CBSA reporting times dampen holiday weekend

Residents of Akwesasne felt the effects of the border crisis in large numbers this weekend as high volumes of holiday traffic pushed wait times at the temporary Canada Border Services Agency port in Cornwall to nearly an hour and a half. At times throughout the weekend the line stretched across the entire north span bridge from Cornwall to Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island) ending near the crossroads intersection.

Mohawks traveling from Akwesasne’s other districts to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families on the Kawehno:ke were met with a 75-minute wait across the bridge – if they chose to report. Not reporting puts community members at risk of having their vehicle seized by CBSA the next time they do pass through Customs, but some have opted to give up traveling to Cornwall for good.

“I do not report when I go home,” said Kawehno:ke resident David Fadden. “I simply avoid Cornwall as much as I can. I shop in Massena or at IGA and I pay bills online.”

Fadden and many others are exercising their sovereignty and their right to travel to Mohawk land without reporting to a Canadian government.

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne has continued to support Mohawks who stand on that position. MCA has paid to have every vehicle released from CBSA possession – at $1,000 per vehicle. They have pledged to continue doing so and they are also supporting community members in their appeals to CBSA to have the money refunded.

While the reporting requirement is for travelers crossing from the U.S. into Canada, MCA said they have reports of vehicles being seized that didn’t fit CBSA’s seizure criteria.

“Following a 24-hour ‘grace period’ that ended on September 25th, Akwesasne leaders have received reports that the CBSA has wrongfully seized vehicles that belong to community members that have complied and directly reported,” MCA said in a statement. “As well, some Kawehno:ke residents are claiming their vehicles are also being seized, despite the fact that they did not travel to the United States. These wrongful actions by the CBSA have only added to the community’s frustration and concern with the current reporting requirement.”

MCA called CBSA’s actions “disturbing.”

Fadden, like many residents of Kawehno:ke, doesn’t expect things to ever go back to how they were before June. On May 31, 2009, just before midnight, CBSA agents at the Kawehno:ke port fled the building as directed by their supervisors, citing concerns for their safety. On June 1, 2009 the agents were to begin carrying firearms – a move never approved by MCA or the Mohawks of Akwesasne despite the port being on Mohawk land. MCA publicly opposed the arming of the guards for two years prior to the June 1 arming date but CBSA and Canadian authorities refused to negotiate anything less than arming. Following the abandonment of the Kawehno:ke port the bridge crossing was closed for nearly a month before CBSA erected a temporary port in the city of Cornwall.

“Outside governments (Canada and US) are slowly, inch by inch eroding what sovereignty we have left,” Fadden said. “To me, that is the bigger picture. They would love to strip native people of any ‘special’ status and call us Canadian or American… I don’t see CBSA coming back to the Island. They voiced unwillingness to compromise and come back to the Island. That leaves little to work with in terms of a solution… The Canadian government is also unwilling to even sit down with the councils. I would like to see Canada Customs off the Island permanently. I would like to see Akwesasronon manning the Customs building on the Island. Maybe even an information center.”

While many community members stand strong in their beliefs that the border issue is about much more than guns, others still care little about the political fight and more about how long it now takes them to travel back and forth to work, school, or Cornwall businesses. MCA is planning to conduct a door-to-door plebiscite (opinion survey) to hear from all community members in its three districts. MCA will be asking if individuals want CBSA to return to Kawehno:ke armed or unarmed.