Caledonia calls for government action

The end of February marked two years since protests by Six Nations members stopped the building of a subdivision on disputed lands in Caledonia, ON.
The passing of the anniversary has sparked a new round of public discussion and calls for action.
Federal Liberal Aboriginal Affairs critic Anita Neville called on the federal government to take action and bring a resolution to the dispute as quickly as possible.
She singled out, local MP and cabinet minister, Diane Finley, and said Finley along with the Minister of Indian Affairs and the Prime Minister "should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the dispute to go on this long."
"Land issues are the responsibility of the federal government, and this government has been very absent from Caledonia. People in the community, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, can't continue living this way."
Finley's office did not return calls or emails requesting comment on the matter.
Neville recently visited the community of Caledonia, and said she heard a lot of frustration from both sides.
"What I heard the most that really saddened me was that it was a community that worked together in the past very well and were now at odds with each other," she said. "And whatever the outcome from the standoff, there's going to be a lot of healing to do."
Ontario's premier Dalton McGuinty also spoke out following the anniversary of the dispute, but his call was for the federal government to contribute more money to help cover the millions of dollars the province has spent, much of it on policing.
Neville noted she was "absolutely" in agreement with McGuinty and felt the provincial government was bearing too disproportionate a share for the "financial burden of keeping the peace."
Connie Kidd is a retired educational researcher and a member of Canadians for Aboriginal Rights, a national network of non-Aboriginal supporters for the rights of Indigenous people.
In a 2007 report she outlined some of the history and background surrounding the dispute.
The Haudenosaunee (also known as Iroquois) Confederacy spans the border between Canada and the United States and includes Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
"After the American War of Independence, during which Mohawk warriors fought as allies of the British, the Haudenosaunee were persecuted in their New York territories and so moved north to ancestral territories along the Grand River, which were reserved for them in the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784," Kidd explained. "The land was gradually taken out of their hands through a variety of sales and surrenders currently in dispute."
Kidd's piece describes a presentation by Six Nations leaders and a McMaster university professor, who explained that treaties and agreements recognized by the constitution have not been honoured historically, leading to the loss of the land, a 385,000 hectare parcel known as the Haldimand Tract.
The current dispute was sparked when members of the Six Nations protested on the construction site in Caledonia on Feb. 28, 2006. The Ontario Provincial Police tried to remove them in April, but were unsuccesful. Negotiations began in May and are currently in progress. Despite this, the summer of 2006 was marked by clashes and confrontations between protestors, non-Aboriginal community members and police.
In an interview with Windspeaker following the anniversary, Kidd noted she agrees with Neville and feels there is a bigger role for the federal government to play.
"The government needs to step up to the plate and resolve the land claim issues themselves a little more quickly," she said. "I know that what Six Nations is looking for, and they've said this repeatedly (is) - tell us how you came to this number, what was your formula, what are your rules for calculating the amount of compensation. And I think that really is the key. And that is something that our federal government has never been willing to do."
"They want to treat each individual claim as if it's a whole brand new issue instead of applying the rules that have developed over time in government policy itself but also in supreme court rulings," she continued.
"There are supreme court rulings that lay out some of the rules that have to be applied, one of them being the compound interest issue. So I think if our federal government was willing to use the rules that exist, they could be resolving these actual land claim issues a lot more quickly than they are."
But Kidd said the provincial government perhaps has a more important role to play.
"To be honest, I think the most important thing for people to understand is the role that Ontario should be playing right now," she said. "Ontario has a legal responsibility to consult and accommodate Six Nations regarding the use of all of the land in the Haldimand Tract that is their traditional land. Regardless of land claim or not, Ontario has that responsibility."
Basically, the federal government must develop and apply a formula for Native land claims that will speed them up. And the province must consult with the First Nations when their traditional lands are involved.
Kidd said she feels people won't be surprised to know that governments are dragging their feet on the issues, and feels that all Canadians need to push governments to resolve the issues despite the financial implications.
After Marie Trainer, mayor of Haldimand Country made comments the protestors considered inflammatory in 2006, Haldimand County Council voted to replace her with deputy mayor Bob Patterson as its spokesperson on the issue. Following the two-year anniversary, Trainer agreed to comment to Windspeaker on about the ongoing dispute.
Trainer noted that the community has seen many negative financial consequences over the past two years, contributing to the frustration. "The situation is sad considering both sides lived and worked together well for hundreds of years," she said. "There seems to be little progress and the wedge between the people is widening."
"Now, it's really difficult and when you are still friends you just try to talk about everything else but not that," she said.
"We won't talk about the land claims or anything because it's just a small radical group that's causing all the trouble and the pain and the hurt and making it bad for everybody.
"A lot of people are now just shutting up and boiling inside," she continued. "They don't know what to do. They feel abandoned by all governments. We've asked for some simple help and we haven't received it from either level."
Trainer also commented that much needs to be done to clean up the mess left by two years of protesting becuase the eyesores abound in the area.
She also showed a lack of understanding of Aboriginal issues, by listing numerous things she perceives Aboriginal people receive for free.
Trainer also notes that some people in the community are starting to think that First Nations are "almost like a spoiled child, whose had everything and now they can't think of anything else they want. They just want more." Trainer said the ball is in the Six Nations court. She said that they have no right to complain, as they haven't accepted one offer made by the government on one claim and are holding out for more money.