Minister meets with Council

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo said he feels hopeful about the future relationship between the community and Rebecca Alty, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, after a successful introductory meeting this week.

“I think overall the meeting went really well, the minister was really engaged, she had a lot of questions and was wanting to really figure it out, and echoed the same things as us,” Diabo said.

Alty is non-Indigenous but hails from the Northwest Territories and served as the 15th mayor of Yellowknife until this year. She was appointed to the office of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs in May, taking over from minister Gary Anandasangaree, who had held the office after Marc Miller under Justin Trudeau’s leadership as prime minister.

Mark Carney, who was elected to the office of prime minister in March, shuffled Anandasangaree to Public Safety, making Alty the first-ever full cabinet minister with a named portfolio to be from the Northwest Territories.

Alec Wilson, a representative for Alty’s office, said that the minister was “grateful” to participate in the meeting.

“The minister looks forward to staying engaged and working together as partners in the weeks and months to come,” Wilson said.

Diabo said several topics were discussed, including the topic of negotiations for the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis, and the need for better communication between the federal government and the MCK.

“I really liked the sense that with fresh eyes, maybe she can see something that the others didn’t. So there’s a lot of hopes right now, it was a really great meeting,” he said.

He said that he also took the opportunity to express his discontentment with the recently passed Bill C-5, now known as The Building Canada Act. The Act seeks to fast-track major infrastructure projects, but several communities across Turtle Island, including Kahnawake, have expressed concern that rushing through projects might come at the expense of Indigenous rights.

Diabo was in Ottawa on Thursday to meet with federal leadership to discuss the bill further, including Mandy Gull-Masty, who is the first-ever Indigenous person to lead Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).

This week, it was also announced that nine First Nations in Ontario have filed a legal challenge against the law, in tandem with a challenge against Ontario’s Bill 5, which is similar in nature.

“I told her that in Kahnawake we’re very vocal. We say what we need to say, we say what’s on our mind, and we’ll definitely be reaching out when there’s concerns and things like that. It’s not personal against her, but it’s about the machine that she represents,” he said.

[email protected]