Katherine Wilton, Postmedia News · Monday, Aug. 9, 2010
Posted National Post
MONTREAL — Three days after a tense standoff with Kanesatake Mohawks, a Quebec developer met on Monday with the town council of Oka, Que., to try to resolve a conflict over his plans to build three luxury homes on land claimed by local Mohawks.
Oka Mayor Richard Lalonde will issue a statement about the meeting Tuesday, a town official said.
On Friday, developer Normand Ducharme made a highly publicized visit to Oka, just outside Montreal, saying he needed to clear away brush from the property. He left under police escort after a group of Mohawks prevented him from going on the property.
The property is across the street from the Pines, the ancestral forest and burial grounds that sparked the 1990 Oka Crisis.
Mr. Ducharme’s company, Norfolk Financial, acquired the property in Oka in March 2009 from a business person who owed it $100,000 in mortgage loans, Quebec land-registry records show.
Mr. Ducharme has said he is prepared to sell the land for $400,000.
Two weeks ago, Oka’s town council passed a resolution blocking construction on the site.
Kanesatake Grand Chief Sohenrise Paul Nicholas said Mr. Ducharme’s visit to the Oka property last Friday was a publicity stunt designed to increase the value of the land.
The mayor said last week that he hopes to make an offer for the parcel of land “satisfactory to both parties.”
The land is part of a larger parcel of land claimed by Kanesatake Mohawks. Ottawa has appointed a mediator to negotiate a new land deal in Kanesatake. Those talks are scheduled to begin next week.
Montreal Gazette