South Shore mayors continue legal battle over disputed Mohawk lands
Quebec government had previously agreed to see land handed over to Kahnawake in 2013
Four Quebec municipalities on the South Shore will return to court Monday as they fight the Quebec government over a stretch of land that was transferred to Kahnawake, after the construction of Highway 30.
Châteauguay, St-Isidore, St-Constant and Ste-Catherine originally launched the lawsuit in 2013, after former Premier Pauline Marois's government signed a decree that would see part of the land handed over to the Mohawk Council.
The piece of land in question borders Highway 30. It runs just over two square kilometres and touches all four South Shore towns.
"We hope to find a solution that is good for Kahnawake and in the interest of municipalities on the South Shore," said Geoff Kelly, Quebec's Minister of Native Affairs, at a press conference on Sunday.
Châteauguay mayor Nathalie Simon said the land had officially belonged to St-Isidore before it was expropriated by Quebec's Transport Ministry in 1990 to build Highway 30.
She said that the municipal mayors had been concerned at the time of construction about the lack of consultation about what land would be used.
"For municipalities in Quebec our main business is land planning," said Nathalie Simon, mayor of Châteauguay.
Mohawks lay claim
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake says Highway 30 passes through their former territory of Seigneury of Sault St.Louis on which the village of Kahnawake was built and which has been the subject of longstanding land claim disputes.
In addition to the village of Kahnawake, the territory of the former Seigneury of Sault St.Louis includes the municipalities of Delson, Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Constant, Candiac, and part of Saint-Philippe.
Simon told CBC that the South Shore mayors were aware of the Mohawk land claim and that they were hesistant to "start a big fight."
She said that at the time when the land was originally expropriated by the Transport Ministry, they were the ones who "were administering that part of land."
While not directly involved in the lawsuit over the expropriated land, Grand Chief of Kahnawake Joe Norton says he hopes the government will follow through on Marois' decree to have the disputed land handed over to the reserve.
"They don't stand a chance in winning," said Norton.
He went on to say that members of the community will provide witness testimony in the suit. "We're going to put anything and everything we got behind this," said Norton, at a press conference on Sunday.
With files from Radio-Canada and Antoni Nerestant