Hydro-Quebec Agrees to Return Lands

06/27/2016

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) would like to advise Kahnawa’kehrò:non that Hydro Québec has agreed today to return certain lands that are no longer being used as a right-of-way for the purposes of transmitting electricity.

As Portfolio Chief on the Hydro Working Group, Ratsénhaienhs Kenneth McComber oversaw the negotiations for the return of the land. More specifically, Hydro Québec has agreed to renounce any interests it may still hold in Hydro Line 3 to secure the de-registration of the right-of-way for the line from the federal Indian Land Registry System – which already benefits from reserve status – and secure the return of land underlying Hydro Line 4 via the Additions to Reserve process.

“We’ve been working on getting this done for several years,” said Ratsénhaienhs McComber. “While the process to use our land back in the 1930’s was fairly simple, having it formally returned is a far more complicated matter. But we’re very pleased that the lands in question will be 100% back in the community’s possession.”

Hydro Lines 3 and 4 are no longer in use and have since been dismantled; however, the right-of-way was retained by Hydro Québec. The return of these lands to Kahnawà:ke will finally and firmly rectify the issue. It should be noted that the Additions to Reserve process is not particularly quick – the formal return could take an additional five years to complete.

“I’m happy to say that our efforts are starting to see results,” McComber concluded. “There’s more to do, but today is a good day.”