Next week the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) will carry out a plebiscite that will ask its constituents if they would agree to armed custom officers working out of the Cornwall Island station.
Not hard to make a call on this one. There is little or no chance those
who bother to vote will agree to armed guards.
A yes vote would be a huge public relations victory for the CBSA and the feds and a huge embarrassment for the Akwesasne leaders who claim they have been speaking out against armed guards because the good folks the represent are against armed guards.
The big question would be why have we had to go through all of this for naught?
But the MCA knows the vote will be against armed guards.
The plebiscite is being held to give the MCA a stronger bargaining chip.
But will it? Not likely.
The Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) has captured the high ground in the standoff.
While those who use the bridge are inconvenienced by long waits during peak times, the CBSA officers are not champing at the bit to get back on the island.
There is every indication that they are quite comfortable in their new digs.
In fact their union is on record as saying its members will never go back to the island ... armed or otherwise.
A case could be made that the feds can't force them back because of workplace safety issues.
After all, the feds supported the decision to get the hell off the island because it was becoming unsafe.
The ridiculous decision by bureaucrats to start seizing vehicles that didn't report to customs after entering Cornwall Island from the U. S. (many times travelling home from the Quebec side) has only hardened ill feelings.
After almost five months, the two sides are farther apart.
The next crisis could be the checkpoint the MCA plans to open at the vacated CBSA island station.
Everybody entering Canada from the U. S. will have to pass through the MCA checkpoint.
Those manning the checkpoint have received a couple weeks' worth of training in how to spot a terrorist or drug dealer.
The MCA says the checkpoint will make it unnecessary for island resident to report to the CBSA.
The CBSA, of course, will not recognize the checkpoint and will continue to treat anyone who doesn't report to its temporary station as a criminal.
Not hard to see where this one is going.
Meanwhile, there is reason to believe that there is nothing temporary about the mainland checkpoint.
It makes sense for the CBSA and feds to be working on plans to establish a permanent station on this side of the river.