Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory Grand Chief Cody Diabo had a simple message for Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette: First Nations are not subordinate to the province of Quebec, and will not be included in any provincial constitution.

“There is no Quebec nation,” Diabo told APTN News. “[Jolin-Barrette is] a Canadian at the end of the day. They’re not separate from Canada. This whole push to want to try to separate, if that’s what they want to try to do, by all means, but you’re not leaving with Mohawk land. You don’t have jurisdiction over us.”

Diabo traveled to Quebec City Wednesday, to meet with Jolin-Barrette and discuss the provincial government’s plan for a Quebec constitution. He was accompanied by Kahnawà:ke Chief Political Advisor Lloyd Phillips, as well as by Regional Chief Francis Verrault-Paul of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.

The push for Quebec to develop its own constitution is the product of the Report of the Advisory Committee on Quebec’s Constitutional Issues within the Canadian Federation, also known as the Proux-Rousseau Report. That document was tabled in late November of 2024 and encouraged the adoption of a constitution as a means for Quebec to establish its autonomy inside Canada.

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