Council Ethics Commission established 

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) has announced the creation of an Ethics Commission, envisioned as an impartial body that can navigate disputes arising from the Custom Electoral Code.

“There has to be a level of professionalism,” said MCK chief Serge Otsi Simon. “If we put this in place, what we do is we create a situation where being a chief is a profession, and if you’re not up to that job, then you’re going to be shown the door, like any employee that doesn’t perform.”

The Ethics Commission was put together by First Peoples Law, lawyer Cynthia Westaway explained at a recent governance meeting.

The Custom Electoral Code, which has been in place since 2015, grants the MCK the ability to establish an Ethics Commission to arbitrate certain circumstances that can lead to an MCK chief losing their seat, including criminal convictions, truancy, or “wrongful conduct” that interferes with a chief’s duties.

So far, the body will be made up of three legal professionals from outside the community.

“We have an ex-judge on there, a couple of lawyers with stellar reputations. They actually do this kind of thing as consultants on the side,” said Simon.

“Their duty’s going to be to enforce the election code,” said Simon. “If somebody gets booted out, they’re going to have a chance to appeal.”

Simon said the by-election in which he was elected, which was annulled by an appeal board made up of Kanehsata’kehró:non before being reinstated by the Federal Court, serves as an example of why it’s important to have non-community members arbitrating disputes.

“When it comes to this kind of thing, as we’ve seen during the by-election, band members cannot separate their personal from their politics,” he said.

According to MCK chief Brant Etienne, the names of the commissioners will be announced following their first meeting, which has not yet taken place.

About a year ago, five of seven MCK chiefs announced their intention to force grand chief Victor Bonspille to step down following his attempt to have Kanesatake put under third-party financial management by the federal government. A host of other allegations were included in their public statement.

At the time, Bonspille dismissed the demand as ridiculous in a comment to The Eastern Door. Soon after, he pursued votes of non-confidence against the five chiefs at community meetings, which he has since routinely cited, although the legitimacy of these votes does not appear to be supported by the electoral code and is not recognized by any government. 

According to Simon, Bonspille’s approach is one inspiration of the push for an Ethics Commission.

"There are things like what he's done, like promoting the division and the hate at public meetings. Any chief in the future doing such a thing, there's going to be consequences for that,” Simon said.

The Ethics Commission will be focused on electoral code conflicts, but Council is also working on solidifying an ethics code. While Council has the authority to create this itself according to the electoral code, the MCK is aiming to pass it as a law through the proposed law-making process.

According to Etienne, this would prevent future Councils from easily changing the rules at their whim.

“It’s better to have it as a law so that if there are any proposed changes, it has to pass the community,” said Etienne.

MCK grand chief Victor Bonspille has supported the creation of an ethics code in the past, but he did not reply to a request for comment on the latest announcements on the efforts of the Council majority.

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