Shekon Sewakwe:kon.
I'm here today to bring to your attention an issue in my territory, the Kanesatake Mohawk territory, concerning a G&R site that is owned by two community members. It's on federal lands within our territory. I want to bring to the attention of the committee here and to all the members who are listening and who can bring awareness or some assistance the issue that since 2015, I believe, this has been a toxic waste site in our community.
In 2021 my council and I revoked the band council resolution, the permits and the agreement we had with the owners of G&R. We were in discussions with the federal and provincial governments on a remediation process, which has now been halted because of the interference by five members on my council regarding the site and because of three requests from the federal government that have not been answered due to the toxic environment in our council.
The witnesses here—Mr. Tracy P. Cross, and online, Mr. Eugene Nicholas, who is the environmental director at Kanesatake—and I have been working diligently with our community and with another council chief, Chief Valerie Bonspille, to help remediate the issue. There are remediation plans, but they're being stopped. They're being roadblocked by five members of my council for reasons that I can only say are ridiculous.
When it comes to health and welfare, this involves not just Kanesatake, not only my community, but also the surrounding municipalities and their community members. This is not a political issue anymore. I believe that the federal and provincial governments have been trying to undermine that view of it, but it is now a health issue.
I have joined forces, or forces from those municipalities have joined in with my plea with the MNAs. We've written a press release. We wrote resolutions together to the federal and provincial governments for assistance with this issue. Right now, they have fallen on deaf ears, and it seems that we're being ignored.
This was read out in the House by Ms. Elizabeth May. It was brought up, I believe, two years ago and it is still being ignored. It is being held, I believe, as a political hostage by these five individuals on my council to stop any progress in the remediation plan that the federal government is offering to our community. I think it's time that both governments—provincial and federal—realize that this has to stop.
People need to start listening. People have to realize that this is not a first nations issue; it's a community issue. It's a non-native issue, a health issue and an environmental issue.
We're talking now about water issues. There are three streams that run through the G&R site and into the Ottawa River, which turns into the Lake of Two Mountains, which then turns into the St. Lawrence River. That affects multiple municipalities and communities downriver as well as aquatic life, the fauna, our medicines, our natural way of life and fishing. This is affecting many, many aspects of our livelihood and traditional territory.
I'm just here to make a plea as a last.... We're almost destitute here to have something done, to have somebody listen to us and to get something in writing, an agreement. I've even gone so far as to ask the federal government to approve veto power for me to sign these agreements to get it done, because my community and other communities surrounding it have been wanting this.
It's being held as a hostage for negotiations by these five individuals who want their way done rather than what the community wants.