SNGR General Council Briefs: road closures, reopening schools, donations to Moore family

OHSWEKEN – Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council held the General Council meeting on Tuesday evening and addressed several local issues.

Cleaning facilities

SNGR says they need to bring in a cleaning service to properly clean publicly owned sites ahead of the lifting of pandemic restrictions in the community.

SAO Mandy Wesley said there was a public health need to immediately hire cleaners and that the council should create and hire a cleaning division within Public Works in the long term.

No source of funding for the division was immediately identified.

Plan to reopen schools

A request was put forward for council to develop a comprehensive plan to reopen Six Nations Schools. Councillors identified that the duty to reopen schools was the responsibility of Kathleen Manderville at Indigenous Services Canada and not a task for SNGR.

Councillor Audrey Powless-Bomberry said the motion was brought to General Council in hopes that the council could bring all groups in the community working on education together to draft a plan to help reopen.

Councillor Wendy Johnson said that because the council has not taken over education that the onus to making a return to school plan falls on Kathleen Manderville and ISC to take action.

Powless-Bomberry said there was need for community groups working in education to align their voices for what ISC should be doing in the re-opening of the schools.

Road closures

A community resident called several council members saying that if barricades at the end of Mohawk Road and Townline are not removed they are going to remove them on their own.

Council members affirmed that the resident frustrations were echoed by several other community members who have contacted them privately to express frustration that the community is still on lockdown.

Public Works Director Micheal Montour said that Six Nations is uniquely positioned between a Phase 1 restriction community, Haldimand-Norfolk and a Phase 2 restriction community, Brantford-Brant. Montour said the topic of reopening would be discussed at Wednesday’s Emergency Control Group. Chief Mark Hill said that an initial date of June 15th to start a gradual approach to open roads was being discussed and invited all council members to attend the ECG meeting for participation.

Donations to Chantel Moore

Councillor Helen Miller suggested Elected Council make a donation to the fund to support surviving family of Chantel Moore, the young indigenous woman who was shot and killed by a police officer in New Brunswick.

Council discussed issuing a statement of support for the families and to draw attention to the systemic injustice and danger indigenous women face when encountering police and the similarities black people in Canada and the US experience in those situations.

Councillor Miller agreed to share contact details for council members to make donations to the Moore family on their own behalf.

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