Election case expected to start soon

The Federal Court case over Kanesatake’s election process is set to book a date for the hearing, according to court documents, in a case that will decide when and how the community’s next election will occur.

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake caretaker council offered multiple settlements to the respondents of the case in an attempt to end the court case and start the election process sooner, said caretaker council member Brant Etienne.

“Everybody, even us chiefs here, we know that being in this position is temporary, and this intermediary state the council is in is not conducive to good governance. So, the sooner it’s done the better,” said Etienne.

“Why the settlement? So essentially, we were hoping to get things done.”

One of the terms of the settlement was to allow the community to vote on whether an election should happen immediately, said Etienne. Detailed discussions over the settlement offers with the respondents of the case cannot be shared with the public.

“Instead of waiting for a judge to rule on all that stuff, why not ask the other litigants and see if they’re amenable to that?” said Etienne.

But the settlement offers did not pan out, according to multiple sources.

Amanda Simon, a candidate for the 2025 election and respondent in the Federal Court case, confirmed there were multiple settlement offers.

Her lawyer, Vincent Carney, said Simon was not the one to turn down the settlement offers.

However, Victor Bonspille, former grand chief and respondent of the case, said he never knew of any settlement offers.

“I haven’t received any type of settlement offer, or been told about it,” said Bonspille, who also ran for grand chief in the 2025 election.

But Bonspille said if he had received a settlement offer, he would have turned it down.

“Any offer that is put forward by those individuals - I, myself, personally, I would refuse it,” said Bonspille.

“I don’t trust them. They’re just seeking to stay in power, and they’re seeking to have authority and dictatorship over our community and any decisions,” said Bonspille.

On March 20, the Federal Court sent a memorandum to all the parties of the court case to get their availability to book a hearing.

Carney, Simon’s lawyer for the case, said a hearing would most likely take place in the next 90 days, or before June 22.

Carney said Nicholas Dodd, the lawyer who represents the MCK, has done most of the badgering the court to try and book a date for the hearing.

There have been a few attempts made to select a hearing date, but they fell through, said Etienne.

Last year, Kanesatake’s election was suspended on the eve of the election on August 1, 2025 by the chief electoral officer Graeme Drew, throwing the community into uncertainty over who was in power.

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake applied for interlocutory relief in the form of a judge’s order instituting a caretaker council made up of five outgoing Council chiefs, which was granted in October 2025. The five members of the caretaker council include Serge Otsi Simon, Brant Etienne, Amy Beauvais, Denise David, and John Canatonquin

Also, the MCK applied for judicial review of the election, bringing to the Federal Court: “whether the office of CEO is currently vacant, if so, who is responsible for hiring a new CEO and when should a new election take place, whether a special public meeting within the meaning of paragraph 8.3 of the Code hold the authority to make that decision, and what is the process for the new election?”

These questions will be decided at the upcoming hearing.

The hearing date for the federal court case has not been fixed as of publication.

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Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter