Grand chief of Kanesatake Mohawks says he's at an impasse with Oka mayor over proposed land deal

Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon passed on an opportunity to meet Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon Friday, after the mayor refused to apologize for inflammatory comments he made about his Mohawk neighbours earlier this month.

Simon said he would meet face-to-face withQuevillonif heapologized for sayingproperty values woulddrop inOka, Que., if a proposed parcel of land in the municipalityis formally transferred to Kanesatake, leaving Okaresidents"surrounded" by Mohawks.

On Friday morning,Quevillon refused to do so telling Radio-Canada that he would only be apologizing"for telling the truth."

Speaking after a meeting with representatives ofthe federal and provincial governments to discuss the proposed land deal Friday,Simon said with no apology forthcoming, he's "cutting off communication" withQuevillon.

Quevillon is opposed to an offer from alocal developerto transfer60 hectares of land to the Kanesatake Mohawks through the federal government's Ecological Gifts Programand sell them an additional 150 hectares.

The deal would see Kanesatake take ownership of moreof the area Mohawks refer to as The Pines the same contentious undeveloped propertythat became the focus of international attention 29 years ago, when a 78-day armed standoff was sparked by the town of Oka's planto expand its municipal golf course.

In an interview withLa Presseearlier this month outlining his opposition to the proposed land transfer, Quevillon said that Kanesatakeis plagued byillegal dumps, cannabis and cigarette merchants, and contaminated water.

He saidif theday comes that Oka loses jurisdiction over the disputed land to the Mohawks, there couldbe another Okacrisis but this time it would be the people of Oka rising up against the Mohawks.

Simon called thoseremarks "hate-filled" and "racist."

Treading carefully

Representatives of both the federal and provincial governments are treading carefully, promising to listen to the concerns of all sides in the dispute.

Simonmet with Quebec's Indigenous Affairs Minister Sylvie D'Amours, Montreal Liberal MP Marc MillerandGhislain Picard, the regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Quebec, in Montreal at 9 a.m. ET on Friday.

A separate meeting between those federal and provincial government officials and the Oka mayor was set for 11 a.m.

Simon had saidhe was prepared to meet with Quevillonin between those two meetings to discuss their differences, if by then he'd received the apology he's seeking.

Emerging from the meeting at 11 a.m., Simon doubled down on his refusal to meet Quevillon, saying the two are at an "impasse."

"My council and I decided that we're not going to give this mayor any more importance than he's looking for," Simonsaid. "He made it clear this morning he's not going to apologize."

Simon said that he's not planning on cutting ties with any other mayors intheRegional County Municipality (MRC) ofDeux-Montagnes, a wide swath of territory that includes Oka, all of which is part of the KanesatakeMohawks' unsettled land claim. He said other mayors in the MRC are more "respectful."

Seven of those MRC mayors, including Quevillon,held a meeting by telephone conference Thursday, passing a resolution in support of the town of Oka. They called onall levels of government, including the community of Kanesatake, "to work in close collaboration in order to plan for the land use and development of the territory in a harmonious, reconcilable and coherent fashion."

No place at table for Oka, says AFN chief

After Friday's meeting, Picardsaid questions around the proposed land transfer should only be a matter of discussion between the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake and the federaland Quebec governments.

The municipality of Oka has no place in those talks, Picard told reporters.

"Municipalities in Quebec are governments of proximity, and they're not in a position to interfere."

As for the mayor of Oka's suggestion that the land transfer could trigger another crisis, Picard calledthat misinformation that's simply exacerbating tensions.

"I think the only ones speaking about another crisis [are]the mayor of Oka and yourselves,as media," the AFN chiefsaid.

"We haven't given that impression or that perception on the part of our communities."

Picard said the proposed land transfer is being made as a gesture of reconciliation and would be a wayto "level the playing field" between Oka and the neighbouring Mohawk community.

"The economic opportunities are not the same, and that has to change," he said.

Oka seeking compensation

For his part, the mayor of Oka is asking the provincial and federal government forcompensation in return for a moratorium on development of the disputed land in order to put an end to tensions over unresolved land claims.

Speaking to reporters before his own meeting with government officials Friday,Quevillonconceded that his choice of words had caused some people to become upsetbut said he didn't intend to make amends.

"I maybe didn't use the words that some people would have liked me to use," he said.

Heseemed unaware of exactly which comments had left Simon feeling hurt and insulted.