Oka mayor, developer negotiate over land

MONTREAL – A developer who wants to build luxury homes in Oka on land claimed by Kanesatake Mohawks said he is prepared to temporarily shelve his plans in order to give the town of Oka an opportunity to acquire the land.

"We concluded that we should reach an agreement for the benefit of everyone," developer Normand Ducharme said yesterday, after meeting with Oka Mayor Richard Lalonde on Monday night.

"The lawyers are meeting today to work out a timetable for negotiations," Ducharme added.

Ducharme said he believes the town wants to pay a lot less than the market price for the property, but added that there is no offer on the table. "The mayor has his limits and I have mine," he said, adding that it is possible the town will eventually acquire the land through expropriation.

The town placed a reserve on the land last month, preventing Ducharme from building on it.

Ducharme said both sides want to reach a deal as soon as possible.

The conflict erupted this summer over Ducharme’s plans to build three homes on land across the street from the Pines, the ancestral forest and cemetery that sparked the 1990 Oka Crisis.

On Friday, Ducharme made a highly publicized visit to Oka, saying he needed to clear away brush from the property. He left under police escort after a group of Mohawks prevented him from going on the property.

The Mohawks claim the land as their own.

Ducharme has said he wants to sell

the land for $400,000, but said yesterday that his price is negotiable.

His company, Norfolk Financial, acquired the property in March 2009 from a business person who owed it $100,000 in mortgage loans.

Lalonde issued a news release yesterday afternoon saying "a transaction of this importance isn’t completed within 48 hours."

"Both parties discussed their expectations and agreed on a process of negotiation," Lalonde said. "More details will be released at a later date."

kwilton@thegazette.canwest.com