Court rules in favour of Kahnawake in Highway 30 land transfer dispute

Quebec's Superior Court ruled in favour of KahnawakeWednesday in adispute overa portion of land bordering Highway 30.

FourSouth Shore municipalities that surround Kahnawaketerritory launched the suit in 2013 after they objected to theQuebec government transferring the landto the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.

The provincial government said the landhadbeen Mohawk territory all along.

Chteauguay,St-Isidore, St-Constant andSte-Catherineclaimed their municipal taxes paid for infrastructure on the five parcels of land near the highway that total about 500 acres.

• South Shore mayors continue legal battle over disputed Mohawk lands

The court made the judgment Wednesday.

"Though we're obviously really happy about the news, we have to analyze the decision and plan our next steps," Grand Chief of KahnawakeJoe Norton saidin a statement.

'A step forward'

The land was originally zoned for agriculture, and then in 1990 was expropriated by the provincial government in order to building Highway 30.

In 2012, the land wasrezoned for commercial use after the new highway was completed, making it very valuable.

• Disputed Kahnawake territory at centre of plans for Highway 30 development

Then the landwas handed over to the federal government so it could be transferredto Kahnawake.

The South Shore municipalitiesclaim they were not consulted when the government made the decision.

The Superior Court judge ruled that the government could have consulted the municipalities, but wasn't legally obliged to.

"All the members of the [Mohawk] Council [of Kahnawake] that I spoke with are satisfied," council chief policy advisor Winona Polson-Lahache told Radio-Canada.

"It's a step forward, but there's still a lot of work to do for us to be able to use those lands."