US embassy cable - 04QUEBEC80

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 QUEBEC 000080 
 
SIPDIS 
 
MONTREAL FOR DHS - KUPSCHE 
WHA/CAN FOR BREESE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/17/2009 
TAGS: ASEC, PREL, PGOV, PHUM, CA 
SUBJECT: KANESATAKE CALM BUT CONFRONTATION CONTINUES 
 
REF: MONTREAL 68 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: susan keogh, consul general, Quebec, State. 
REASON: 1.5 (B) 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: susan keogh, consul general, Quebec, State. 
REASON: 1.5 (B) 
 
1.  Confidential - Entire text. 
 
2.  (C)  Summary:  The situation within the Mohawk settlement of 
Kanesatake, a territory (not a reserve) bordering the U.S., 
remains tense and complicated but some progress has been made in 
keeping the peace in the past week.  Quebec's provincial police 
force (SQ) has taken the lead in mounting day and night patrols 
in Kanesatake without incident in close coordination with the 
RCMP.  Grand Chief James Gabriel, burned out of his house in 
January by a mob, remains in a hotel in the Montreal area. 
Quebec's Miniistry of Public Security told DCM Kelly and CG 
Keogh that the tripartite strategy is to avoid counterreaction 
by the heavily armed "warriors" and to deal with criminal 
elements through the court system.   The Quebec authorities have 
asked for greater coordination with the FBI on the situation. 
End Summary 
 
3.  (C)  In a meeting with Deputy Minister Luc Crepaualt and 
Director General Georges Beauchemin May 14, the two told DCM 
Kelly and Quebec Consul General Keogh that the situation in the 
Kanesatake territory bordering the U.S. is calm but fragile. 
"Warriors" among the 1,400 inhabitants continue to pose major 
security headaches for the Quebec Ministry of Public Security, 
however, with a very aggressive, confrontational approach, 
although some progress has been made in the last week. 
 
4.  (C)  At the request of the aboriginal authorities, Quebec's 
police force (SQ) has been conducting regular day and night 
patrols in the territory for the past week, apparently 
well-received and breaking several weeks of no-man's land 
lawlessness.   There is solid cooperation with the RCMP 
including daily telephone calls.   While the 7-week-old 
tripartite policing agreement between the SQ, RCMP and Grand 
Chief James Gabriel's Band Council is now being implemented, 
Gabriel remains in a hotel near Montreal ("living high at 
government expense") with a troop of several dozen Mohawk 
warriors, unable to return to Kanesatake.  An election to see if 
Gabriel can continue as Grand Chief is planned for July 7. 
Meanwhile, Mohawks from other reserves continue to arrive in 
Kanesatake, including some from Colorado, to join in the 
resistance. 
 
5.  (C)  Apart from the patrolling, Beauchemin said any police 
operations would be interpreted as an "invasion."  The Quebec 
Government wants to avoid a 1996 Oka-type situation where a 
mechanized brigade had to intervene and there were costly social 
and political reactions.  "Anything we do to squash a fly will 
give rise to huge problems."  The strategy is to avoid 
counterreaction and "psychodrama" by keeping a low profile. 
 
6.  (C)  The Charest Government has refused a $1.5 million 
request by Police Chief Ed Thompson to increase the native 
police force to 38 people.  Thompson and his peacekeepers have 
never been able to patrol and had to retire after being pelted 
with rocks and sticks, with minor injuries.   Having funded the 
first group of warriors/police that Gabriel hired earlier this 
year, who were virtually taken hostage inside Kanesatake, we 
understand Ottawa is also hesitating to provide more police 
forces. 
 
7.  (C) The role of Quebec security forces is prominent because 
Kanesatake is not a reserve but a settlement ("etablissement"). 
The patchwork of land belongs to the federal government but it 
does not have the status of reserve territory.  Federal law 
applies to governance but the province canene ito agreemens 
ith th BandCunci on olicin.  The Qubec police (SQ) are 
more accepted than the RCMP.  With long memories, the Mohawk 
remember that the RCMP killed one of theirs in 1916.  Beauchemin 
described the situation as akin to a family quarrel with people 
held hostage: the two embattled factions have been warring for 
200 years, he added.  A 5-year old law to consolidate the area 
in a new juridical arrangement has not been implemented.  This 
ambiguity has contributed to the current anarchic, destabilized 
situation at Kanesatake.  It started as a governance problem 
with related Band Council members refusing to talk to each 
other, but degenerated into a law-and-order problem with a lot 
of firepower involved.   Beauchemin spoke of rocket launchers, 
among other weaponry, in the hands of the warriors, seen in the 
newspapers in military fatigues and with faces covered. 
Beauchemin noted that these weapons were easy to acquire: he had 
spent 15 minutes on line and was able to purchase a whole range 
of weapons: "You can get anything on the Internet from the 
United States," he said.   In his view, the Mohawks were 
prepared to use them. 
8.  (C)  The Quebec side acknowledged that a breakdown of law 
and order of the magnitude that has happened at Kanesatake would 
be intolerable outside of an aboriginal area.  Trying to avoid a 
costly confrontation, yet dealing with scofflaws, they have 
launched three criminal investigations, infiltrating the highly 
criminalized elements and using the courts to prosecute 
offenders.  One investigation involves those charged with 
offenses during the riot of January 12; another involves the 
burning of Chief Gabriel's house; a third involves a mixed squad 
of police in a longer-term investigation of organized crime. 
Asked about U.S. role, the Public Security Ministry officials 
requested (as Minister Chagnon has asked us in the past) better 
coordination with the FBI in a situation where U.S. interests 
are involved and the SQ is taking a lead role on the ground. 
Some "gun slingers" have already arrived from the U.S., and more 
could come.  Beauchemin said in this case, the situation could 
evolve negatively, although he thought this to be unlikely. 
 
 
 
KEOGH-FISHER