Protest goes mostly without incident

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Gary McHale is claiming victory even though the number of people that heeded his call to join a "march for freedom" on Douglas Creek Estates, a housing development that has been occupied by Six Nations protestors since February, was far lower than he originally predicted.

The Richmond Hill resident who organized the march along with his wife Christine, was calling for 10,000 to 20,000 people to join the Oct. 15 event that was intended to expose what McCale calls "two-tiered justice" that he believes unfairly favors Native people.

"More things have happened in the last two weeks than the last six months with the government," McHale told Windspeaker shortly before the rally began. "They've had to do press releases. They've had to talk about this topic. They've appointed a new [OPP] commissioner. The issue's being covered. It's quite clear that the march has already accomplished far more than a lot of people would have thought."

But most observers agree that there were no more than 800 people at the rally at the Lion's Hall in the centre of Calidonia that day. McHale himself estimated the crowd to be around 1,000.

The rally was held outdoors with the crowd standing in a parking lot. A public address system was set up on a grassy hill to ensure that the comments of the speakers could be heard. After a couple of hours of speech making, the group marched along side streets and made its way to Notre Dame elementary's schoolyard that is separated from the Native occupation site by an eight-foot wooden fence. The march ended there, just one block from the former location of the barrier that blocked the main road through town for several months. After the march, people lined both sides of the road as police prevented access to the the housing development.

On the other side of that wooden fence and throughout the large former construction site, the number of people gathered that day was much higher than 800. Conservative estimates start at 1,000. Windspeaker's initial estimate was several thousand.

Well-placed local sources say all the crowd estimates reported so far are lacking one crucial fact that is needed to truly judge the size of McHale's actual following: there were close to 200 undercover Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers in the crowd at the rally, ready to pounce at the first sign of violence. Indeed, five people were arrested after a variety of minor incidents.

Having been advised that the OPP was going to employ all available measures to ensure that the peace was not breached that day, as the build up in the local, regional and national media raised serious concerns that there would be a confrontation between two large and possibly armed groups, Windspeaker arrived in Caledonia at 10 o'[clock that Sunday morning. The main road to the Lion's Hall was already blocked to vehicular traffic by police barricades. But the drive through side streets to the occupation site revealed that people in Caledonia are angry with their local municipal and federal politicians.

Lawn signs criticizing Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainor and federal MP Diane Finley were fairly common. Municipal elections in Ontario are scheduled for November and it appears Trainor's performance is being judged harshly.

In the four hours between our arrival at the site and the beginning of the rally, there were conflicting messages in the crowd.

Non-Native people lined up on both sides of the issue. One older couple angrily accosted a non-Native group that attended to show support for Six Nations. Caledonia resident Jan Watson, spokesperson for a group called Community Friends for Peace and Understanding with Six Nations, was holding up a banner supporting the rights of the Native people to protest injustice when she was confronted by the couple. A brief argument ensued that ended when the activity attracted the attention of the many reporters and photographers present. The older couple then moved away declining to comment or identify themelves to the media.

Watson said she has been physically accosted by angry Caledonia residents and damage has been done to her home because of her support for the First Nations' people. She said police would not accept her statement about the incidents because of a lack of proof. Speaker after speaker that day, however, accused Native occupiers of terrorizing local residents.

Shortly after Watson's confrontation with the couple, a man waving an Ontario flag made a sudden appearance in the crowd. A large man in his 30s, accompanied by a couple of younger women, he was wearing a black jacket with several patches. The patches were familiar to those who have researched "white power" hate groups. One said "Rahowa," which is a short form for "racial holy war."

Another said "We want our country back now," a slogan employed by hate groups who believe non-whites are inferior. Across the back of the jacket was a patch that said "Northern Alliance," a group whose Web site contains links to the writings of neo-Nazi and racist individuals and organizations.

The speaker's list included Mary-Lou Pratte, a resident of Ipperwash Beach, a small community of cottages adjacent to the former Camp Ipperwash, a military base located on expropriated Native land. The local Stoney Point First Nation people took back the camp in 1993 after waiting almost 50 years for the government to return the expropriated lands after the Second World War. They remain in the camp.

Pratte told the residents of Caledonia that the land question in their community was similar to the Ipperwash situation that she complained had not been resolved after almost 15 years. She also complained that "warriors" intimidated and terrorized local residents in her community.

"The march for freedom meant to me a chance for ordinary citizens to look at the issue of law in Native land disputes and say, 'My God, this is not right, fair or just.' We cannot have pockets of Ontario exempt from the law. We cannot have innocentresidents being abused and victimized indefinitely through no fault of their own in a situation they are not allowed any input into-by government or police or Natives- or to be part of the resolution," she said.

AnneMarie VanSickle, a registered nurse, has lived in Caledonia for four years. Her home borders Douglas Creek Estates. Her children attend Notre Dame elementary school.

"We have been subjected to ATVs racing around our homes all hours of the night, some with their mufflers removed, as their driver's yell and scream. The sounds of hammering, banging and gunshots can frequently be heard," she said. "This occupation has created a hostile, fear-driven environment, which we have been living in since the beginning of the occupation. I fear for my life, the life of my children and neighbors, as well as my home. We remain terrorized as we continuously witness a chaotic and inefficient approach to end this. Our provincial and federal leaders have abandoned us."

The Caledonia resident slammed the Ontario premier.

"Premier McGuinty, you sir are a medical anomaly. The fact you can stand when you don't have a spine will surely be discussed for generations to come. Your signature phrase "be patient" has outlived its usefulness. We expect the leader of our great province to have greater words of wisdom. Premier McGuinty, where have you been? Our patience has run out," she said.

VanSickle then took on Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"What exactly have you done for the residents of Caledonia? You promise accountability, to continue to reform our political institutions and the political process to make them more accountable and more democratic. Who is being held accountable for this fiasco? And what type of democracy not only encourages but also participates in negotiations while a town is being held hostage?"

The Ontario Provincial Police were also the targets of her remarks.

"The events of the Caledonia occupation and the OPP response/non-response have caused the Onario Provincial Police to become a non-viable policing agency in Caledonia if not all of Haldimand County," she said.

"You assumed we were a small community with little voting power; you did not take into consideration the courage of the people or the support from across Canada," she said. "The people of Canada know this could be their backyard next. We, the residents of Caledonia, will no longer bend over to have pink smoke blown up our posteriors. Our demands are simple and realistic. We demand a public apology from Premier McGuinty, [Ontario Minister of Community Safety] Monte Kwinter, [Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister] David Ramsey, [former OPP commissioner] Gwen Boniface, Prime Minister Harper, [local MP] Diane Finley.

The next speech was read by Christine McHale. She said she was reading a letter from an Aboriginal person who works undercover in law enforcement in New York State. She added that the author of the letter could not be identified for fear of jeopardizing his work.

"I have participated in the longhouse religion. It is a way of life for me as Christianity is to you and your family. I lived in the communities. Some of my best friends are and were warriors. Some of my family are warriors. Warrior theology is not longhouse. Warrior theology is a cult. It is comparable to David Koresh at Waco or Jim Jones at Jonestown. Warrior theology is deadly. The warrior society is and will always be a Native American militant cultic organization. It is very similar to Hezbollah," she said, reading the letter.

Many traditional people say there are no such things as warrior societies. The author of the letter, who operates the Web site New York Crimewatch, takes for granted that there are, and that they are criminal organizations.

"The warrior societies are a new movement hiding behind current theological themes to further there own agenda. The warriors are expendable individuals fighting for the wealthy that are afraid to fight their own political goals," t