Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke concerned Indigenous people are included in Quebec’s integration bill for immigrants

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke is concerned First Nations people and Inuit are being included in Quebec legislation that targets immigrants. Grand Chief Cody Diabo says he is opposed to being lumped into Bill 84, which aims to establish a “common culture” in Quebec as a “vehicle for social cohesion.”

“Quebec has a theory of the St. Lawrence Iroquois, where they’ve said that Kanien’kehá:ka people, or Mohawk people, are immigrants to this land, and we came from the Mohawk Valley, and they were here first,” Diabo said. “Some of their academics are pushing this type of theory, and we deal with it on our archeology files. So, the concern we have is that, are they going to group Onkwehón:we people under this immigrant ideology, so to speak?”

Diabo sent a formal letter to Quebec Premier Francois Legault, detailing the council’s concerns, saying that the bill is silent on its intended application for the Indigenous populations. He has yet to receive a response.

It comes a few months after Legault and Diabo signed a memorandum of understanding to document the intentions of both governments and provide a roadmap to their partnership.

“We’re supposed to have these relationships where we’re on our path and we’re doing our thing and they’re on their path, doing their other thing,” he said. “And we’re coexisting, but we’re not interfering with one another. But this is interfering at the end of the day.”

Diabo says this new bill is reminiscent of their concerns surrounding Quebec’s Bill 96 — now Law 14 — the law strengthening French language protections. It has affected Indigenous students attending English-language colleges, since more French courses are required.

“We’ve had conversations where we’re not supposed to be affected by it, that wasn’t the intent, that’s what we’re told, but we feel the effects,” Diabo said. “So are we going to feel the effects when we, say, ‘leave the reserve’ to go to our unceded territory, and we still have to face all these issues?”

Bill 84 is currently being studied at the National Assembly. Diabo says he expects to soon have a meeting with Ian Lafrenière, the Quebec minister responsible for relations with the First Nations and the Inuit.

The office of Jean-François Roberge, Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, tells CityNews that they’re taking the time to respond to Diabo’s letter and will address the community’s concerns soon.

What Diabo wants is clarity and an exemption.

“You need to clearly stipulate who this bill is affecting and who it’s for, and not leave things open to interpretation, because the last thing we want to do is take things into a court setting, based off of interpretations, and now it’s a battle of ideologies or interpretation, which is always scary,” he said.

“If you want to create this bill, fine, but ensure that it says Onkwehón:we people are exempt from this, or not included in this bill — it’s only for people coming from elsewhere.”

Diabo says he wants to see a change in how the government approaches law creation. He’s hoping for consultation beforehand.

“From Kahnawà:ke’s perspective, don’t create laws and then therefore try to impose it on us.”