What every caretaker councillor is up to

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake caretaker council continues to work under a limited mandate as council and community await the next steps of a Federal Court hearing that will eventually allow for an election.

After Kanesatake’s 2025 election was suspended by chief electoral officer Graeme Drew on the eve of the election on August 1, the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) filed an interlocutory injunction with the Federal Court to restore stability and governance in Kanesatake.

A Federal Court decision granted injunctive relief by appointing a caretaker council made up of five outgoing Council chiefs, including Serge Otsi Simon, Brant Etienne, Amy Beauvais, Denise David, and John Canatonquin in October 2025.

The caretaker council was mandated to engage in “simple administration matters such as day-to-day administration, the provision of essential services to community members, ordinary payable accounts, management of administrative staff, the continuation of in-progress projects, and other measures necessary to ensure the continued functioning of Council and the protection of the community’s legal interests until the decision of the Court on the underlying application,” wrote judge Phuong T.V. Ngo in the Federal Court’s ruling last year.

The judge also ruled against a motion to compel the caretaker council to appoint a new chief electoral officer to proceed for an election made by Vincent Carney, lawyer to Amanda Simon, a respondent of the case.

Ngo found there was insufficient evidence to support the motion, and that organizing an election fell outside the limited scope of the caretaker council’s mandate.

Caretaker council members continue their work on projects and portfolios they had as elected chiefs, as well as managing daily governance, administrative and legal tasks for the community.

Caretaker council member Amy Beauvais is involved in projects on several portfolios, including housing, infrastructure, education, health and social, and communication.

For housing, the council has received more than $3.2 million in funding, which is expected to cover the estimated $2.7 million cost of the three triplexes housing project currently underway, said Beauvais.

For health and social, Beauvais is working on collaborating more with the Kanesatake Health Center (KHC). She hopes to work with various departments to manage funding the council has received for community mobilization, which includes projects that fight against poverty, prevent family violence, promote participation in sports, and increase community work.

“We’ve been a little bit disconnected from them,” said Beauvais, referring to the KHC. “So hopefully this will bridge that.”

Under the education portfolio, Beauvais has also helped to obtain funding for the daycare to develop an educational program, do upgrades in the building, and buy new toys for the kids, like a dinosaur bones set and bikes.

Finally, Beauvais is also managing the creation of a new website for the MCK that she hopes will be up this Spring as part of her work under the communications portfolio.

Caretaker Council member Serge Otsi Simon’s portfolios are environment and security.

For the security portfolio, the main project he is working with council member Brant Etienne is to renew or find new funding for the Kanesatake Perimeter Security team, a security force that aids with accidents, crime and helps first response teams in Kanesatake. Current funding is set to end next week, on March 31.

“We have to keep it going because everybody here trusts them,” said Simon. “Kane Montour has been amazing at what he does. He’s prevented so many escalations here. I don’t know what we’re going to do if he’s not around,” said Simon, referring to the KPS coordinator.

Simon and Etienne both attended the Iroquois Caucus in February and obtained a letter of support from the caucus towards funding the KPS, and have participated in advocating for support from the Minister of public security and Indigenous affairs Ian Lafrenière and Oka mayor Patrick Hardy.

Etienne’s portfolios are justice and security, environment, governance and health.

For Etienne, the projects on the environment and health portfolios are on the back burner mainly because some of the issues involved in them are still in court, such as cases on unsanctioned work and dumping on the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains.

Etienne also helps manage daily governance tasks for the MCK.

Caretaker council member John Canatonquin, 78, is semi-retired. He was planning on retiring on July 31, 2025, but the cancellation of the election last year drew him back in after he was asked to participate in the caretaker council.

He only participates in council meetings to give his perspective when asked, and to allow council to meet quorum, which is a minimum of four people, at council meetings. Canatonquin is a volunteer and is not paid, he said.

Denise David is on medical leave at the moment.

After her brother Dan David, a prominent Indigenous journalist, passed away earlier this year on January 12, Denise took a bereavement leave for 10 days. Shortly afterwards, in early February, Denise said she began her medical leave, which was set to end at the beginning of March.

In early March, she renewed her medical leave until the end of April.

“If everything goes well, I’ll ask my doctor to return earlier,” said Denise.

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Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter