{"id":105959,"date":"2026-06-18T14:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105959"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:14:09","slug":"mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\/","title":{"rendered":"MCK opposes Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has publicly opposed Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8, raising concerns about its potential impact on Indigenous peoples. MCK Grand Chief Cody Diabo stated that the proposed changes reflect broader legislative efforts to prioritize Quebec\u2019s collective identity over minority rights and treaty obligations. &#8220;First Nations are distinct rights holders, not subject to unilateral provincial legislation affecting their language, education, or governance,&#8221; Diabo said. &#8220;While we&#8217;re not surprised, we remind the government that attempts to impose legislative barriers that restrict or disregard our right to self-determination&#8230; are not acceptable.&#8221; Bill 8 was tabled in the National Assembly last week. The proposed legislation would expand Quebec\u2019s Charter of the French Language to include adult and vocational education programs, restricting English&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F18%2Fmck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has publicly opposed Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8, raising concerns about its potential impact on Indigenous peoples. MCK Grand Chief Cody Diabo stated that the proposed changes reflect broader legislative efforts to prioritize Quebec\u2019s collective identity over minority rights and treaty obligations. &#8220;First Nations are distinct rights holders, not subject to unilateral provincial legislation affecting their language, education, or governance,&#8221; Diabo said. &#8220;While we&#8217;re not surprised, we remind the government that attempts to impose legislative barriers that restrict or disregard our right to self-determination&#8230; are not acceptable.&#8221; Bill 8 was tabled in the National Assembly last week. The proposed legislation would expand Quebec\u2019s Charter of the French Language to include adult and vocational education programs, restricting English... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F18%2Fmck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MCK opposes Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8 - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MCK opposes Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8 - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has publicly opposed Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8, raising concerns about its potential impact on Indigenous peoples. MCK Grand Chief Cody Diabo stated that the proposed changes reflect broader legislative efforts to prioritize Quebec\u2019s collective identity over minority rights and treaty obligations. &#8220;First Nations are distinct rights holders, not subject to unilateral provincial legislation affecting their language, education, or governance,&#8221; Diabo said. &#8220;While we&#8217;re not surprised, we remind the government that attempts to impose legislative barriers that restrict or disregard our right to self-determination&#8230; are not acceptable.&#8221; Bill 8 was tabled in the National Assembly last week. The proposed legislation would expand Quebec\u2019s Charter of the French Language to include adult and vocational education programs, restricting English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T18:14:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/18\\\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/18\\\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"MCK opposes Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T18:14:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/18\\\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":398,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/18\\\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/18\\\/mck-opposes-quebecs-proposed-bill-8\\\/\",\"name\":\"MCK opposes Quebec\u2019s proposed Bill 8 - 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