The need to look out for everyone

The latest Mohawk Council of Kahnawake communications move? Let’s just say it has something in common with 200 cubic metres of raw sewage.

Just last week we had to fight for days to try to protect an ordinary community member from a barrage of mean-spirited comments just for submitting a residency application, which for some reason was allowed to become an MCK Facebook page free-for-all.

The way it went down made things plenty clear: when it comes to sticking up for a hard-working community member with special needs, moderating scornful comments takes the utmost of measured consideration - that is, it stays up until someone takes the time spell it out for them: l-a-t-e-r-a-l v-i-o-l-e-n-c-e.

With all the talk from the MCK the past couple of years about lateral violence directed at chiefs - people who signed up for the job and who wield power - their ear should be better attuned when bullying is directed at someone else.

Make no mistake, bullying is never acceptable, but the MCK needs to do better when punching down happens on their watch.

Instead, they’ve shown they are most concerned about the community’s treatment of themselves.

In one recent instance, a couple harsh comments directed at a chief was promptly deleted. Yet they are hesitant to protect an ordinary, innocent community member?

It’s hypocrisy, pure and simple.

Here’s a case in point - what happens when their own press release gets negative feedback, in this case for a Council decision of community importance for which the MCK should be accountable?

That’s right, a communique issued last Friday informing the community of an intention to dump 200 cubic metres of untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River was quickly withdrawn, but not before community members piled on with their thoughts on the plan. Was it because of all the negativity the MCK received on the post?

It certainly seems like it, because it felt like a bait and switch when things got too hot.

We did notice one difference between the original press release and the one posted hours later: The original said “The MCK has submitted a request for a permit from Environment and Climate Change Canada,” but this paragraph is nowhere to be found in the updated version.

Was this removed because it’s not true? Was it removed because it shows who MCK believes calls the shots? Was it because they did submit a permit but didn’t need to, making them look incompetent?

According to Public Works, MCK isn’t requesting but rather notifying the federal government of its plans, with Council claiming jurisdiction over the waters. So why wasn’t the community notified in the re-post? Is it because they’re not willing to put their money where their mouth is if the government says no?

Whatever the reason, what we know for sure is that the post was deleted and reposted hours later with a blank slate of comments, and the community didn’t get an explanation why.

Speaking of hypocrisy, wasn’t the MCK one of the most outspoken groups when Montreal decided to dump sewage in 2015, even if that was two billion gallons of the dirty stuff? Now Council are the ones who are saying we’re dumping this, environmental harms be damned.

The bottom line is if you’re going to take a stand and say dumping untreated sewage harms the environment and isn’t acceptable, you need to explain clearly what is going to be done and why, and whether there are any alternatives, and an evaluation of the harms - that’s a start.

Instead, what the community got was an MCK chief appearing in the comments to say he didn’t even know about a plan to dump sewage and that he’s going to look into it, only to later clarify that it was discussed at Council, but that he doesn’t know if he was there and might be drawing a blank. He’s also one of the chiefs on the environment portfolio.

Really? At least he didn’t delete his comments.

Well, the story keeps changing. Now we’re told Public Works won’t necessarily dump the sewage, but rather they’re doing a needed operation in which sewage dumping will likely be required in at least some quantity, but maybe not.

Was this the case all along? Who knows. But MCK grand chief Cody Diabo hopped on Facebook to give the definitive account: that the press release was rushed and lacked information.

He said the dumping of that quantity of sewage would be a worst-case scenario but that the work could be done quickly enough to avert the need to divert sewage into the river.

The grand chief says a media blitz is coming, but not till the PR department can tend to the lands summit because it’s stretching the department thin.

While it’s good to get some apparent clarity, the grand chief’s personal Facebook page isn’t the right venue to get the facts straight on an important issue to concerned community members.

After all, we saw what that was like when he chose to go on a crusade against The Eastern Door for reporting on a public (yet somehow secret?) community meeting last year. Community members didn’t think it was appropriate, and they let the MCK know it.

Meanwhile, his previous post on the subject says the volume of dumped sewage could be reduced, but doesn’t say anything about preventing it altogether.

And what will the environmental impact of this event be? In the grand chief’s words, the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office “agreed that this isn’t the best thing to do,” meaning there would be some kind of environmental impact, even if it’s the best time of year to mitigate it. But that’s not very specific.

Meanwhile, as far as anyone following official channels knows, that sewage is getting flushed lock, stock, and barrel into the river, because that’s what the only official press release about it still says at the time of writing this editorial.

Council needs to be transparent and accountable, and that means being clear and open to valid criticism, while acknowledging it needs to hold itself to a higher standard. That starts with using official channels, implementing clear social media policies designed to shield community members from lateral violence, and taking the time to explain why when a post is deleted - and certainly not to delete it for a flimsy reason.

It means taking responsibility for making Kahnawake a better place - in our books, that starts with saying enough is enough when it comes to bullying, while welcoming critiques from the community it is responsible for representing.

TED Staff