Ontario mad at Federal Government over Caledonia land claims - FINALLY

Set Caledonia deadline, Bryant urges Ottawa

Settle land claim rather than point finger at Ontario, minister says

May 15, 2008 04:30 AM
Richard Brennan
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA–The federal government is being urged by Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant to put a deadline on land claim negotiations in Caledonia instead of letting them drag on with no resolution in sight.

"We say to the federal government with respect to this 200-year-old dispute, it's time for them to set a deadline and set it now," Bryant told the Legislature yesterday.



Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star

A man guides a Bobcat as it pushes cement blocks on the entrance to the disputed land in Caledonia in this file image from August, 2006

"We say to the federal government with respect to this 200-year-old dispute, it's time for them to set a deadline and set it now,"

Bryant told the Legislature yesterday.

Federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl seemed taken aback, saying Bryant hadn't communicated this new sense of urgency to him.

"Certainly we have been pretty aggressive in Caledonia to try to do just that. We've tabled a $125 million offer to the First Nations there and expanded the mandate of our negotiator to explore options there," Strahl told reporters on Parliament Hill.

"We are working hard to settle it."

Bryant said tensions are growing among residents in Caledonia, a town southwest of Hamilton. They have, for more than two years, lived with the occupation of a former housing development by members of the Six Nations band protesting unresolved land claims.

"Instead of being content to sit on their hands, and actually literally point fingers at the provincial government ... it's time for the federal government to actually take responsibility for something that is their responsibility," Bryant told reporters later at Queen's Park.

In 2006, native protesters blocked the Caledonia bypass, the town's main road and the rail line after police raided the occupation site. When the bypass was blocked again earlier this month, clashes broke out between Six Nations protesters and Caledonia residents.

Bryant said claims focus on the Haldimand Tract following the Grand River "and the question is what the federal government did exactly and what the compensation is owed by the federal government to Haudenosaunee Six Nations."

Jason Kenney, Minister of Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, caused a stir during a recent trip to Brantford when he blamed the province not reining in Six Nations Confederacy activists who have blocked projects there and demanded cash from developers.

Kenney called the activists' actions "extortion" said "the law should apply equally."

Yesterday, Strahl urged the province "to remain part of these negotiations. It's important that people understand that finding solutions to these complex issues will take time."

Hey, wouldn't it be NOBLE if these guys quit having liquid lunches and actually DID something for once?

It'll look BAD to have Canada apologize for
residential schools when you still don't settle
200-year old land claims.

About time Michael Bryant got MOUTHY !!

He's my MP, in fact, and I called them and bitched.

Michael Bryant, MY MP, you represent PEOPLE not corporations!!

There is nothing lawless about these demonstrations.

Ontario is involved in CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

and creating political prisoners.

Compelling reasons to keep negotiating

Posted 3 hours ago

Six Nations people have been negotiating with the federal and provincial governments for two years over a land claim at Caledonia.

Tyendinaga Mohawks have occupied a quarry at Deseronto for more than a year as part of another land claim.

And last year, people of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation took over land near Sharbot Lake, protesting a proposed uranium mining operation. That protest resulted in the jailing of Bob Lovelace.

There are common themes running through all three situations:

they are contentious developments that are opposed by the local natives, and sometimes their non-native supporters;

natives accusing the provincial government of not negotiating with them in a timely manner;

protests spilling over onto public roads;

arrests by OPP officers often involving violent clashes;

Ontario Provincial Police telling the public they will deal only with the public disturbances, not the land-claim issue;

the provincial government saying it will deal only with the land claims, not the disturbances.

The manner in which the province and the provincial police have been dealing with these situations is guided by one crucial lesson: the fatal shooting of native protester Dudley George in 1995 by an OPP officer during the Ipperwash standoff.

This is a good thing. We don't want any more deaths or bloody confrontations. But this also places a greater onus on native groups to be responsible.

Last week, Tyendinaga Mohawks erected a blockade on a busy highway. Police moved in and took it down peacefully.

On Friday afternoon, protest leader Shawn Brant was arrested and charged with various crimes not related to the blockade. A group of his supporters moved in, smashing a police cruiser's window and injuring two officers.

By Friday night, Six Nations Mohawks had thrown up a blockade at a highway interchange near Caledonia in support of Shawn Brant.

Brant and the Tyendinaga protesters, meantime, were essentially disowned by the band council. "There must be an end to road blockades, violence, and any conduct that has the potential to further inflame the situation," said Chief Donald Maracle.

Confused? Many Ontarians are frustrated with these eruptions of lawlessness, but also with the lack of progress in land claims talks.

The opposition Conservatives this week pressed Michael Bryant, the province's aboriginal affairs minister, to cut off all talks until the barriers in Caledonia were removed. Bryant replied: "

If there is not negotiation taking place and the parties aren't talking, then how on Earth would progress be made?"

Recently, Bryant said negotiations were on again.

It is precisely Bryant's job to keep all sides at the table. The reasons for urgent action are compelling: heightening native and non-native tensions; violent clashes between police and natives; radical native groups hijacking the agenda from legitimate representatives; and good people like Bob Lovelace being detained for peacefully standing his ground.

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