Proposed Tobacco Law gets green light to move forward

02/11/2015

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) would like to inform Kahnawa’kehró:non that consensus was reached at last evening’s Community Consultation to proceed with creating a law to regulate the Kahnawà:ke tobacco industry using the Community Decision Making Process.

Consensus was also reached to approve the urgency of the law in order to create the legislation within a shorter timeframe than could be accomplished using the regular process.

The Kahnawake Tobacco Association (KTA) presented an historical overview of the industry, followed by a presentation by Chief Gina Deer on behalf of the MCK. Afterward, community members asked questions and brought forth their comments and concerns. Consensus was reached after approximately an hour of discussion. The meeting concluded at 7:40pm.

Approximately fifty community members were in attendance.

“I have to admit that I’m very pleased at the outcome,” said Chief Deer. “It’s taken a long time to get to this point. But the consensus was crystal clear and that gives us the confidence we need to move forward. I can’t speak for the KTA but I’m certain they’re happy with the level of support we saw last night.”

The next steps are expected to be announced shortly.