Chateauguay commits to communication 

A new technical table between the City of Chateauguay and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) is expected to be active in the new year, ushering in what the band council hopes will be a new era of collaboration with its closest neighbour. 

The shared commitment comes following a recent visit by MCK grand chief Cody Diabo and Council chief Iohahiio Delisle to Chateauguay’s city hall. 

“That was one of our requests, and it happens that it was one of theirs as well,” said mayor Éric Allard, who welcomed them on November 29. “It's going to be much easier to work and communicate that way.”

Historically Kahnawake hasn’t always had the best relationship with the city. There was radio silence between Diabo and Allard for months this year, after the MCK decided to sue the city over a fuel spill in its industrial sector earlier this February. 

“Just because this is going on doesn't mean we can't work on other things to build up the relationship,” Diabo said. 

The first item of discussion at the table will be the redesign of the entrance to Chateauguay, work which will involve connecting St. Francis and Industrial boulevards together. Having the two roads linked would prevent motorists from having to turn north or south along Highway 132 as they’re driving through the area. 

“The design right now, it doesn’t make sense. It’s been like that forever, but it’s always dangerous,” Allard said. “Nobody can pass, because there's cars everywhere.”

The old Shell gas station and De Castris garage will need to be destroyed to make way for that realignment of the boulevards. That work is expected to begin in the spring.

“We support anytime traffic can get alleviated, however it is within the Seigneury footprint, so that's something that on our front we have to pay particularly close attention to and be involved heavily in,” Diabo said.

The MCK grand chief said he hopes the table could allow for better communication over developments projects underway in the city. That includes some housing projects, like one proposed near Chateauguay’s bus terminal near the border with Kahnawake, as well as another one planned along a stretch of Highway 30.

“For us, it's to get a handle on what's coming,” Diabo said. “They don't fully understand the duty to consult, because municipalities don't fall under that, it's the province.” 

The table could also be used to further environmental consultations, he hopes, which are not formally under city’s responsibilities, and to better inform their neighbour about the longstanding Seigneury of Sault St. Louis land grievance. 

The MCK already has an established technical table with the regional county municipality (MRC) of Roussillon, which has been in place since the spring. 

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