By Canadian Press

Covenant Chain: Mohawk men in tobacco smuggling case cite treaty, win in Quebec court

Nov 1, 2023 | 2:57 PM

MONTREAL — Two Mohawk men from Kahnawake, near Montreal, have been granted a stay of proceedings in a tobacco smuggling case after a judge ruled their treaty rights were infringed. 

Derek White and Hunter Montour were arrested in 2016 as part of a cross-border police operation called Project Mygale in connection with tobacco that was smuggled into Quebec.

Following a trial in 2019, White and Montour were found guilty of criminal offences, including failing to pay taxes on tobbaco products.

But the pair had requested a stay of criminal proceedings, claiming the government had violated their treaty rights and their ancestral rights relating to the tobacco trade.

In a 366-page written decision rendered today, Quebec Superior Court Justice Sophie Bourque concluded that an overarching oral meta-treaty known as the Covenant Chain is binding and guarantees the defedants the right to trade tobbacco.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

Bourque ruled that, as a result, the federal Excise Act did not apply against the two men and ordered a stay on the convictions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2023.

The Canadian Press

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.