Wild Wild West ordered to vacate

The Superior Court of Quebec has ruled against Elvin “Jason” Diabo, denying his application for nearly $1.8 million in damages against the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) and Tewatohnhi’saktha and giving him 90 days to remove his business.

“I think it’s totally unfair,” said Diabo, whose business, Wild Wild West, is located on land owned by the MCK. “It’s like I’m fighting against the government, not the Council, because they’re both together; it’s the same thing.”

While it’s the latest development in a battle that saw Diabo put a stop to major roadwork on Route 207 by blocking it with his truck almost eight years ago, it may not be the last - unless he finds another location, Diabo signalled he won’t be leaving willingly.

“I’ve got my 90 days, but I can’t go anywhere. I don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.

According to the MCK, the purpose of the project was to rehabilitate the Route 207 and Highway 30 intersection, including road widening and the installation of water and sewer infrastructure.

This was to support the possible extension of service connections to the area in the future, the MCK said in a press release. The project was funded by Quebec’s transit authority.

According to the Superior Court judgment, the lot on which Wild Wild West was located was purchased by the MCK in 2013 because it was identified as necessary to open up an area known as “Parcel D,” part of the Highway 30 lands returned to the community by the Quebec government, which is situated behind the business.

The MCK set aside the lot for the exclusive use of Tewatohnhi’saktha, making the business development organization effectively Diabo’s landlord.

In a 2025 report, the Lands Designation Working Group recommended that about a third of the 225-acre parcel behind Wild Wild West should be used for homes, with the rest being split between conservation, agriculture, and commercial purposes.

Lot 168, on which Wild Wild West is located, was sold to the MCK on the condition that the business be allowed to continue to operate according to its existing lease conditions.

Wild Wild West paid rent of $1,200 a month starting in August 2013, and in 2016 agreed to a three-year lease extension. A new three-year lease, signed in February 2017, included a tenant option for a one-time, five-year renewal, ending in February 2025, which was exercised.

The expiration of this lease is the main justification for the court’s order that Wild Wild West must vacate the premises. The decision’s author, justice Andres C. Garin, gave a 90-day deadline from the date of the judgment - May 19 - because the 30 days afforded by the lease agreement was deemed too short.

“I note that nothing prevents the parties from coming to an agreement that would allow Mr. Diabo to continue to lease a portion of Lot 168 on terms that might be agreeable to all parties,” Garin wrote. “However, given the current state of their relationship, that may nigh be impossible.”

He added that the MCK was seeking injunctive relief ensuring that Diabo cannot interfere with the delayed roadwork, since without the right to occupy the lot, he has no basis for objecting to it being carried out.

“Mr. Diabo’s testimony suggests that there is a strong probability that he will oppose and seek to block the performance of any work on Lot 168,” wrote Garin. “As he has no legal right to do so, I will issue the injunctive relief requested by the MCK.”

Diabo launched the lawsuit in 2020, accusing the MCK’s work of hurting his sales not just while it was underway, but ever since, saying his business never fully recovered. Justice Garin seemed to sympathize with the Diabo’s difficulty in pulling together the needed financial documentation, given there is ordinarily no need for it on the reserve, but what was provided failed to prove a lasting impact to business, the judge concluded.

That’s because retail sales began to drop several months before the work was announced, and after the work was stopped, sales exceeded the levels reached a year prior. While at trial the amount claimed for lost business was reduced to about $925,000, it was not granted.

“Living and operating a business in a community carries significant benefits and occasional inconveniences. One such inconvenience is that public infrastructure, including roads and sewers, must be built, maintained, and repaired,” wrote justice Garin, and while there are exceptional circumstances where compensation may be awarded, he decided these did not apply here.

The judge concluded, however, that Diabo was right that Tewatohnhi’saktha failed in its duty to inform by not advising him that his parking area would have been permanently reduced, but wrote that this doesn’t lead to liability because it never came to pass, due to Diabo’s blockage of the work.

This occurred when Diabo came back from Tioweró:ton in September 2018 and saw the work with his own eyes. “Suffice it to say he was displeased by what he observed,” the judge wrote.

Diabo also told The Eastern Door that he believes the work that was done in 2018, which included the installation of a bypass road, caused environmental damage. “I haven’t seen a turtle since they did all this project,” he said.

He also accused the work of leading to a septic tank overflow that destroyed his wood shop. The judge said there was no expert evidence provided to the court to prove that the work was the cause of the overflow.

In addition to the order to vacate, the Superior Court ruled that Diabo must pay $66,000 in back rent to Tewatohnhi’saktha, or 55 months’ worth. The press release notes that no rent was paid after April 2021, however the organization possessed predated cheques that it attempted to cash in August 2023 - these were not accepted by the bank because they were too old.

Regardless of the court’s findings, Diabo believes he has rights as a community member that are not being honoured.

“It belongs to the people,” he said of Lot 168. “It’s common land.” He believes Tewatohnhi’saktha, whose mandate is to support the local economy, should be finding a way to accommodate his business.

“It’s not just me. What they’re doing is not right,” said Diabo of the MCK. “You’re putting seven families out of work, and a family business that’s been there for over 20 years, and they’re putting us all out of work because they’ve got to put their highway in.”

He believes there are community members standing behind him, he added.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen that morning, that day,” he said. “I guess the police are going to be there. You’re going to have the Land Defenders. That’s another group. It’s not me blocking the area, it would be them, because on that court thing it says if I interfere, I guess I’ll get arrested or whatever. I just don’t know what to do,” he said.

Kerry Diabo, representative of the Kahnawake Kanien’kehá:ka Land Defenders, confirmed his group is talking about the possibility of being present at the time of any enforcement action following the 90-day period, including asking the Peacekeepers to “stand down” if they are present.

“They’re supposed to be there for the people, not to enforce the band system’s corporate law,” said Kerry, who, like Jason, believes the true purpose of the roadwork is to facilitate access for increased traffic to JFK Quarry.

Kerry’s group is planning to host a public meeting at Wild Wild West. “These things have to be brought to the community. They can’t just do whatever they want, make million-dollar agreements that people are told later on,” Kerry said.

The Superior Court ruling orders Jason “not to take any action or steps, or incite others, to impede, interrupt, block, obstruct, or otherwise stop the works” agreed upon by Quebec and the MCK.

The agreement also authorizes the MCK to remove any physical impediments to the work.

The MCK declined to comment on the ruling, besides what was written in its press release, citing the possibility of appeal.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter