Affordable housing project progresses

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake caretaker council members Amy Beauvais and Brant Etienne recently met with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake’s Housing Unit program manager to discuss how to approach housing development projects and policies.

Etienne said he felt reassured to learn Kahnawake faced similar challenges with their housing projects and that Kanesatake was heading in the right direction.

“We’re not far off the mark, we’re generally in the right direction,” said Etienne. “The way we’re approaching everything is very similar.”

Kahnawake’s Council has built more than 100 housing units since the 1980s, while Kanesatake’s is on its way to building its first ever triplex.

Although Etienne has not officially been involved in the housing portfolio, which was led by Beauvais during the Council term, he participates in meetings as part of his interest towards the building method of the project: rammed earth. The eco-friendly and sustainable building method uses compacted natural materials to construct buildings.

Some members of the community have expressed concern about whether the recent meeting fell outside of the caretaker council’s scope, which is limited to simple day-to-day administration under the terms of a temporary ruling from the Federal Court last year, although the housing project was underway during the council term.

“If this initiative was actually started during their mandate, then I’m not against their being there,” said community member Melissa Kahnekiio Gabriel, who was emphatic that the caretaker council would be acting outside its powers if the project were not already established.

Outside of this concern, however, Gabriel supports Kanesatake learning from Kahnawake.

“I do think it’s a good idea, especially since Kahnawake has an initiative going,” she said. “Housing is a very big issue here, and any guidance to get any kind of program going would be beneficial, particularly coming from a community that has a program implemented.”

The housing development project has been ongoing since 2023, with the MCK receiving more than $1.4 million in funding for it so far.

Etienne said the council faces many challenges in sharing information with the community.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people simply don’t read the announcements by the MCK. It’s a major problem we’re facing right now,” said Etienne. “Because of a lot of the rhetoric of different factions in the community and everything like that, people have kind of tuned out.”

Etienne said the MCK is looking into ways to revamp its websites to make it more user-friendly and easier to upload news.

Projects like the housing development that take years to progress may see only a handful of announcements each year from the council, said Etienne.

“If people aren’t paying attention, it’s possible that they’re either missing the announcements, or maybe they don’t remember.”

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