Quebec provincial police conduct raid in Mohawk community of Kanesatake

QUEBEC — Investigators with the Quebec provincial police’s financial crimes unit are conducting searches in a Mohawk community near Montreal.

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake says provincial police are searching the band office and the health centre in connection with an investigation into the community’s COVID-19 task force.

The council said in a post on Facebook that the grand chief and the manager of the community’s health centre are co-operating with investigators.

Provincial police spokesman Sgt. Marc Tessier says he can’t comment on the nature of the police operation.

The community has been officially served by provincial police since an Indigenous-led force was disbanded in 2005, but police rarely enter the community, which was the site of the 1990 Oka Crisis — a 78-day standoff over land rights between Mohawk people and the Canadian Armed Forces.

Multiple media have reported that some Kanesatake community members are living under a climate of intimidation because of the lack of police authority on the territory and the alleged presence of organized crime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2023.

The Canadian Press