KLCC announcement regarding Election Law decision

07/24/2014

The Kahnawà:ke Legislative Coordinating Commission (KLCC) would like to inform the community that a decision to hold a referendum to address a question regarding proposed amendments to the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Elections Law has been overturned.

Upon careful review by the KLCC, it was determined that an error was made at the Election Law Hearing on 18 Ohiarí:ha/June, 2014 at which consensus was reached to hold a referendum to determine the number of Chiefs in Council. It was unanimously determined by the KLCC that making a decision through referendum is outside the mandate of the Community Decision Making Process at this time. All decisions, through consensus, are to be made at the Hearings.

The KLCC has determined that an additional Hearing is tentatively being scheduled for mid-September to discuss and resolve this specific issue, which has been discussed for two previous meetings with no consensus reached on whether to reduce the number of Chiefs or maintain the status quo (please note: the original suggestion was to reduce the number to nine).

Other decisions made at the Hearings will stand. The pros and cons of reducing the number of Chiefs will be made available to the community via various means in the near future.