Mohawk Council of Kahnawake studying Blue Book

The Parti Quebecois (PQ) plan for Quebec separation as outlined in the party’s Blue Book was published without a chapter on Indigenous relations, pending consultations with Indigenous leaders, but Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo said the Council never received a copy for review.

Instead, the MCK is currently studying hundreds of publicly available pages of the document, which is pitched as a blueprint for an independent Quebec if the PQ wins the October 5 election.

“The agreements that we have are with the federal government. That can’t be extinguished because a provincial government feels like they’re going to separate,” said Diabo.

Even the idea of Indigenous issues being limited to one section shows that the party is not taking the rights and needs of First Nations seriously, he suggested.

“You can’t put First Nations in one chapter because everything they’re talking about has an implication for First Nations,” Diabo said.

“They’re trying to make French the only language of Quebec. What about First Nations languages? What about the impacts residential schools had on us?”

First Nations, which receive federal transfers, would also have particular concerns about the currency Quebec chooses, assuming those transfers were maintained.

Council has identified ample cause for concern in the publicly available portions, he said, and the MCK intends to publish a letter with its concerns ahead of the election.

For instance, Diabo said the MCK takes issue with Quebec’s rendition of history.

“There’s a lot of revisionist history,” Diabo said. “I don’t know if they didn’t get the same history class or people just don’t want to talk about it, but it makes it sound like the French were really good allies with all First Nations people, the English are bad people, they colonized everything, they even colonized Quebec. They want to be outside the grip of colonial oppression. I don’t really know where they’re going with it.”

He said if Quebec citizens or those of other provinces, like Alberta, are serious about separating, they need to understand the implications and consider the constitutional and treaty guarantees that exist in Canada for Indigenous Peoples.

“The underlying thing you have to recognize is that First Nations have the only say in terms of the land in this area,” he said.

The PQ has led polls for years under Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who is leading the party into an election for the first time.

Calls for a referendum for an independent Quebec have softened in recent weeks as the breakdown in trade talks between the US and Canada have increased the federalist mood in the province.

In response, St-Pierre Plamondon has committed to holding off on a referendum until Trump is no longer in power, a promise Diabo is not impressed with.

“Trump has drastically changed the US political landscape,” said Diabo. “There’s only a matter of time before there’s another trump, if not right after him – if he even gives up power.”

The PQ did not respond to a request for comment.

marcus@easterndoor.com

Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter