To the Community of Akwesasne:

To the Community of Akwesasne:

Twin Leaf Express just opened their doors and already the Fort Covington Town Board along with our own Akwesasne Convenience Store Association is trying to close them down. The two groups are trying to force Twin Leaf Express to raise their prices. The Akwesasne Convenience Store Association held a meeting without informing Twin Leafs owner, Kim Terrance. In her absence, they voted to coerce her to raise her prices on Tobacco by ten-dollars a carton and raise her gas prices by ten-cents per gallon of gas. This action appears to be underhanded if you ask us.

The Akwesasne Convenience Store Association members have all become wealthy as a result of our collective right to not pay taxes. The ACSA members have used our collective right to get rich but have not extended any savings or discount to our community members who pay the same price for gas and tobacco as the non-Native. Raise this issue at a public meeting and watch the ACSA members bristle. How dare anyone suggest Mohawk retailers should put even a few cents of savings into individual community member’s pockets? Twin Leaf Express is simply exercising the same right as every other local Mohawk business.

One local business man has a monopoly in Akwesasne by owning four stores on Route 37 and his son is the President of the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association. This business man became quite upset when Twin Leaf Express received their license. Apparently, he feels that no Mohawk should receive a license without his permission. We wonder why competition scares these Fat Cats when competition is good for the consumer and serves to keep businesses on their toes in order to earn customer loyalty. In the surrounding North Country townships there are convenience stores and gas stations on every corner. We don’t hear them trying to shut each other down.

If the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association is successful in forcing Twin Leaf Express to raise their prices I think everyone in Akwesasne should boycott the association, member’s convenience stores and gas stations. We know we certainly will.

Roy and Caroline Tarbell