MCK suit against Northvolt plant takes preliminary step forward
The suit filed by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake against the construction of an electric-vehicle battery plant took a preliminary step forward when a judge was appointed to the case earlier this week.
In addition, the MCK received notice that its request for Special Case Management in its suit against the construction of the proposed Northvolt battery plant near Saint-Basile-le-Grand was approved.
Special Case Management is the appointment of a single judge to oversee all filings related to a particular suit.
“It means we can move into case management,” MCK lead on the environment portfolio Ross Montour said. “It means we can present our case to the judge outside of the courtroom situation.”
The advantage of a Special Case Management designation “is that the judge’s familiarity with the case and with First Nations case law can result in a faster resolution,” the MCK said.
Montour insisted that Northvolt has a ‘duty to consult’ First Nations on matters that concern them – and this does, greatly, he said.
“If this fails, we’d be looking at next steps in terms of our legal options. Were we just to go for an injunction, that might get knocked down again, just like (a previous temporary injunction against the plant’s construction by a citizens’ group) and that’s just setting it up for failure,” Montour explained.
Montour cited the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and insisted that the community has a responsibility to protect the land they live on.
“As Kanien’kehá:ka, we have traditional responsibilities to act as stewards to the environment and obligations to protect it through the Ohén:ton Karihwatehkwen. By ignoring their duty to consult, the governments are essentially removing our ability to meet our cultural obligations,” said Montour, who is also the MCK lead on Indigenous rights and research.
“Although they have stated that they are committed to the, allowing an economic-development project’s timeline to infringe upon our right to self-determination shows that UNDRIP only applies when it is convenient for the government,” Montour said.
An environmental-conservation organization also weighed in on the subject, saying colonial approaches to how the environment is treated needs to end.
“At a global scale, we are facing multiple ecological crises caused by colonial and ongoing approaches to economic and environmental governance which have driven massive social, cultural and health inequities for centuries, with a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities,” said David Suzuki Foundation director general Sabaa Khan. “The reality of our current provincial legal and regulatory landscape and industrial development and consultation practices, is that they lie in fundamental contradiction with inherent and constitutionally recognized Indigenous rights, as well as the universally recognized human right to a healthy environment.”
Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase
