There are no shortage of issues for members of the native community to consider when deciding how to vote in the Oct. 14 federal election, says the chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
Chief R. Donald Maracle said he hopes residents of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory will study the policies of the major parties to see how they will address improving budgets for infrastructure, social housing and health benefits in native communities.
"In many ways our issues are the same as the neighbouring communities," Maracle said, adding that native leaders are also pushing for better funding for native students at all levels of education and for more job creation plans.
He also said native leaders across the county will watch closely to see how parties address settling outstanding land
claims, including the Culbertson Tract land claim brought forth by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
The band entered negotiations with the federal government this spring on how the Culbertson Tract, an 823-acre parcel of land covering half of Deseronto and about 500 acres of Tyendinaga Township, should be returned to Mohawk control.
The federal government has accepted the land claim as valid, but the two sides cannot agree on how the land should be returned.
Talks broke down this summer when the federal government told the band it wouldn't purchase properties to hand land back to native control. Instead it offered financial compensation, which the band refused.
Maracle said the band informed Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl about its displeasure with the policy and is waiting to hear his response, before deciding how to proceed.
Lack of progress on the land claim has several Deseronto residents feeling apathetic toward the upcoming election.
Toby Haggerty, the owner of Griddle Me This, a restaurant on tract land, said he doesn't plan on voting Oct. 14, even though the future of his business rests with the federal government.
He believes it doesn't matter who is in charge in Ottawa; the contentious land claim that has gripped his community will continue unresolved for years to come.
"We want it to be settled -- the sooner the better," Haggerty said. "But we all know it's going to be 20 years or more."
He added that several others in Deseronto are so frustrated with the uncertainty, they don't care how the claim ends, so long as it ends sometime soon and people on both sides can move on with their lives.
"Give them the land or give them the money -- just end it," he said, adding that he would understand if his business had to be shut down. "If it happens, it happens."
Haggerty wasn't the only one to express frustration with the government and doubt over whether the upcoming federal election will change the fate of the town. Other Deseronto residents questioned why a federal election had been called and said it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money.
"Why did he call an election?" said Allan Stuart, sitting on a bench outside a downtown business Tuesday afternoon. "We're paying for it."
As soon as the topic of politics was raised, three others sitting near him, got up and left. One of them said, "I'm sick of it all."
Stuart said the only issue pressing to him was the need for a better justice system to shut down native protests which have taken place in Deseronto over recent years, resulting in blocked highways and railways.
"They stopped traffic," he said. Looking at a non-native, he f you did that, what do you think would happen?"