[Calliope]: 216.Essays.Caledonia Land Dispute

Caledonia Land Dispute

  Caledonia, the peaceful town in Haldimand County, Ontario. Unfortunately for this community, located just south of Hamilton, there is a history of disputes revolving around its land. For centuries people have fought and negotiated over what started out as 385, 000 hectares of land bordering the Grand River. Throughout the years this amount has been chiseled down more and more until now, just 40 hectares remains as the grounds of conflict. Recently this boil has come to a head though and with it, the pent up anger of hundreds of years. In early 2006, Native protestors took a stand against the development of what they consider to be Aboriginal land.
  That land that is under such scrutiny was, at one time, given to the Six Nations . As the years progressed, however, the Six Nations decided to sell small amounts while at the same time Canadian government authorities decided to retract certain amounts. It wasn’t until May 15, 1848 that the site now under contention was sold to George Marlot Ryckman for 57 pounds and 10 shillings . The land was then passed to various persons until it came into the hands of Henco Industries Ltd. when they purchased a smaller company in 1992. This purchase invoked the Six Nations to file a lawsuit and sue the federal and provincial governments in 1995. After these court proceedings things began to settle down around what became known as the Douglas Creek Estate lands though, at least until 2005 and 2006.
  In July of 2005 Henco Industries registered a subdivision plan for Douglas Creek Estates. This lead to a small group of protestors but not enough to draw serious attention so the Six Nation had to think of another plan. On February 28, 2006, Six Nations members from the Grand River Territory reserve hi-jack the housing project, erecting tents, a teepee and a wooden building. From here on it’s a parry of retaliations back and forth between Six Nations and Henco Industries.
  Henco obtained a court injunction ordering the Six Nations off their land by March 22. Of course, this day came and went and voila! no removal of protestors. Even when the court adds that protestors will face criminal and civil contempt charges they still continue to stand their ground. This incessant protest has begun to anger some people though. A rally of 500 people is organized, many who have bought homes in the Douglas Creek Estates and are upset that their homes are not being built. Despite this assembly and the reasonable demands put forward, the protestors still stand tall. At this point, the “Caledonia Land Dispute” as the press dubbed it, was starting to gain more and more media attention. This was both wanted and unwanted, depending on which side you supported. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty even stepped in to assure everyone that the conflict would be settled in a “peaceful manner”. This should have been a warning of things yet too come.
  It was just the day after the Premiers speech at around 4:30 EDT that police conducted a raid on the protestor’s camp. It was reported that the police had a variety of weapons that included tasers, M16 rifles, tear gas and pepper spray. While it is known that they subdued a number of people with pepper spray and tasers, it was denied that excessive force was used, even when a spokeswoman accused five OPP officers of beating a woman. In total, 16 people were arrested during the raid.
  Just five hours after the disruptive raid protestors began arriving by the hundreds. They piled burning tires and used a dump truck to block the road into the development. At the same time, police were revealing an ironic bit of information at a press conference regarding the early morning raid. According to the police, the raid was conducted to prevent an “escalation of activity” that may or may not pose a threat to public safety. Little did they know that their raid was the gas on the fire when it came to escalating activity. Throughout the day Mohawk flags had been raised at the site and even a group of Quebec Mohawks showed their support by raising a banner and flags on a bridge in Montreal. The traffic was disrupted for about half an hour and showed that many eyes were watching Caledonia and people weren’t going to sit back and take the occurrences. This was made even more apparent when a bus arrived full of supporters from various Ontario reserves as well as the arrival of four Hells Angels members who talked to a number of protestors.
  As a further demonstration of the spread of support for the Caledonia Six Nations, 50 members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve in eastern Ontario lit bonfires next to the railroad tracks in their territory near Belleville. CN freight trains were forced to stop and Via Rail announced that trains from Toronto to Kingston would be replaced by shuttle buses . Later that same afternoon CN announces that they have acquired an injunction from an Ontario court forcing the protestors to remove the blocks from all railway lines. During the same day, Sam George yells for calm and insists that the authorities treat the protestors fairly. It is on this day, Friday April 21, 2006, that negotiators from the Six Nations finally meet with federal and Ontario governments and begin discussing settlements for the land claim issue. After 18 hours of conferring the representatives sign an agreement stating that they will talk about settling the land dispute.They say that within two weeks the three parties - Six Nations and the federal and provincial governments – would each appoint a head representative for negotiations. Despite this, barricades remain up and surrounded by OPP and RCMP. It becomes clear that the Six Nations intend the barricades to remain for the following two weeks so they rearrange them slightly in order to allow local residents through so they could attend Caledonia Baptist Church.
  Residents of Caledonia don’t feel that this two week agreement is enough, however. 3,000 residents hold a rally urging authorities to end the standoff. Later that evening, 500 people confront the police and Native protestors at the barricades. About 100 police were on hand to dissuade the residents but demonstrators are too angry and end up smashing a police vehicle. One arrest was made.
  The first casualty of the Caledonia dispute occurred the next day. While it wasn’t a serious event such as the loss of a life, the casualty involved the Haldimand County Mayor losing her status as spokesperson for the issue. After an ineloquent speech claiming Caledonia residents "have to get to work to support their families. If they don't go to work, they don't get paid and if they don't get paid then they can't pay their mortgages and they lose their homes. They don't have money coming in automatically every month. They've got to work to survive and the natives have got to realize that." which angered protestors, Mayor Marie Trainer was replaced by deputy mayor Bob Patterson as representative for Haldiman County.
  As the days carry on, residents become more and more restless. The Canadian Press reported that the Ontario government offered compensation to all effected land developers and builders and that the details were being worked out confidentially. This was on April 29, 2006. On April 30th, former Ontario premier David Peterson is appointed to help resolve the issue. Things seemed to quiet down after this. Rumours were passed around for a couple of days and small offers were made by both sides but nothing major. The protestors even open a lane of Highway 6 allowing local traffic through. They even construct makeshift identification for inhabitants behind the barrier. This mickey mouse set up didn’t last for long, however, as a group of non-native Caledonia residents set up their own blockade preventing Natives from reaching their barricades. The Six Nations spokeswoman, Jamie Jamieson, reported that all plans to removed the Six Nations barricades for the Victoria Day long weekend were put on hold until the parallel blockade was removed.
  While the residents of Caledonia were meeting one another blockade for blockade, the government of Ontario were completing their own peace attempts. The provincial government sent letters to the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy Council stating that construction of Douglas Creek Estates would be put on hold, indefinitely. A lawyer from Henco Industries later reported that they had not been consulted on any form of construction ban. As a sign of peace because of the construction ban, the Six Nations protestors remove their barricades from Highway 6. Harmony continued to elude Caledonia though as non-native residents soon took advantage and constructed a human barrier preventing Natives from passing through. This prompted Six Nations to re-erect their barricade, this time with an electrical transmission tower and by digging a trench in the road with two backhoes. Both sides are reported to have traded punches and racial slurs and the Ontario Provincial Police had to act as a buffer between the two sides. Vandals shut down a power transformer which cuts off power for thousands of residents in Haldimand and Norfolk county. By nightfall the Emergency Response Team of the OPP has arrived in riot gear to reinforce the police barrier between the protestors and residents.
  The following day the two combating sides come to a truce of sorts and all barricades are removed from Highway 6 and the trench filled in. There are still two other aboriginal blockades on a highway bypass of Caledonia, however, so the dispute is still not over. Hydro One reported that it could take days to restore power to all outlets and many surrounding schools are closed as a result but by May 24, 2006 the majority of residents have power once again. Fewer than 200 residents are reported to still be without it.
  From this point onwards events in the Caledonia land dispute have begun to disappear from the media. Currently Ontario Supreme Court Justice Marshall David Marshall is asking that Ottawa get involved and is questioning a variety of persons in regard to his disregarded injunction to remove native protestors back in March. Tensions at the site are still rising and as of June 2, 2006 there are still two blockades up. Natives also still occupy the development site. This continued escalation or tension and violence and re involvement of Judge Marshall is bringing forward other concerns. It is now being speculated that the court feels individuals involved in the land dispute are breaching the courts order and that the law is not being upheld equally for all residents of Ontario. It is becoming apparent that Caledonia is not going to quietly disappear and that it may even contribute to larger circumstances, mainly racial infringements and all that such infringements would entail. As Judge Marshall is trying to persuade, the Caledonia land dispute is an issue that requires guidance from Ottawa. It has gone on long enough and is in dire need of a quick and efficient settlement.

© Angie O'Connor