Candidate disqualified

One of the most high-profile challengers for Council office in Kanesatake, Amanda Simon, has vowed to fight after she revealed on Wednesday night that she had been disqualified as a candidate due to money owed to the Mohawk Council.

Simon, however, will have no avenue for a return to the ballot short of immediately working things out with the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) finance department. Once the final candidate list is published, it will be too late.

The provisional candidate, who was the MCK’s longtime certified lands manager until she resigned in 2024, vehemently denied on Facebook that she owed any money to the MCK. She declined to speak with The Eastern Door about the situation.

“If a legitimate debt existed - which I firmly deny and of which I was never informed - it should have been deducted at the time of my resignation, not over a year later, and certainly not coincidentally as I stand as a candidate for chief,” wrote Simon in a public statement.

She included text of an email from the chief electoral officer informing her that she was disqualified after he was informed by the MCK finance department that she had an outstanding debt.

“This appears to be an act of political interference,” wrote Simon. “I will fight this decision and ask for your support and vigilance as we work to bring transparency and fairness back to our electoral process.”

Simon’s disqualification came as part of routine verifications, not a contestation.

While chief electoral officer Graeme Drew said he could not discuss specific candidates, he explained that as part of his normal vetting, he requested a letter from the MCK finance department for every candidate to ensure they did not owe money to Council.

“If I don’t get a letter from finance saying they don’t owe money then they don’t get on the final list,” Drew said.

The Kanesatake Custom Electoral Code that governs local elections clearly outlines that an outstanding debt to the MCK or any of its departments renders an elector ineligible to be nominated as a candidate.

“The code is very clear,” he said.

Some other codes he has worked with in the past have been more flexible, offering prospects of payment plans or debt thresholds. Not this one, however. “With this code, it’s very clear. It’s basically no debt,” he said.

He confirmed that there was another issue relating to indebtedness that was resolved, but that this one was not resolved.

“I don’t get involved in the affairs between a candidate and finance,” he said.

There are other rules listed in the electoral code that can render a nominee ineligible. Besides the rule about outstanding debts, there is notably a requirement that candidates must not have been convicted of a criminal offence unless that offence involves the exercise of Indigenous rights or there has been a pardon or record suspension.

However, criminal background checks were not automatically conducted on nominees. Drew said such checks are not as straightforward or reliable as many people think. If contestations were put forth indicating grounds to believe someone had a criminal record, however, these would be investigated.

Additionally, nominees must not have been previously removed from Council by a vote of non-confidence following due process following the ratification of the code. No such process has been established, however.

Finally, someone who has been suspended from Council because of criminal charges is barred from running unless they were subsequently acquitted.

In Simon’s case, short of sorting out the situation with the MCK finance department before the final candidate list is released - which will take place at the latest on Monday - there is nothing someone in her position can do to get on the ballot, given the need to print the ballots in time, according to Drew.

An appeal board will be formed following the release of the final candidate list, but this body, if it did hear such an appeal - which requires the chief electoral officer to first accept an appeal and then have their own decision appealed - would not do so until after the election.

Simon’s disqualification marks a potential upheaval in the election and is likely to have continued ramifications, especially given the level of support for the candidate, who has filled the void of opposition.

Since her resignation from Council, Simon has been among the most vociferous critics of the five remaining Council chiefs following the MCK Ethics Commission ruling that Victor Bonspille, who still claims the title of grand chief, and Valerie Bonspille, who still claims the title of chief, had vacated their positions.

While the election is newly underway, Simon has already been campaigning for months, having first revealed her candidacy at a press conference on April 15 at which she called on the MCK quorum - chiefs Amy Beauvais, John Canatonquin, Denise David, Brant Etienne, and Serge Otsi Simon – to hold a June 14 election, as demanded by the election code, characterizing a failure to do so as a power grab.

While the code indeed dictates that elections take place on the second Saturday of June, it also defines a term as four years. The previous election was held July 31, 2021, in a delay largely blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic at the time.

The 2025 MCK election is scheduled for August 2.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter