Kahnawake suspending political contact with Quebec; Grand chief demands 'substantive solution' on Bill 96

Kahnawake says it will suspend all political engagement with the Quebec government until it can provide a "substantive solution" regarding the controversial overhaul to the French language charter passed earlier this week.

"We're not going to continue to engage with Quebec on any political files moving forward," said the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community’s grand chief, Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer.

Sky-Deer says she has requested a meeting with Quebec Premier Francois Legault. Until he -- or another high-level representative – agrees to talks, "we're not going to have any more engagement with Quebec at any level."

Prior to the law's passing, Indigenous leaders across the province pleaded with the government to provide a carve-out for their communities over concerns that the bill would create barriers to education and undermine reconciliation efforts. 

Sky-Deer met with Quebec ministers earlier in May to discuss the bill. She said there were hopes at the time that lawmakers would understand their worries and confirm that Indigenous communities would be exempt. 

"What we did hear is that they do want to help ensure protection of Indigenous languages," she said, adding that the ministers stopped short of committing to a carve-out. 

"I did feel extremely disappointed with the outcome," she said, speaking of the law's passing, which came less than two weeks later.

"It just feels really dismissive -- arrogance, even, to some degree, to just continue forward and not hear our pleads, our concerns, our requests." 

Kahnawake Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer has been asking for an exemption to #Bill96. Now the council has decided "we're not going to continue to engage with Quebec on any political files moving forward until we can get some sort of substantive solution." @CTVMontreal pic.twitter.com/ntWFGdzxoX

— Kelly Greig (@KellyGreig) May 26, 2022

Community leaders have told media that they're especially worried that the bill will add to the barriers to education for Kahnawake's young people.

Kahnawake students generally study in English rather than French for historic reasons, and the bill creates extra requirements for English-speaking CEGEP students, namely that they take extra French classes.

But the community is also worried about how the bill will affect its health and social services, which it runs itself, as well as its police service, Mike Delisle, a member of the Mohawk Council of Chiefs, said Wednesday.

Another concern is access to the justice system, considering the bill's new and much more onerous requirements for English speakers in the court system, including having to immediately have certain documents translated into French, at their own expense, and forbids companies from pleading in languages other than French.

-- With files from CTV News' Kelly Greig and The Canadian Press