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John Ciaccia
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THE OKA CRISIS
and JOHN CIACCIA

John CIACCIA

Ex Member for Mont-Royal

Québec Liberal Party

Born in Ielsi, Italy, on March 4, 1933, John Ciaccia studied law at McGill University and was admitted to the Québec Bar in 1957.

He practised law from 1957 to 1959 and was a legal adviser to a major Québec company from 1959 to 1966. He returned to private practice in 1967. A consultant with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1969, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of that department from 1971 to 1973.

Elected MNA for the riding of Mont-Royal in the general election of 1973, he represented Premier Robert Bourassa in the negotiations with the First Nations and the Inuit of James Bay, which led to the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in November 1975.

Re-elected Member for Mont-Royal in 1976 and 1981, he was successivelythe Official Opposition critic for energy, housing, industry and trade, andtransport. He was a member of the NO Committee in the 1981 Québec referendum. Re-elected MNA for Mont-Royal on December 2, 1985, he wasMinister of Energy and Resources from December 12, 1985 to October 11, 1989.

Re-elected Member for the riding of Mont-Royal on September 25, 1989, hewas Minister of International Affairs and Minister for Native Affairs fromOctober 11, 1989 to October 5, 1990. He was the Minister of International Affairs from 1990 to January 11, 1994, when he was appointed Minister of International Affairs, Immigration and Cultural Communities.

Re-elected MNA for Mont-Royal in the general election of September 12, 1994, he is a member of the Committee on Institutions and was the OfficialOpposition critic for international relations from November 2, 1994 to February 26, 1996. Since then, he has been critic for international trade.

At John Ciaccia's home with family and Pierre Salinger

• Wed 860 By Herbert Bercovitz with additional notes from Linda Leith and Edited by Diana Thébaud Nicholson
  
  
• Monday, September 07, 1998 Highway to NAFTA? The free-trade agreement was supposed to remove barriers, but some remain
  If Walt Whitman were to take to the open road these days, chances are he'd be singing a lament if he were heading back from cottage country on a holiday weekend. For many frustrated and angry passengers, Whitman's intriguing "long brown path" has turned into a bumpy and rutted road clogged with cars and trucks.
  
  
• Friday, July 10, 1998 Feds fear loss on MMT Trade showdown with Ethyl to rule on import ban By Shawn Mccarthy

  Ottawa -- The Liberal cabinet is increasingly worried it will lose a NAFTA panel decision on its ban of the gasoline additive MMT, a ruling that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and hand a potent weapon to anti-free-trade advocates
  
  

• Saturday 20 June 1998 Kahnawake dispute is a turf war by CAMPBELL CLARK With four written pages, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has told the federal and Quebec governments to step aside. (saved)



• Thursday, June 18, 1998 Deal with natives ends 50-year feud By Erin Anderssen OTTAWA -- The federal government has reached a $26.2-million agreement to finally settle a volatile dispute with natives over an Ontario military camp -- the site of a fatal clash between police and protesters in 1995. Ottawa is returning a 900-hectare lakefront property seized from the Kettle and Stoney Point reserve for a military training facility called Camp Ipperwash in the Second World War.



• Wednesday 17 June 1998 Mohawks assert hold on territory Warn of roadblocks, tolls by CAMPBELL CLARK The Kahnawake band council warned the federal and Quebec governments yesterday it will immediately assert its sovereignty over the South Shore reserve, taking control of highways, railways and waterways, and declaring the community a duty-free zone. (saved)



• Thursday 21 May 1998 Indians didn't buy PQ ploy PAUL WELLS



• Friday 8 May 1998 The high road The 300-year-old community's plan, announced by Grand Chief Joe Norton, is to build on an inherent strength - its rich history. On June 1, a dinner theatre will open, where up to 220 visitors at a time will be served authentic Mohawk cuisine while performers present traditional dances and songs.



• November 23, 1997 Unfortunate mindset by Ed Bantey
  ...Strangely, however, most advertisement are also in English only. Safran says ads, which make up about two-thirds of the directory, aren't in French or bilingual because advertisers including blue-ribbon firms like Air Canada, Hydro-Québec, the Banque Nationale, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and Investors Group choose to have their ads in English.
  (Quebec and federal politicians, all Liberal, addressed paid greetings in both French and English and, in most cases, Hebrew as well. Safran says Premier Lucien Bouchard and members of his government cited budgetary reasons for refusing to advertise. So did Mount Royal MP Sheila Finestone, she claims, while John Ciaccia, Finestone's Quebec counterpart, found the money.)
  
  
• October 18 Caught in the crossfire by Hubert Bauch ...Bouchard's advantage is that "even the people who don't like him still somehow like him," said Liberal caucus dean John Ciaccia. ..."There's nobody in the caucus who is prepared to contest his leadership," said Ciaccia. "So there's not much point in criticizing the leader publicly, or even privately." ..."Even if Charest wanted the job, one thing he'd never do is openly fight Johnson," said Ciaccia. ..."I can't see strong federalists voting any way that would help the PQ get back in power," said Ciaccia. ...The problem lies with the Liberal weakness among francophone voters
  
  
• October 10 The tools, has anyone seen the tools? by Tommy Schnurmacher ...Our channel surfing suddenly brings us face to face with Liberal MNA John Ciaccia. A battle-scarred veteran of the language debate, Ciaccia is being interviewed by Toronto Sun columnist Mike Harris on Sunday Edition. Ciaccia has spent ... honing his craft as a sensitive and eloquent apologist for Quebec nationalism.
  .. what are the tools that Quebec needs? Highly skilled at obfuscation, Ciaccia provides a detailed answer that has absolutely nothing to do with the question. When Harris continues to probe, Ciaccia provides the undoubtedly enthralled TV audience with a dazzling display of debating dexterity.
  He angrily tells Harris that it he does not accept distinct-society status for Quebec, he must have psychological problems.

SOVEREIGN INJUSTICE Relevance of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement