A dispute between the Mohawk reservation of Kahnawake and four neighbouring town’s on Montreal’s South Shore was in court on Monday, arguing over the fate of a disputed stretch long alongside Highway 30.
The two-kilometer-long parcel of land in question was transferred to the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake in 2013 as compensation for other territory expropriated during the highway’s extension.
Council Grand Chief Joe Norton called the area “prime location” that the council hopes to develop commercially. In 2015, the council was given the green light by the provincial government to proceed, but the mayors of Chateaguay, Ste-Catherine, St-Constant and St-Isidore, all of which border the land, have asked for an injunction, saying they were never consulted.
Norton said the case is not just a matter of economics, but is an extension of a battle that’s been going on for centuries.
“It’s well over 300 years that we’ve been arguing this point, so it’s not something new. That’s before there was ever a Chateauguay, before there was ever an MRC, when it was just Lower Canada and Upper Canada. That’s how far back our arguments go.”
Norton said he expects Kahnawake residents to testify during the hearings on the injunction, which are expected to take three weeks.
