Tensions rise at community meeting
MCK chief Ryan Montour was surrounded by other MCK chiefs and staff after discussions got heated at last Thursday’s community meeting. Courtesy Kerry Diabo
A heated exchange between a community member and a Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief resulted in the abrupt end to a community meeting last week, with voices on both sides speaking out about inappropriate conduct.
The incident occurred at the Golden Age Club last Thursday, during discussions about the potential widening of Route 207. During that discussion, community member Kerry Diabo raised allegations about contaminated landfill being dumped in the area as part of a project at the JFK Quarry - an allegation the MCK says is categorically untrue.
According to Diabo, MCK chief Ryan Montour, who is the lead portfolio chief on community safety, grew angry and started shouting, stating “You’re a liar, Kerry.” Diabo said he then began to walk across the room towards Montour, who was sitting at the front of the room with the other MCK chiefs, at which point Montour rose to his feet.
Diabo alleges that Montour stated, “If you want round two, I’ll give you round two,” and was held back by other MCK employees.
The MCK was unable to be reached for follow-up to confirm or deny this allegation about Montour’s comments in time for our publishing deadline. The Eastern Door, which is not currently permitted to attend community meetings for the purposes of reporting, did not witness the incident.
A video of the altercation, shared with The Eastern Door, begins as two MCK employees - MCK chief Arnold Boyer and a member of MCK staff – hold back Montour, getting physically in front of him.
Words from Montour can’t be heard in the video due to the audio quality and overlapping voices.
The video shows MCK grand chief Cody Diabo addressing the room and stating, “The meeting is over now, I’m calling it,” and MCK chief Tonya Perron gathering her belongings and walking out of the room stating, “I’m not here to be assaulted, sorry,” as she exits.
Cody is seen interacting with other members in attendance at the meeting, and Montour is seen seated with fellow MCK chiefs at the front table for the rest of the video.
Montour is currently on vacation and was not available for comment when reached by The Eastern Door. Instead, Cody spoke on behalf of the Council table.
“At the end of the day, yes, we can disagree on things, yes, we can have our debates, but any time it gets into a realm of physicality and intimidation, that’s where we’re going to draw the line,” he said. “Even as elected officials, yes, seven layers of thickness need to be there in your skin, but there’s a fine line between somebody yelling at you and somebody advancing in an aggressive manner towards you.”
Cody said that Kerry had started advancing towards the table, which resulted in others both grabbing Montour and grabbing Kerry to avoid any physical altercation.
“Nobody wanted it to get to that point,” Cody said.
The dispute was related to the restoration plan for JFK Quarry, as well as plans for water and sewer pipes to be laid in the area. Kerry believes this would involve contaminated soil being dumped, whereas Cody said that claim is false.
“He stated we’re trying to bring in contaminated filth, and Ryan responded back saying that’s a total lie, and that’s all misinformation that you’re spreading. I think it’s important that when we as elected officials hear about misinformation in public spaces like that, we have to step in,” he said. “We can’t just let that go or ignore it. It’s false information and we’re not going to tolerate that being spewed at the meeting.”
Kerry maintains that documents outlining the restoration plan serve as evidence of contaminated soil - something that Cody said is also untrue, and that he plans to address at public sessions on the topic in coming weeks.
“They’re pulling all kind of crap behind our backs. They called me and my wife liars,” Kerry said.
Kerry said he didn’t support the decision for Cody to end the meeting.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
“Of course I got mad. But I would have preferred to continue,” he said.
Cody and the rest of the Council table released a video after the meeting directly addressing the incident, which Montour was also present in.
In that video, Cody stated that the next community meeting agenda would be focused on discussing the intentions of community meetings, guidelines, and whether the frequency and timing of meetings should be reconsidered.
