SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 – Lawyer Keith Gordon has filed a Federal Claim against the MCA. It is seeking to be a Class Action, and right now there is one claimant, Roger Thompson of Akwesasne.
At the root is land locked property in Akwesasne and how there is no device to resolve it according to the document. Allegedly this issue impacts many people and this particular case has been ongoing since the 80’s!
The irony is that the land appears to have been owned by current MCA Grand Chief Abram Benedict’s grand father and Mr. Thompson stated he is in fact a first cousin of the Grand Chief which may put Mr. Benedict in a Conflict of Interest during the case.
Mr. Thompson stated to CFN:
“If it was just my case alone ignored by MCA, it probably would be dealing with just me and MCA and the problem with provincial/local courts they tend to not pursue cases like this because some laws can’t be enforced by the province on reservations, especially real-estate and such.. It would have been a clear-cut case if it was off the reserve. You know if someone takes and blocks your roadway, the court can order them to remove the blockade or give you property to move your roadway.”
“The reason it became a class action, was from doing a little research, I found there are over 240 cases of landlocked and other land issues that MCA is directly responsible for.”
“After meeting with some of the people that have land issues, we decided a class action would be better than just one case.”
“This is the first of its kind in Canada and as you say, will be a pathway/ blueprint for other cases such as this.”
“There are other reservations with similar problems, and we hope this case will help them also.”
“Elijah was Abram’s grandfather as well as mine, we’re first cousins. I haven’t talked to him, but it must be hard on him dealing with this and not creating a conflict of interest.”
“This is how bad it is, creating an alienation/animosity between families and friends all because some people are just plain greedy.”
Grand Chief Benedict and the MCA have been asked for comment but have not responded to multiple requests as of publication.
We will update as more information becomes available.
None of the allegations or statements have been proven in court.
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