Meeting scheduled with Minister Jolin-Barrette on Bill 96 tomorrow - Friday

05/12/2022

The Mohawk Council of Kahnaw�:ke wishes to advise the community that Oh�n:ton �:iente ne Ratits�nhaienhs Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer and Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador Regional Chief Ghislain Picard, and Chief John Martin, will meet with Quebec�s Minister of Language & Culture Simon Jolin-Barrette and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs Ian Lafreni�re tomorrow morning to discuss issues regarding Bill 96.

Grand Chief Sky-Deer, in a Facebook Live statement issued earlier today (click here to view), thanked the Kahnaw�:ke Survival School students for organizing a march voicing concerns about certain aspects of the Bill. A large number of students, with the support and participation of parents, elders, political leaders, and other community members, participated in the march and subsequent rally, which caught widespread attention.

�It was a great show of unity, which was very much needed at this time,� said Grand Chief Sky-Deer. �The community is seeing Bill 96 as an attack on our future, and the turnout was impressive. We are looking forward to tomorrow�s meeting and are hopeful that, by meeting with Minister Jolin-Barrette directly, we will be able to articulate our concerns and make it clear that short of a deferral of the Bill to a future legislature, there needs to be a total and absolute carve-out of the Bill�s application on Indigenous Nations, communities, institutions, and individuals.�

Grand Chief-Deer wishes to advise the community that an update will be provided once the meeting concludes.

�We are advising that the community continue to meet on Bill 96 in the days to come in order to best understand and address this matter,� she concluded.