Consensus reached on final sections of Kahnawake Membership Law

10/26/2016

The Kahnawà:ke Legislative Coordinating Commission (KLCC) wishes to inform the community that consensus was reached on the final five (5) sections of the proposed amendments to the Kahnawà:ke Membership Law. By completing the agenda, the First Hearing phase of the Community Decision Making Process has reached a provisional conclusion.

Since a proposed law on residency will be brought forth for consideration, it was earlier agreed to by the community to defer those sections currently in the Kahnawà:ke Membership Law pertaining to residency. Should the community approve a mandate to proceed with a Residency Law, the aforementioned sections would be removed from the Kahnawà:ke Membership Law. Should the community decline a mandate, the First Hearing would resume to address the deferred sections.

The sections completed at last evening’s meeting included Sections 25 to 30 (Notice, as may be required by this Law or the Regulations; Kanien’kéha Version of the Law; General Provisions; Amendment procedures; and Enforcement). The final section, #30 (Enactment and Coming into Force) was also approved by consensus, with one abstention.

On a final note, at the conclusion of the meeting the participants selected Keisha Goodleaf as a new Drafting Team Community Representative. She replaces Arlene Jacobs, who was elected to Council in 2015. The two other Community Representatives are Jeremiah Johnson and Ramona Decaire.

The law will now be redrafted to include the input from the eighteen (18) meetings in the First Hearing phase and prepared for the Second Reading.