Quebec 'taking action' on alleged illegal dumping in Kanesatake

The Quebec Environment Ministry said it is "taking action" to end illegal contaminated soil dumping and backfilling in the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kanesatake north of Montreal.

The ministry (MELCCFP) said in a news release that "measures have been taken in response to reports of illegal transport and disposal of soils in the territory."

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) Grand Chief Victor Bonspille said he is glad Quebec has finally decided to answer his calls to do something.

"This is something that's been a long time coming, and finally, the governments are noticing something is going on here," he told CTV News. "It took three years of my complaining and from not just my office, but from my community members and a small core that work for the community that have been fighting for this, to get recognition that there is illegal things being done here. And finally, they're seeing it."

Fines of up to $6 million for dumping

Wildlife officers, along with environmental inspectors and investigators, are expected to conduct field searches this week along Highway 344 (Rang Sainte-Philomena), which runs directly through the community on the shores of the Lac des Deux Montagnes, north of Oka, Que.

"The most recent reports concern disposal and illegal backfilling activities all along Rang Sainte-Philomeme, on the bank and shoreline of Lac des Deux Montagnes directly in fish habitat," the ministry said. "These unauthorized activities threaten fish habitat."

The ministry said the investigation will attempt to identify who has been backfilling in the area, and will closely monitor the situation. Fines can range from $10,000 to $1 million for individuals and between $30,000 and $6 million for corporations for illegal dumping.

"I do hope that these individuals, they're going to be held responsible," said Bonspille. 

Decades of illegal dumping on Indigenous land

Kanesatake's leaders and community members have long complained that trucks from off the territory have entered the area to dump contaminated soil, including concrete and construction materials.

"If it was on the outside, this would never happen," said Bonspille. "Within the first couple of months of any non-Native complaining that this was going on outside the territory, it would have been handled immediately but because it's the First Nations making the complaint, and it's on First Nations lands, the government seems to put it on the back burner, and I can't accept that as any type of excuse. There is no excuse for their lack of diligence here, or their lack of responsibility."

In August of last year, Quebec's Environment Ministry ordered the company Top Layer Distribution inc. in Kanesatake to stop backfilling and depositing decontaminated soil on its land. Prior to that, the company received similar notices.

Preying on poor community members

Community member and former council chief Teiawennisarate Tomlinson said the dumping issue is part of a much bigger problem in the community.

It is, he said, a result of the compounding effects of trauma resulting from colonization, the residential schools tactic and "the unresolved consequences over decades."

"It's a double-edge sword, but it is unfortunately where we find ourselves," he said. "We are left with a community suffering across all aspects of the social determinants of health. It creates ripe conditions for outside entities to come in and profit from the resulting dysfunction and suffering."

Tomlinson is now executive director of the Kanesatake Health Centre and said outside organizations target vulnerable community members to pay them to dump on their land rather than follow protocol.

"It's cheaper to pay individuals on reserve land than to follow decontamination procedures," said Tomlinson.

Bonspille echoed this sentiment.

"I can't blame my members in total because we grew up in a different society," said Bonspille. "We grew up differently from outsiders. We didn't have much. We're a poor community, and a lot of us didn't grow up with much, so accepting something that is basically given to us to fill property that needs it where we couldn't afford it before, I can't see my office or anyone else blaming individuals...The responsibility weighs heavy on the government and the companies that are doing this dumping."

The G&R Recycling site in the community was another place that drew media attention in 2023 when toxic materials were found there, which many feared would leak into the water supply. Bonspille said the owners of the site - Gary and Robert Gabriel - have been cleaning up the site and that the situation has gotten better.

Tomlinson said that children who suffered through past policies, such as residential schools, were born into a suffering social environment that perpetuated trauma from one generation to the next.

"We are a people indigenous to this land, but we have been violently disconnected from the land, our teachings and cultural values," he said. "What we live today is a direct result of that, and it won't be solved by targeted interventions on isolated manifestations or issues."