Kanesatake grand chief linked to dumping allegations
Victor Bonspille’s late mother Myrtle, who died 10 years ago, is registered as part owner of land on the Lake of Two Mountains that was allegedly filled in with contaminated soil, facilitating the construction of a cannabis dispensary.
Bonspille, the grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK), did not disclose this connection when addressing the Superior Court of Quebec on Monday, where he contested the Quebec Attorney General’s efforts to obtain an injunction to stop a surge of illegal dumping that has racked the community for over a year.
It is unclear who is the true owner of the share of 850 Rang Ste. Philomene attributed to Bonspille’s late mother, Myrtle Bonspille nee Jacobs, however, unless a will stipulated otherwise, her children would have each inherited a part of the Oka letter title under intestacy rules.
The lot is the site of the Golden Star cannabis shop, which opened in spring at a time when Kanesatake was being overrun by hundreds of dump trucks a day illegally bringing in soils, some of which were contaminated - with potentially disastrous environmental consequences.
Asked by The Eastern Door to discuss the lot, Bonspille said, “I have no comment on any of that.” Asked directly whether he owns the land, he said, “Thank you, I’m not commenting on anything.”
It is unclear why the land registry has not been updated to name the current owner of the share in the land. The rest of the lot is held by Karen Conway and Stewart Conway, who each own a sixth, and Jessie Jean Nelson, who has a third.
These three Kanehsata’kehró:non are named as defendants in the civil case; Jacobs, being deceased, is not. However, an appendix document specifies that Barry Bonspille – Bonspille’s brother – confirmed to an investigator on September 19 that Jacobs had died.
The grand chief’s comments during the day-long injunction hearing aired Kanesatake’s internal governance grievances, muddling Quebec’s efforts to intervene.
The moment came after defence lawyers argued that the emergency injunction – sought expressly to put a stop to illegal dumping activities – should be denied on the grounds that the Attorney General of Quebec does not have jurisdiction to bring the case to court, and that only Council has this authority.
Dionne Schulze lawyer Wade MacAulay, representing the MCK, affirmed that Council was not contesting the Attorney General’s application for a provisional injunction.
Then Bonspille addressed the court, thanking the judge for allowing him to speak and introducing himself as the MCK grand chief.
He argued that the MCK’s legal counsel had been fired by a show of hands at a community meeting and that his opponents on Council had been turfed by two votes of non-confidence last fall. However, the validity of these votes does not seem to be supported by Kanesatake’s Custom Electoral Code and is not accepted by government agencies.
“I acted, and I did the custom of our community to remove this firm and those five individuals, and they refused to leave. So, right now, they are misrepresenting our community,” Bonspille told the judge.
Asked explicitly by the judge whether he contested the Attorney General’s demands, Bonspille replied: “I contest it, yes. Because of jurisdiction.”
The defence lawyers built on Bonspille’s comments to advance their arguments that the injunction application should be thrown out.
Bonspille declined to comment when asked by The Eastern Door to explain his goals in speaking at the injunction hearing.
In September, Bonspille was quoted in a press release in support of an Oka citizens’ group’s effort to confront illegal dumping by training for potential roadblocks to stop dump trucks in absence of police action.
By this time, Golden Star had already been operating for months on allegedly illegally filled-in land.
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According to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), it has never received a request from Myrtle Bonspille’s estate to transfer the title to 850 Rang Ste. Philomene.
“Ms. Bonspille (Jacobs) is still listed in the Indian Lands Registry System (ILRS) as one of the titleholders for this lot. A transaction request from her estate must be made to the ISC Quebec Region ILRS office before any changes can be made to the system,” said ISC spokesperson Carolane Gratton.
“To date the department has not received such a request.”
A temporary injunction to halt illegal dumping was granted until a follow-up hearing next Friday.
Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
