A group of residents of Oka, Que., are preparing to take matters into their own hands if authorities refuse to do more to prevent the illegal dumping of potentially contaminated soil in and around the neighboring First Nations community of Kanesatake, northwest of Montreal, to stop.
“That (problem) is just getting bigger and bigger and it’s getting out of hand,” explained Julie Tremblay-Cloutier, spokesperson for the community group ReconciliAction Kanesatake/Oka.
“Just a month ago we had barrels dumped on a farmer’s land in Kanesatake overnight, and it was full of toxic waste.”
They believe that governments are not doing enough, so out of frustration they received coaching on Sunday on how to use non-violent methods to prevent trucks from dumping the waste.
Michel Gélinas, who lives in Oka, says dumping has been going on in several locations for years.
“The quantities are enormous,” he told Global News. “There are no two ways about it, and there are other communities around Montreal that may also be affected.”
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Residents fear an environmental disaster.
Sunday’s training was intended to put pressure on Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel to do something.
Tremblay-Cloutier explained: “These trucks are actually transporting materials from construction sites and do not go through TRACES Quebec, a program set up to monitor the materials coming from construction sites.”
The common argument among residents and their supporters is that there is a sense of impunity that has led to the illegal dumping. There is no police service in Kanesatake and the provincial police have been criticized for not adequately patrolling the area.
In the past, members of the Mohawk community have been reluctant to speak publicly about the problem of dumping for fear of reprisals. No one from the community attended Sunday’s training and Mohawk leadership has said the community feels abandoned by the government.
“The community is hostage to the problem because there is no one to protect them,” Tremblay-Cloutier said.
Kanesatake Grand Chief Victor Bonspeille said he supports any peaceful anti-dumping protest that brings attention to the issue.
The Quebec government says it is taking action. Last week, officials were on site collecting soil samples from trucks heading to Kanesatake. The week before, inspectors examined the banks around Lake of Two Mountains, where trucks were dumping possibly contaminated soil.
But people at Sunday’s practice say they want something more robust, and until that happens, they want to be prepared.
“We don’t want to put people at risk,” coach Philippe Duhamel emphasized, “but people are now willing to take the action that our own government has not taken diligently.”
Oka residents just hope it doesn’t come to that.
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