occupied and unceded kanien’ke, tionni’tiohtiak:ke – The Mayor of the CITY OF MONTREAL plans to dump 8 billion litres of raw, untreated sewage, including medical & industrial waste straight into the st. lawrence river, kaniatarowanon:onwe, the river of the original people.
TOMORROW: All invited to this demonstration in Kahnawake. Everyone is welcome at the continuous fire vigil at the southern end of the Mercier Bridge that spans kaniatarowanon:onwe. Needed: wood, water, fruits, coffee.
Watch Mohawk Nation News, Protectors of the St Lawrence, subMedia.tv and Reclaim Turtle Island for updates from the ground
Timeline of Events
Sept 29, 2015.
Montreal publicly announces plan to dump 8 billion litres of raw sewage into Kanaiatarowanen:onwe (the St. Lawrence River). Opposition Projet Montréal urges city to find alternatives to 7-day purge of untreated waste water. [1]
Oct 1, 2015.
St Lawrence raw sewage dump on hold after public outcry, the city reconsiders the plan after news of the sewage release becomes public. Mayor Denis Coderre had
been asked that the work be stopped and re-evaluated before proceeding.
“Dr. Grant Brown, a Concordia University biologist specializing in aquatic behavioural and chemical ecology, said the untreated effluent could cause harm to a number of aquatic species. Brown said fish rely on chemical cues to help them perform tasks such as finding food, finding shelter and detecting and avoiding predators — tasks that are necessary for survival. The wastewater going into the river could throw them off. ”You’re depriving an entire ecological community of a source of information. It would be akin to [us deciding] to put a dome over the city and completely paint it black, so nobody could see,” Brown said.
Civil engineer Isabelle Jallifier-Verne said any human waste carried by the current could have negative consequences for communities downstream from Montreal. She said the effluent could also pollute the river banks, potentially posing a threat to the plant and animal life that live along the water’s edge. Water-treatment specialist Abdelaziz Gherrou said there’s no telling how extensive the environmental toll of untreated wastewater would be. “Why have we put in place water-filtration plants if the water can dilute everything?” Gherrou asked.” [2]
Oct 2, 2015.
-Mayor announces he is going ahead with it’s controversial plan to jump 8 billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence. [3]
-Environment Canada says it cannot authorize Montreal sewage dump but won’t say wether it has the power to stop the plan from going forward.[4]
Oct 7, 2015.
Notice of objection is sent via registered mail from the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio of the Rotinoshonni:onwe deriving authority from the Kaia’nere:kowa, the law of the land to remind M. Denis Coderre (Mayor of Montreal) and M. David Heurtel (Quebec Environment Minister) of their responsibility to uphold Teiohateh (Two-row wampum Treaty), to immediately cease plans to dump raw sewage
into the river. The letter is published on Mohawk Nation News (MNN). [5]
Oct 9, 2015.
A rally is organized by ‘Protectors of the St. Lawrence River’ outside Montreal City Hall and is attended by Kahnawake Survival students and Kahnawake community members.[6]
Oct 11, 2015.
About 40 people in kayaks and on paddleboards took to the Lachine Canal to protest Montreal’s plan to dump sewage into the St. Lawrence River. [7]
Oct 12, 2015.
Protectors of the St. Lawrence River and Kahnawake Marina send out boats to demonstrate their disapproval of the plan to dump raw waste into the river by the city of Montreal, they are joined by protectors of the river in Lasalle who hold a simultaneous rally by the river.[8]
Oct 13, 2015.
Petition started by Montrealer Xavier Nonnenmacher is presented to M. Denis Coderre with 90,000-signatures against the planned dumping of raw sewage at a council meeting in Ville Marie borough, Coderre than responds “as much as people dislike the plan, the city has no choice but to continue” [9]
Oct 14, 2015.
-The Kahtihon’tia:kwenio after waiting an entire week without a reply from M. Denis Coderre or M. David Heurtel issues a statement ‘Notice of Impeding Obstruction’ via Mohawk Nation News. Media spokespersons are chosen to conduct interviews with various media outlets (one of which included the Montreal Gazette) a day prior to the planned action of Thursday Oct 15, 2015 as outlined in the notice. The Mayor, the Quebec Environment Minister and Environment Canada is given the deadline of Friday Oct 16, 2015 to respond reasonably to the ‘Notice of Objection’ mailed on Oct 7, 2015 or that further actions would be taken. [10]
-Federal Government orders halt to Montreal plan to dump raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River slated to begin on Oct 18, 2015. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Denis Lebel states that Environment Canada wants to conduct an independent review of Montreal’s plan, at his news conference, Lebel said he was invoking Article 37 of the Fisheries Act — which serves to protect aquatic life — to suspend the sewage discharge.[11]
Oct 15, 2015.
-Coderre says Montreal will comply with federal order to hold off on sewage dump.
-Kahtihon’tia:kwenio media spokesperson issues this statement in an interview with the Montreal Gazette the previous day but published on Oct 15 “In our law, we’re supposed to protect the Earth, and we’re carrying out our responsibilities, whether the project is on or off doesn’t matter, it’s just another stalling tactic by the federal government” alluding to the impeding obstruction planned.
-The Mohawk Band Council states that “it was not authorized by them”
(as reported by the Montreal Gazette) referring to the actions planned by the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio to prevent the dumping of the 8 billion litres of raw sewage into Kanaiatarowanen:onwe (St. Lawrence River).
-A press conference was held at Adirondack Junction in
Kahnawake to read the statement of ‘Notice of Obstruction’
[Note: The deadline of Friday Oct 16, 2015 was omitted from the press statement when read because the Federal Government had in fact responded the day before
(not long after the Notice of Temporary Obstruction went public) by intervening in the Mayor’s planned date.] [13]
-A show of good faith was shown from the Kahtihon’tia:kwenio by not carrying out plans of obstruction.
Oct 16, 2015.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre called the proposed Federal delay “unreasonable” and pushed for a solution to be taken before Oct 23. Coderre declares that he does not believe that an external study is needed.[14]
Oct 18, 2015.
Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announces a trio of independent scientists to study Montreal’s sewage dump plan, Viviane Yargeau of McGill University, Daniel G. Cyr of the Université du Québec and Robert Hausler of the École de technologie supérieure (ETS) will examine the risks involved in the plan and explore whether alternate solutions can be found.
The project ban will continue until Nov. 3, while waiting for the results of the study.
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[1] http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/montreal/st-lawrence-river-sewage-bonaventure-mill-interceptor-1.3248937
[2] http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/montreal/st-lawrence-raw-sewage-dump-1.3250282
[3] http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/montreal/montreal-sewage-decision-river-pollution-1.3253800
[4] http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/montreal-will-dump-sewage-into-river-after-all-1.2592050
[5] http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2015/10/07/montreal-to-dump-otah-into-river/
[6] http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/montreal-takes-a-dump
[7] http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/paddlers-take-to-lachine-canal-in-protest-of-montreal-sewage-dump-1.2605273
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn_0EY5URUA
[9] http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/coderre-presented-with-90-000-signature-petition-against-sewage-dump-1.2608504
[10] http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2015/10/14/notice-of-impending-obstruction/
[11] http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/environment-canada-orders-halt-to-montreal-s-sewage-dump-1.2609615 and http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/federal-government-to-respond-to-montreal-sewage-dump-wednesday
[12] http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/federal-government-to-respond-to-montreal-sewage-dump-wednesday
[13] http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/montreal/mohawks-protest-sewage-dump-1.3272477
[14] http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/montreal/topstories/environment-minister-leona-aglukkaq-names-panel-to-analyse-sewage-dump-1.3277033