Kanesatake grand chief removed, Commission rules

Following an Ethics Commission hearing requested - and boycotted - by Victor and Valerie Bonspille, a ruling has been rendered: the pair have vacated their positions on the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) and no longer hold political office.

“It goes to show that in Kanesatake, even though sometimes it’s hard to enforce, the law still applies,” said MCK chief Brant Etienne.

However, Victor Bonspille still claims the title of MCK grand chief, insisting the hearing was illegitimate.

“We were elected by you the people and you the people are the only authority that can remove (me) from my elected position. Let’s push for a general election and get rid of these dictators who refuse to recognize your voice,” wrote Victor on social media.

Valerie also rejects the Council’s ruling, according to the pair’s lawyer, Robert W. Lord.

Meanwhile, other members of the remainder of Council have also expressed relief and faith in the validity of the process.

“I fully expected the ruling to be exactly that. It was so blatant in your face obvious that I don’t think the Ethics Commission could have made a different ruling,” said MCK chief Serge Otsi Simon.

At the time of the band council resolution (BCR) that initiated the chapter, roughly 13 months ago, Victor, who has claimed only the grand chief can call weekly Council meetings, and Valerie, were accused of missing over 50 of them.

The Custom Electoral Code dictates that any chief who misses three or more Council or community meetings without a valid reason has vacated their seat.

“I’m happy about the ruling,” added Simon, “but in a way I’m disappointed because we could have done so much for the community in these last four years rather than putting up one fight after another against a grand chief and another chief on Council.”

The process was sparked by the Bonspilles’ own request for an appeal after the majority of MCK chiefs sanctioned them on February 27, 2024, citing their refusal to attend Council meetings and dictating that they were suspended without pay.

The pair continued to be paid as they awaited appeal. The Ethics Commission has ruled that while pay would not be retroactively revoked, the Bonspilles will no longer receive paycheques effective April 1.

The Custom Electoral Code states chiefs deemed to have vacated their positions have the right to appeal to an Ethics Commission, which itself is a creature of the code. But one did not exist.

“Where a Mohawk Council member’s position is vacant ... that Council member shall have the right to appeal his or her dismissal to the Ethics Commission, as may be established by the MCK,” it reads.

At Council’s direction, an Ethics Commission was assembled by First Peoples Law. It’s comprised of three lawyers from outside the community: Kathleen Lickers, who is Seneca from Six Nations of the Grand River, Daniela Corapi, and Arlene Henry.

However, the Bonspilles subsequently failed to meet the Ethics Commission’s submissions deadlines, only submitting, days after the final date, a letter from Lord outlining his clients’ belief that the process was invalid.

This was addressed in the decision.

“The appellants have created a difficult circumstance where they demanded the appeal to the Commission and now that the Commission is constituted, challenge the authority of the Commission and refuse to now participate but have not brought an application to the Federal Court to decide the issue,” reads the decision from the Ethics Commission.

“This jurisdictional issue is compounded by the fact that the issue to be determined by the Commission, whether three meetings have been missed and what constitutes a properly convened Mohawk Council meeting, is in dispute. By refusing to participate the Appellants undermine the very Code they were elected under and that currently governs the people of Kanesatake until they decide otherwise.”

In its submissions, the MCK outlined its contention that the Bonspilles had vacated their seats according to not one but two conditions of the electoral code. Not only had they missed countless meetings, the MCK’s lawyer, Nicholas Dodd of Dionne Schulze, argued, but they had also engaged in wrongful conduct interfering with the performance of their duties, which is also outlined as behaviour that disqualifies chiefs from holding office.

To this end, the MCK cited three incidents, including Victor’s request that the community be put into third-party management.

“The sworn deposition of the appellant Victor Bonspille made known he took this action not because he believed the band was in serious financial trouble but because of his political disagreement and personal frustration with how money was being spent,” reads the decision.

The MCK also cited an altercation between Valerie and David in which David was injured and filed an incident report with police, as well as Victor’s involvement in chaining the band council office.

The Ethics Commission ruled against the Bonspilles both on the questions of Council meeting attendance and wrongful conduct, even as it rejected MCK’s request that renumeration paid since February 27, 2024, must be reimbursed.

Victor had admitted, the Commission wrote, that it is a long-established convention that Council meets every Tuesday. The Commission also rejected the contention, lodged by Lord and his clients, that the MCK chiefs who had sanctioned the Bonspilles had been removed by non-confidence votes at public meetings, citing court precedent that custom must have a broad consensus and that there is no custom for non-confidence votes.

The Custom Electoral Code, meanwhile, does not establish this process, which it defers to a later date. The standing of the MCK is a matter for Federal Court, the Commission wrote.

While Victor and Valerie Bonspille did not respond to direct requests for interviews for this article, their lawyer provided a statement.

“The Ethics Commission was advised prior to the hearing of March 17, 2025, that Grand Chief Victor Bonspille and Chief Valerie Bonspille consider the purported vacation of their positions as grand chief and chief unfounded, that they consider the Ethics Commission of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake to have been invalidly constituted, that it was their firm belief that the Ethics Commission had no authority generally and no authority as regards them specifically, and that, whatever the outcome of any hearing before the Commission, and regardless of any decision that may be made, no decision can prevent them from running in the band elections scheduled for this summer,” wrote Lord. “Consequently, they saw no purpose in incurring additional expense with regard to this matter.”

Victor was at the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) this week. AFNQL regional chief Francis Verreault-Paul was asked by The Eastern Door to clarify whether Victor will continue to be recognized by the organization and whether he would be able to vote on behalf of the community.

Verreault-Paul responded that he had not yet received this news and that he wanted to have all the information before answering.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter