At least 5,500 heavily armed police officers and soldiers were put on alert to invade the Mohawk communities of Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanehsatake in Feb. 1994, according to a report in Le Journal de Montréal July 12.
Over 1,500 Canadian soldiers underwent extensive training to take part in the invasion on a 24-to-72-hour notice, according to the newspaper report, based on 1,600 pages of military documents obtained under the access-to-information law.
The soldiers underwent a top-secret military exercize code-named “Scorpion-Saxon” in February and March 1994 to prepare for the invasion, said the report.
They trained in firing 66-millimetre rockets, M-67 fragmentation grenades, gas munitions, smoke grenades and using Cayenne pepper. Helicopters trained in flying under power lines and firing on the move at 100-feet altitude.
The plans envisaged a Mohawk resistance armed with .50-calibre “snipers,” M-60 machine-guns, grenades, light anti-tank artillery and AK-47 assault rifles.
The military exercize occurred one week after Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced a $5 tax cut on each carton of cigarettes. In an invasion, the 1,500 soldiers were to be backed up by 4,000 RCMP and SQ agents. Le Journal published its report one day after the ninth anniversary of the day the Oka Crisis started in 1990.
“It sounds like they wanted to wipe out the whole reserve,” said Timmy Norton, spokesman for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. He said many in his community are worried. “Some people aren’t too concerned. Others are angry, upset and scared. Is it possible they’re still planning this type of stuff?” he wondered.
“It’s very shocking to believe that a country that just won an award as the most peaceful country in the world could be planning something like this.”
