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The Caledonia trial balloon

Posted by Joanne on 22 February 2010, 6:43 pm

Rumour has it that the McGuinty Government may end up just handing over the Douglas Creek Estates to the Six Nations in Caledonia.

I have to agree with Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak on this one:

“This is going to reward lawbreaking, it’s going to reward an illegal occupation and it sends a complete wrong signal on how to deal with this situation,” he said.

Yes, that’s true.

And it further demoralizes the folks that play by the rules.

Is there any outrage out there?  Frankly,  I just give up.

*   *   *   *

Update

Haldimand County : Barrett Adding-Up the Cost of the Aboriginal Occupation in Caledonia - 98.9 FM

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Tuesday Update

Bentley won’t rule out giving Caledonia land to Six Nations – Spectator:

…The simmering four-year land dispute, which has erupted in violent clashes between protesters and local residents, has cost taxpayers $64.3 million so far.

That doesn’t include about $16 million the province paid for the land, which was seized and occupied by protesters from the nearby Six Nations reserve on Feb. 28, 2006…

*   *   *   *

Some Background:

A 2008 post that still rings true IMHO – How Ipperwash emasculated Ontario.

Anarchy in Caledonia – June 2006

*   *   *   *

And yet another blast from the past (Sept 2007):

Remember Sam Gualtieri?

Filed under Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, Native Issues, OPP, Spineless Ontario, Tim Hudak, Two-tiered justice, Your tax-dollars.
29 Comments

Down the rabbit hole

Posted by Joanne on 16 January 2010, 5:18 pm

Nothing to see here folks – literally.

Hard to know if we got our money’s worth since we’ll never know how much we the taxpayers paid for the settlement.

Christie Blatchford muses (at the end of the column):

…As part of the settlement, ownership of the house, which is bordered on two sides by the occupied site, was transferred to the province, which took possession of it on Thursday. For “safety and security reasons,” according to a release from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, it was immediately demolished.

Spokesman Sylvia Kovesfalvi said the razing “will avoid potential hazards associated with an unoccupied building.

I’m sure it  had nothing to do with this week’s Turtle Island News, an independent paper published on the Six Nations reserve. On Page 7, a story reports that at last week’s Six Nations’ elected council meeting, in a general discussion about council “taking” land as opposed to buying it, Councillor Melba Thomas said, “Shouldn’t we do that, too, with the house that’s been vacated? At DCE?”

Oh how cynical of you Christie!

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Related:

Angelo Persichilli has a strange way of defending his friend Julian Fantino:

…The fact is that no native, resident or officer was hurt, and that was the mandate of the Ontario Provincial Police...

Ah yes. But locking us all up in rubber rooms would accomplish the same thing.

Unfortunately, in a situation where law is absent and politicians are hiding, the only person facing charges under the Criminal Code is the one who stood up and did something.

No Angelo. The law is still there. The problem is that no one is enforcing it.

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Inside the demolition of the Brown Chatwell house – Caledonia WakeUpCall

Filed under Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Crime, Dalton McGuinty, Just trust Dalton, Native Issues, OPP, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, Two-tiered justice, Victims rights?, Your tax-dollars.
32 Comments

Thou shalt not fly a Canadian flag

Posted by Joanne on 28 November 2009, 9:29 am

In Caledonia, Ontario, Canada.

Where two-tiered justice reigns supreme.

(H/T The Raging Owl)

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Update:

H/T to Jad for directing me to Christie Blatchford’s columns at the Globe where I came upon a whole series of enlightening columns.

For example – Welcome to Caledonia, where flying the flag is asking for a fight:

...It may have been just a slip of the tongue the other day when David Feliciant, the government’s lawyer, referred to the site as “the DCE Reserve,” but the land, in all but name, has become just that…

( . . .)

...As Christmas of 2006 approached, with Mohawk Warrior flags all over the DCE and on Mr. Brown’s street, Caledonia residents had had enough, and decided they would carry or hang a Canadian flag. Mr. Brown decided to fly one in his front yard.

“Weren’t you at all concerned about instigating a confrontation with protesters?” Mr. Feliciant asked.

“By hanging a Canadian flag?” Mr. Brown asked, furious.

“The Canadian flag was not allowed to be flown,” he said. “I’m a very, very proud Canadian. I’m proud of my country. This was my opportunity and my right to believe we still live in this country.

“The OPP was not concerned with the Mohawk flags all around my property and on all the telephone poles. They were agitating me. You didn’t concern yourself with that,” he told Mr. Feliciant. “You didn’t care that they were agitating me at that time, [did] you?

“And you’re telling me that I’m provoking someone by hanging a Canadian flag?”

Mr. Brown’s flag was stolen a few days later, and, he told the lawyer, he stood with his uncle, three police cruisers in his driveway, as the “OPP let them [the natives] stand there with my Canadian flag.”

If you don’t live in Caledonia, you might ask yourself why you should should care about this story. Well, here’s a thought. Why are we so preoccupied with the rights of the Taliban who are killing our soldiers in Afghanistan when the rights of Canadian citizens are being ignored right here at home?

Where’s the outrage???

More here: In a corner, Crown counters by attacking the plaintiffs:

…Commissioners Boniface and Fantino, Superintendent John Cain and Inspector Brian Haggith all admitted to varying degrees in pretrial discovery that natives were routinely breaking the law, occasionally with shocking violence, and that the OPP wasn’t enforcing it normally.

Indeed, in a wide-ranging series of incidents the police witnesses admitted had been carried out against the family, the OPP never made a single arrest…

Ontario Premier wanted to sweep Caledonia issue ‘under the rug,’ court told:

“I offered to drop the lawsuit if he’d talk to [Mr.] McGuinty,” a furious Dave Brown yesterday told Ontario Superior Court Judge Thomas Bielby here, where the lawsuit is being heard.

Mr. Brown said Mr. Levac, the chief government whip, later reported back that he’d talked to the Premier and that Mr. McGuinty “told him he’d love to sweep this [presumably Mr. Brown's situation] under the rug.”

Oops!

Other related articles:

National Post editorial board: Abusing Canada’s flag in the name of political correctness – Full Comment

Lighting up the law – John Ivison

Filed under Afghanistan, Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Crime, Dalton McGuinty, Native Issues, OPP, Ours to Recover, Political correctness, Spineless Ontario, Two-tiered justice.
19 Comments

Don’t let Dalton pass the buck

Posted by Joanne on 3 August 2008, 8:48 am

Yesterday we were visiting some relatives in Brantford, Ontario. The conversation turned to native issues, as it often does these days.

Actually, this time the topic came up quite abruptly when it was discovered that one of the guests had had an SUV stolen that very day from a cinema parking lot. The general feeling was that it was likely now on a nearby reserve being dismantled for parts. Car thefts are a big industry for some native youth. The problem is that police rarely enter the reserves so it is quite a lucrative racket.

Just like illegal smokes, this is a very difficult area to prosecute since the current provincial government is disinclined to take a hard stand against crimes committed by natives.

The OPP is losing the respect of many citizens in Brantford and Caledonia. Police are not being seen to enforce the law, and this has left many non-natives angry and cynical.

The whole Six Nations situation in Southern Ontario is a boiling pot of resentment on both sides. One of the guests last night blamed the feds for not taking action. I reminded him that law enforcement is a provincial issue, but he said that tons of money is flowing from the Federal Government to help pay for the OPP reinforcements in Caledonia. These costs are escalated by virtue of the fact that many cops are having to be housed in local hotels because there simply aren’t enough officers living in the area. They also make huge overtime bonuses as well, according to what I was told.

I didn’t want to get into an argument with him, but I was thinking that having the federal government (and therefore all Canadian taxpayers) bankrole the policing costs in Caledonia hardly makes the feds responsible for the milquetoast attitude of the OPP. If that is the case, then we are all complicit in the application of two-tier justice in Southern Ontario.

This morning I came across this article from the Brantford Expositor – "We don’t have a solution to your problem ", says land claims negotiator.

There are a few very important items here that everyone needs to be made aware of:

The federal government is doing all it can to resolve Six Nations land claims, said Ron Doering, chief federal negotiator, during a speech to the Rotary Club of Brantford on Friday.

However, the federal government has no jurisdiction or responsibility when it comes to land development or law enforcement concerns , he said…

…For the federal government to intrude into the realm of land development issues would be illegal , Doering said, adding that the government has no part in law enforcement.

Doering, a lawyer with 35 years’ experience in law and public policy administration, told the gathering that he does not recall a "more complicated" set of negotiations than the current talks with Six Nations.

He said it annoys him to read media reports that take "cheap shots" at the government and ask why the feds have not stepped up to the plate.

"I’ve been at the plate," he said…

…a $125-million offer was presented in May 2007 to Six Nations to settle four outstanding claims. No reply was received.

Government negotiators then decided to focus on a single, smaller and more straightforward claim involving lands flooded by the building of the Welland Canal in the 1820s. That offer for $26 million has neither been accepted nor rejected, Doering said.

"If we can’t settle this, I’m getting discouraged about if we can settle any claims," he said, adding that other Six Nations claims, some involving stock- holdings of the Grand River Navigation Company and dating back to the mid- 1800s are "diabolically complicated."

Doering also explained how the monetary figures for land claims settlements are determined through complex calculations of the value of money and land over time.

If anything, the government’s $26-million offer erred "on the side of being fair and generous as final and full compensation" for the Welland Canal flooding of 1829, he said…

…Talks between the Six Nations’ and government representatives are temporarily on hold while Six Nations’ negotiators are "taking a break," he said.

"I’ve given up making predictions but I hope to be back at the table in the next couple of weeks."

So in reality, if anyone should be ‘stepping up to the plate’, it should be Julian Fantino, Dalton McGuinty and the dysfunctional Six Nations’ negotiating ‘team’, which is often at odds with itself.

And if Dalton tries to tell you otherwise, send him that Expositor link.

* * * *

Update: And you gotta love this from Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant :

"We are not where we should be," Bryant said. "It’s been 200 years. … The Harper government needs to stop hesitating and get on with a solution."

200 years and suddenly the Harper government is at fault for not coming up with a solution fast enough. It is enough to make you want to laugh – or weep in despair and frustration at the empty rhetoric and ridiculous finger pointing.

Related: Why are talks taking so long? Ron Doering offers his top 10 reasons.

Update: This post has been featured at Jack’s Newswatch – Daily Blogger.

Filed under Caledonia, Native Issues, Two-tiered justice.
27 Comments

John Tory doing talkshow gig as guest host

Posted by Joanne on 25 July 2008, 9:16 am

Please listen to John Tory live on the Jeff Allan show this morning for all three hours.

Right now he is addressing the economy, as well as the (lack of) the rule of law in Ontario. Listen live here and please try to call in.

Now’s your chance to air your grievances, all you malcontents.

Moebius, that means you!

Filed under Native Issues, Ontario, Ontario economy, Two-tiered justice.
3 Comments

Only one day left to vote in Fantino polls!

Posted by Joanne on 23 July 2008, 7:46 am

(From MacKay – May 31, 2006 )

Please visit my poll page and cast your vote at one or both of the two polls about Julian Fantino vs. Shawn Brant.

The first poll asks if Fantino should be suspended. Current results sit at 91% saying no and 9% saying yes, out of a total of 55 votes since July 20.

The second poll is more specific, asking whether Fantino should be suspended, fired, given the Order of Canada or none of the above? Only 9 votes have been cast here, but 78% of the respondents have voted for ‘None of the Above". 22% say he should be fired.

The National Post takes a shot at fellow MSM this morning with their editorial, Fantino’s Non-Scandal:

…The only "danger" at issue here is the risk of this country being overrun by native protests in the face of cops who have both hands tied behind their backs.

How exactly did this increasingly wimpy nation get to a point where it is considered "scandalous" for a police officer to use Bmovie tough talk to eject thugs from public property? More to the point: Why are our media colleagues cheerleading this embarrassing phenomenon?

Well, Shawn Brant, his lawyer and NDP MPP Peter Kormos certainly know how to use the media to their advantage. And to his credit, Dalton McGuinty has stood by Fantino on this one. I grudgingly give him a thumbs-up for that. The NDP’s action is shameless and irresponsible.

However, that this is even a story one year after the fact is symptomatic of our weak-kneed progressive attitudes when it comes to applying the law of the land to all citizens equally.

Or as Julian Fantino himself has observed,

"I find the whole thing ludicrous,” the Ontario Provincial Police commissioner said in an e-mail.

"It’s all utter shameful madness that under the circumstances . . . I and the OPP would be portrayed as the villains and Brant the victim. But, then again, some people have no shame,” he wrote.

"Ironically, only in Canada can someone basically usurp the rights and lawful entitlement of tens of thousands of people and obstruct commerce by leading a so-called blockade using criminal tactics (and have) such unlawful actions be made out to be legitimate and its mastermind then the victim. This is insane!” he wrote.

It is indeed insane.

But when you have an Ontario Premier with a long-standing policy of incremental appeasement and an apparent policing philosophy that involves merely ‘keeping the peace’ when laws are broken, then he shouldn’t be too surprised when an alleged perpetrator of a crime is made to look like victim.

It is a logical progression.

* * * *

Update: Thanks to Sol for directing me to this excellent commentary in today’s Sun – Apparently Fantino’s an o.k. guy. It seems that the Kangaroo Court comprised of MSM and left-leaning politicians has been less than honest with us regarding the context of Fantino’s comments:

…What you probably haven’t heard is the next thing Fantino said: "I don’t want to do that. I want to help you deal with the suicides (on native reserves) … I’ve travelled to … reserves. I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve seen it. I’ve been to Kashechewan and some of these other places. I’ve been there … "

Shawn Brant himself seemed quite impressed with Fantino at the time.

If this is Peter Kormos’ way to get face-time before an NDP leadership race, I think he’s picking the wrong issue.

Neo has more - What percentage of Ontarians…

Another tip from Sol – Christina Blizzard: Shawn Brant vs. everyone.

Filed under Appeasement never works, Native Issues, Two-tiered justice.
10 Comments

Jumping on the Brantwagon

Posted by Joanne on 21 July 2008, 4:57 pm

The Ontario NDP party is now increasing the pressure on Julian Fantino by calling for him to either resign or be fired.

This significantly ups the ante from just a few days ago when Shawn Brant’s lawyer had simply asked for Fantino to be temporarily suspended and that his comments be investigated.

My poll is still active but I may need another one to reflect this new development.

Meanwhile, do you think Julian Fantino should be suspended?

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Update: OPP head defends tactics in defusing 2007 aboriginal protest. (Globe)

Welcome CBC readers! Please vote here! (Even though the poll can’t keep up with the story!). Thanks.

Tuesday Update: Christina Blizzard has a great column in this morning’s Sun – McGuinty is right to back top cop:

…McGuinty must stand by Fantino, or risk provoking a thousand anarchists across the province.

And shame on New Democrat Peter Kormos for calling Fantino, "bellicose," "pugilistic," and "inflammatory."

Someone’s being inflammatory — and it isn’t Fantino.

I’m not always on the top cop’s side. But in this one, his personal intervention in the all-night negotiations saved the province from what could have been a bloodbath.

Suspension? I don’t think so. Give Fantino a medal.

Thank you, Christina. You can cast your vote right here.

Filed under Dion, Native Issues, Two-tiered justice.
4 Comments
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