, he said that he felt compelled to respond.
“We are highly disturbed by the likelihood that the Parti Quebecois’ would probably move forward with their plan to hold a sovereignty referendum should they attain a majority government,” Grand Chief Michael Ahríhron Delisle, Jr. said in a statement.
“Our relationship with Canada is complicated and difficult enough without the threat of the Parti-Quebecois-led government leading this region down a path of institutionalized intolerance that we will see with their proposed Quebec charter of values.”
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Delisle also noted that the council was also concerned about the implications of the Parti Quebecois’ proposed Bill 60.
“The fact that the Parti Quebecois is hell-bent on pushing their charter through regardless of its impacts on anyone who isn’t ‘pure laine’ Quebecois tells us that the road ahead will be filled with potholes and roadblocks.”
Delisle said that his people were feeling threatened by the tone of the Parti Quebecois and the talk about independence.
“Remember: we are not Canadians, nor are we Quebecois – we are Mohawks,” he said.
“While we understand the aspirations of the Quebec people, we feel that the current government is setting the stage for a Quebec that marginalizes large sectors of its population – including the People who have been here since time immemorial. Like other First Nations in Quebec, we will continue to fight for our rights, lands and freedoms.”
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