Premier Jean Charest says he's happy with the way his government acted to defuse tensions in Kanesatake, saying he worried the situation might turn into another
"A house had been burned, a car, Mr. Gabriel's car," said Charest.
Charest said the government did everything right in negotiating freedom for 67 native police officers who were held against their will.
"We negotiated and discussed these solutions with people who assumed officially recognized responsibilities within the community," he said.
But the government didn't include ousted Grand Chief James Gabriel in the negotiations.
The Parti Québécois said that negotiators should have talked to Gabriel first, because he is the democratically elected leader of the community.
But public security minister Jacques Chagnon said that officials had to act quickly.
"I tried not to have a 67 or 70-day riot in this community, and more important, no bloodshed," he said.
Chagnon also said that in order to establish long-term peace, alleged organized criminal activity in the community needs to stop.
But native affairs minister Benoit Pelletier said that now that order has been restored in Kanesatake, the provincial government's role is limited, essentially leaving the Mohawks who live there to sort out band leadership and policing for themselves.