Community gives Mandate for Kahnawake Residency Law

05/24/2017

The Kahnawà:ke Legislative Coordinating Commission wishes to announce that the community has given a Mandate to proceed with the proposed Kahnawà:ke Residency Law using the ‘Urgent Process’ provisions within the Community Decision Making Process. The decision was reached at the conclusion of last evening’s Community Consultation held at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Consensus was reached on the following:

1. the Urgency of the Law (two objections)
2. the Purpose and Scope of the law (see proviso below)
3. a Mandate to move the law forward using the Urgent Process, as indicated in the CDMP (two objections)

Agreement was not reached on the matter of ‘People registered with Canada, with some lineage and grew up in Kahnawà:ke,’ which is included in the Starting Point for Eligibility in the ‘Scope’ section. Therefore, it was proposed, and accepted by consensus, that the Mandate be given with the proviso that the Drafting Team will include a number of options in the draft law when it becomes available. It will then be discussed and debated when the CDMP resumes.

As a result of the Mandate being given last evening, it was determined that there is no need for another Community Consultation meeting next week.

The proposed law is categorized as Type I – Urgent, as it is a fundamental law that affects the entire community. While the process is accelerated, the community should be aware that, should the law be accepted using the Urgent Process, it would still need to re-enter the regular CDMP within a year of passage.

All documents pertaining to the proposed Kahnawà:ke Residency Law can be viewed at www.kahnawakemakingdecisions.com .