QUEBEC GOVERNMENT CRITICISED FOR HANDLING OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTREAL 000068 SIPDIS SECSTATE FOR WHA/CAN, IIP, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR KCRM PHUM SUBJECT: QUEBEC GOVERNMENT CRITICISED FOR HANDLING OF DISPUTE AT KANESATAKE RESERVE 1.SUMMARY: The Quebec government of Premier Jean Charest is facing scrutiny and criticism for its handling of recent factional disputes at the Kanesatake Mohawk reserve though a violent clash was averted (at least temporarily). After the home of Kanesatake Grand Chief James Gabriel was burnt to the ground, and some 60 native police officers were held prisoner in the Reserve's police station for 30 hours, a group of dissident Mohawks accepted a compromise brokered by Quebec's Minister of Public Security Jacques Chagnon. Gabriel, a reformer who has decried the presence of organized crime and drug trafficking on the reserve, told the media he was betrayed by the Quebec government, which he said had earlier pledged support. Kanesatake (population 1400) is located 50 kilometers northwest of Montreal, near the municipality of Oka, the site in 1990 of a 78-day standoff between armed Mohawk Warriors and police forces including Canadian Forces. END SUMMARY ¶2. The burning of Mohawk Grand Chief James Gabriel's house and the blockade of the Kanesatake police station were apparently sparked by Gabriel's decision to fire the Reserve's police chief and hire some 60 law enforcement officers from 19 native but non-Mohawk tribes. According to press reports, Gabriel's decision followed a leak that foiled a scheduled RCMP raid. On January 7, a communique signed by three dissident chiefs warned Kanesatake residents that the RCMP would be coming onto the reserve on January 11. The communique also accused Chief Gabriel of wanting to shut down the many tobacco shacks on the reserve where "duty free" cigarettes are sold. ¶3. At a Montreal press conference 1/13, Gabriel denied he wanted to eradicate the shacks, which have mushroomed from a handful to about thirty in less than a year, noting that in the 1990s when the tobacco trade was threatened band members turned to dealing in drugs. Gabriel and Terry Isaac, whom Gabriel had hired to lead the newly created force, said that their goal was to battle organized crime, which they claim has a very strong presence on the reserve. ¶4. Gabriel had the support of three other Chiefs on the seven-member Kanesatake Band Council. However, three dissident chiefs have tried various means, including a recent referendum, to have Grand Chief Gabriel recalled. On the basis of his slim majority in the Council, Gabriel was taking steps to reform the reserve's police force, which was under the control of a Police Commission dominated by dissidents. Gabriel also said he had received promises of protection and help from the Quebec Ministry of Public Security. However, with his house burning, and the newly arrived police officers held hostage at the Kanesatake police headquarters by masked, armed men, Gabriel was forced to flee the reserve with his wife and four young children. Minister of Public Security Chagnon negotiated a settlement of the stand-off with the police commission and reinstated the police chief that Gabriel had fired. ¶5. Premier Charest and Public Security Minister Chagnon defended the province's actions, saying that their first objective was to avoid bloodshed and a prolonged standoff. Charest and Chagnon both raised the specter of the 1990 Oka crisis, which resulted in the death of one policeman, a situation they didn't want to see repeated. Answering critics who suggested the Quebec government was caving in to criminal elements, Chagnon displayed some irritation with Gabriel for acting too hastily and for not sufficiently consulting all stakeholders before bringing in the outside native police officers. Chagnon implied that Gabriel's evidence of organized crime operations on the reserve was insufficient. And Chagnon also criticized Gabriel for not mentioning to him in a November 8 meeting that he was about to get $900,000 from Canada's Solicitor General to help fight organized crime at Kanesatake. ¶6. Georges Beauchemin, Secretary-general of Quebec's Public Security Ministry (and a key figure in resolving the Oka crisis),told Quebec City Consul General Keogh- Fisher that the situation in Kanesatake had been very dangerous, "with both sides armed and ready to shoot." However, he said that outside intervention by Quebec provincial police would have been seen as an invasion and "pushed good guys on the side of bad guys." According to Beauchemin, Grand Chief Gabriel was lucky to have escaped with his life. He told the CG that the progressive elements ("the good guys") are less organized than the criminal elements. Somewhat wishfully, Beauchemin suggested that the Mohawks need a more structured, efficient police organization which could produce evidence that will stand up in court in order that criminals in Kanesatake could be prosecuted. Beauchemin believes that such a court process would send a message to other Mohawk communities with similar problems. ¶7. On 1/15, Quebec's top first nations chiefs gave a press conference throwing their support to Gabriel. Grand Chief Ghislain Picard, who is Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador said the first nations chiefs were concerned by Quebec government actions, noting that Quebec had chosen to negotiate with a minority rather than with the duly elected majority. The Chiefs also announced that they would be setting up a special fund to collect money in order to build a new home for Gabriel. Picard added that organized crime is a problem many reserves have to confront; he said Quebec had sent the wrong signal to all the First Nations by disavowing a Grand Chief who was working to fight organized crime. He added that the Grand Chiefs will be less inclined to take part in future coalition force operations, given Quebec's handling of the Kanesatake situation. The chiefs at the press conference stressed the current situation is very different from the Oka crisis of 1990, which was set off by Mohawk concerns that a community neighboring the Kanesatake reserve intended to expand its golf course into a Mohawk ancestral burial ground. ¶8. Recent newspaper articles report that marijuana cultivation in Kanesatake is netting various individuals millions of dollars annually, because of the blind eyes of native police and the reluctance of RCMP and Surete du Quebec to enter Mohawk reserves. According to these reports, the cultivation is spread out between several hydroponic installations and outdoor fields. The hydroponic greenhouses produce five or six harvests a year and are difficult to detect because they are heated with gas-powered generators (thereby avoiding incriminating heavy electricity consumption). ¶9. Comment: Cynics have suggested that Premier Charest was anxious to avert a major crisis before his trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum next week. (He may have been reminded that the 1990 Oka stand-off received considerable negative publicity in Europe, where there is strong public sympathy and fascination for the culture and plight of North American native populations.) While the Charest government's intervention may have precluded a violent clash this week, the possibility remains that confrontations have only been deferred. End comment. ¶10. The Consulate in Quebec City contributed to this report. BALLEN