Survey results for proposed Residency Law released

04/28/2017

The Mohawk Council of Kahnaw�:ke (MCK) announced today that the results of a survey regarding a proposed law on Residency have been made available for viewing at www.kahnawake.com/residency .

The survey was conducted over several weeks beginning in late December 2016 and concluded earlier this month. The goal was to gauge community opinion on matters related to residency.

�We�re pleased with the participation and the results,� said Iets�nhaienhs Rhonda Kirby, who is responsible for the proposed Residency Law on behalf of the MCK. �We were able to determine that there is overwhelming support for the creation of a Residency Law, with 87% of respondents agreeing and only 7% saying �no.� This is highly complementary to the consensus reached through the Community Decision Making Process (CDMP) for the Kahnaw�:ke Membership Law to defer sections that pertain to Residency until the community decides whether to have a separate Residency Law. This bodes well for collecting a community mandate to move forward.�

The proposed Residency Law would start by removing sections from the Membership Law, with the intent to make it simpler to address and administer the law.

Due to possible implications that could result from Canada�s upcoming amendments to the Indian Act in July (due to the Descheneaux Decision), the Kahnaw�:ke Legislative Coordinating Commission approved the use of the CDMP Urgent Process for the proposed Residency Law. 

�With the results now complete, we can move forward with our action plan,� Iets�nhaienhs Kirby added. �We will make a brief presentation at the upcoming Spring Community Meeting on Tuesday, May 9th, followed by a special Information Session on May 16th. We will then ask the Community for a mandate on May 23rd at an official CDMP meeting. If that is successful � which the survey indicates it should be � we will begin Hearings the following week.�