MCK applauds AFNQL Resolution

06/27/2024

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) wishes to inform the community that on May 15, 2024, the Chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) passed a resolution denouncing Canada and Quebec′s failure to fulfill their obligations to consult and accommodate Indigenous Peoples regarding the Northvolt Project.

This resolution confirms a broad level of support for the MCK′s positions taken in the Northvolt litigation filed last January, including:

• Denouncing the provincial and federal government′s failure to consult.
• Affirming that their patterns of late and fragmented consultation are unacceptable.
• Calling out the provincial wetlands compensation scheme as being particularly dismissive of Indigenous rights, and
• Pointing out that Northvolt is just one piece in Quebec’s Battery Initiative and Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy, both of which have generally failed to respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

In January 2024, the MCK filed a lawsuit with the Quebec Superior Court, asking the Court to declare that the federal and provincial governments breached the duty to consult and ordering them to respect their duty to consult on the Northvolt Project.

To view the AFNQL resolution, click here.