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Gas wars continue in Kahnawake

Author

Debora Lockyer, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Kahnawake Quebec

Volume

12

Issue

5

Year

1994

Page 1

Mohawk Chief Joe Norton and his Kahnawake council have thrown their support behind 12 Mohawk gas station owners whose businesses the province has forced shut down.

Norton said he signed an affidavit which supports the gas station owners' contention they should not have to collect taxes on sales to non-Native customers and submit tax money to the provincial government.

As a sovereign nation, the Mohawks deal with the federal government, said the chief. "The provincial law doesn't apply in Kahnawake," said Norton.

In May the Quebec government ordered the supply of fuel be cut off to the businesses until $3.8 million in sales tax were paid to the province.

The gas station owners are seeking an injunction to resume gas deliveries until the legal and constitutional arguments in the case are heard.

The lawyer for the Mohawks argues his clients will suffer economic death if the injunction is not granted.

Norton is concerned the provincial sanctions could spread to other sectors of the Kahnawake economy.

The only resource that Kahnawake has is the 50,000-plus people who travel through the reserve each day, said Norton.

He said the gas stations are losing thousands of dollars each day and approximately 100 people are out of jobs because of the fuel freeze.

The problems started in November 1993 when gas stations operated by non-Natives complained Mohawks were able to undercut their prices by not charging tax, said Norton.

It was soon proved the Mohawks were only charging a cent to a cent-and-a-half less per litre than other gas station owners, so customers at Mohawk gas stations only saw as much as a $2.50 saving per fill, he said.

But the provincial government had a point to prove to its electorate, said the chief, and is now posturing for votes.

"It shows you the weakness of this government and its inability to live up to its public statement," said Norton, referring to an April 13 joint announcement which marked a new era in negotiations between the Mohawks and the province.

"I was very hopeful," said Norton. But 10 days after the public truce, the gas station owners were served legal papers which began the fuel dispute.

"If it wasn't tragic, it was laughable," said Norton who contends the provincial government doesn't have the courage or the political will to live up to its own statements.

Native Affairs Minister Christos Sirros did offer some advice in the gas dispute however, said Norton.

He told council to distance themselves from the gas station owners because they were acting illegally, said the chief. If the Kahnawake council backed the gas station owners they would be supporting illegal activities.

No such luck for Sirros, or the provincial government in keeping council out of the fray.

The people of Kahnawake are being unfairly inconvenienced and are suffering because they cannot buy fuel in their own community, said Norton.

The people have to go off-reserve to buy fuel and are then not eligible for the kinds of tax exemptions awarded them on reserve.

This issue could have wide reaching effects on the entire Mohawk community, he said.