Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to thank the standing committee. My name is Cheryl Jacobs. I'm a district chief representing Kawehnoke, the island that is situated in Ontario, which he pointed out on the map.
I'd like to acknowledge that our grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is also here. You can see he has a bandage. He's a little incapacitated back there right now.
I sat here on May 5 when it was cancelled at 3:25. I was here on the 7th, the 12th, and the 14th, and I cannot help but say that I found a lot of coincidences and irony in the comments that were made by presenters who were here. I was very frustrated when I wrote this six-page document, which I submitted about a week and a half to two weeks ago. You all have a copy of it because it was translated into French.
When I did this submission, I went back and I did a lot of research, attempting to identify solutions. I hope you've had the opportunity to read my document that was submitted. My submission was made with some frustration and anger attached and, lastly, with the realization of how government entities can distort the truth without adequate and sufficient consultation--you've heard that word over and over by my colleagues here--with our communities, especially when we are being directly impacted by an issue.
I'd like to draw your attention to the RCMP document. Again, ironically, it was dropped on your laps on that Wednesday when the minister made his announcement. I actually felt for a moment how you may have felt that afternoon right before Mike Cabana spoke to his report. We are working on internal strategies. Keep in mind, this is the RCMP strategy. The comments that were made were very offensive towards our communities. We are working on our strategies.
For one moment I'd like to think about the statement that was made on May 29 inside Parliament, in the debates of the Senate. The Kelowna Accord was mentioned by the Hon. Robert W. Peterson. He stated:
Will the government continue to listen to First Nations people and ensure other important issues such as health, education, housing and economic development are addressed through the reintroduction of the Kelowna Accord?
The Hon. Marjory LeBreton, leader of the government, basically in her statement says something to the effect that peaceful demonstrations are going on with the National Day of Action. They believe in economic development--it's critically important--and the Conservative government has made real progress and the government has focused on practical, measurable, and tangible action in working with aboriginal people. She said the government and the ministers are working hard on resolving a lot of these longstanding issues.
Why does the government have to turn our issues into longstanding ones? This has been a longstanding issue, this contraband tobacco. This is why frustrations and angers build. So instead of contributing to the problem, work with us on speedy solutions, because we can come to you with practical, measurable, and tangible actions needed to solve the problems.
I have come to you today. I will not provide the documents, but I just want to point out that Mike mentioned earlier that there is a law right now that deals with the provincial quota system. We have a draft Akwesasne tobacco products law that would govern the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of tobacco products on the territory of Akwesasne. It has been dated December 2006, so we are working on the regulatory components of this issue.
We have a draft marine funding proposal on behalf of our Mohawk Police Service. If you remember, the shiprider program was mentioned. I'd like to point out several of my documents, but I'd need probably 100 minutes to discuss in-depth what the little tabs are all about. The shiprider program was dumped in our laps, the Akwesasne community's lap, two weeks prior to its implementation on the waters.
The RCMP document--the other one I got that day--is all tabbed out too, because it highlights areas that we need to sit down and have further discussions on. The RCMP document, I was told, would be completed, the final evaluation, on May 30--“We'll get you a copy”. I've sent e-mails. We don't have the final report yet. This has a direct impact on our community. There are plans being made that directly impact our community about contraband tobacco.
They're not consulting with us to prove and show to you that we can be part of the solution. The problem has been identified. It's been clearly identified. Again, we are part of the solution. Along with everybody sitting here at this table, we are part of that solution.
From reading half of these documents, I believe you give credit where credit is deserved and due. Three-quarters of the RCMP documents don't give credit back to our police department. Our police are stuck between a rock and hard place in having to enforce your laws and having to live in that community every day.
Concerning a solution, the number one answer from our perspective is to have the federal government listen to our solutions. We request that the federal government give us financial resources to address this issue internally and also help us by ensuring we have the financial resources to finish producing our laws. Our police can't do this alone, and the solution is both an enforcement and a political one.
Look at the bigger picture. You have to recognize our ability to create our own laws and allow us to apply them. Regulate—I keep mentioning that word. You have heard from other speakers about regulating.
I want to make something clear. I was offended when Mike Cabana made a statement about the illegal manufacturing in Akwesasne. And I contacted the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to ensure these facts were correct. So for the record, I'm going to produce factual information for you versus what's sitting in this report about Akwesasne.
There are currently six tribally licensed manufacturers on the U.S. portion of our territory and three unlicensed ones who are not operating as of today. Five of the six tribally licensed manufacturers have applied for federal ATF licences. One currently is operating with a federal ATF licence. Again, there is lack of consultation. You're going to hear that from now until we come up with a solution. You have to consult with us.
The Canada Border Services Agency, another law enforcement entity, is mentioned numerous times. They spoke. Again, I hope you've read my document where I state the mandate of the standing committee, where, again, you have the power under Standing Order 108(1), which goes into.... And I listed only the RCMP and CBSA, because what is happening right now with the CBSA is that our people are continuously, day in and day out, filing grievances and complaints against the treatment we are receiving from CBSA officials, from front-line workers right up to upper management.
We have our complaints filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Now, if we were able to sit down and work together, we wouldn't have to go to this degree of filing with the Canadian Human Rights Commission as a result of the improper treatment of our people.
Lastly, I would like to state what we have to do in our community to educate the external communities to prove the positive things that exist in our community. We educate by producing documents like this. We are a special people in a special place, in a unique place.
I will leave these in the back of the room for anybody here who wishes to learn positive things about Akwesasne. I was told about the Official Languages Act; that's why I'm stating that I'll leave them in the back of the room, because it is in English and some Mohawk.
In closing, I have to agree with a lot of the comments that were made here from our other communities, and the majority of the information you were given was 95% of exactly what I was going to say. Ten minutes is not enough time to go into every component of what is highlighted in our concerns about this document. But I did come today to at least let you know we are working on solutions, and we've got to sit down together and do it. It shouldn't take five or six years for us to come up with a solution to this, because the problems have existed for fifteen years right now.
Thank you very much for your time.