Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke mulls applying road tolls in response to federal cuts

Montreal·UpdatedThe Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke says it will probably impose tolls on the roads crossing its territory in response to looming federal budget cuts.120,000 vehicles pass through territory daily, grand chief saysMorgan Lowrie · The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 05, 2025 3:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes agoMohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Grand Chief Cody Diabo speaks during a news conference regarding Bill C-5 and federal budget cuts in Kahnawà:ke on Aug. 5, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke says it will probably impose tolls on the roads crossing its territory in response to looming federal budget cuts.Grand Chief Cody Diabo told reporters on Tuesday the tolls could help offset the impact of cuts by Indigenous Services Canada on the community south of Montreal.He says his council is looking at implementing tolls on major highways where he says approximately 120,000 vehicles pass through daily.Federal ministers have been asked to carve out savings of 7.5 per cent next spring, with cuts expected to rise to 15 per cent in 2028-29.Diabo says the news of the cuts comes in the wake of Indigenous opposition to Bill C-5, which gives Ottawa the power to fast-track projects it considers to be in the national interest.The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke is calling on the Liberal government to reverse the budget cuts, which it says could jeopardize programs in health care, education and infrastructure, among others.In most cases, particularly in Quebec, when a highway passes through an Indigenous community, the province had previously expropriated reserve lands to create a road, according to Nadir André, a partner at JFK Law in British Columbia.”However, the province did not do this for Kahnawà:ke, which gives the local Kahnawà:ke government the authority to enforce its own road safety code and enforce the law through its peacekeepers,” said André, who specializes in Aboriginal Law.With files from CBC’s Gloria Henriquez