Citizens in and around the Mohawk Territory say they’ve had it with waiting for governments to act on the growing environmental crisis.
The operator practically laughed her off the phone when Julie Tremblay-Cloutier called to report an environmental emergency on Mohawk land.
“He actually told me, ‘Come on now, this situation is well known, it’s not an emergency,’” said Tremblay-Cloutier, who has fought against illegal dumping in Kanesatake for over three years.
“I had called Urgence Environnement three months earlier and they assured me they were taking actions to end illegal dumping. Then a few weeks back, I called them for an update, I told them ‘It’s actually getting worse and we have proof’ but they treat me like it’s all a big joke. Well, I don’t think they’ll laugh at what comes next.”
Tremblay-Cloutier says there are about 100 Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawks) and non-Indigenous residents of Oka ready to blockade the highway and country roads that lead into Kanesatake if the dumping doesn’t stop.
This comes after an investigation by The Rover found some of Montreal’s biggest condo developers using Kanesatake as an illegal dumping ground for their contaminated soil. What’s more, the Quebec government has been aware of this practice for years but did nothing to prevent it. (more...)
Group Threatens to Blockade Highway Over Illegal Dumping in Kanesatake
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