July 10, 2006

Ken Hill skips the country?

Recall that Ken Hill, successful entrepeneur on the Six Nations Reserve, owner of the Grand River Enterprises cigarette manufacturing company, was arrested on two charges of assault following a violent confrontation at the Caledonia barricade on June 4. He was picked up on June 22.

I have wondered why a successful businessman is rioting at a barricade over some land. I have pointed out that Ken Hill and his associates have longstanding interests in bringing gambling into the reserve (under their control). Could there be links, especially with the interests the Mohawk Warriors have in gambling?

In any case, Hill was released on bail, and was told to appear in court on July 19.

On a serious charge of assault, with access to large amounts of funds, and with the political implications of the Caledonia land claim, do you think it would be much to ask of Ken Hill to stay close to home, and not to leave the jurisdiction of the courts until the charges were resolved?

Perhaps...oh, I don't know...put off any trips to Germany?

Germany?!

The article is dated July 5, and says the opening ceremony was on the previous Thursday. That would have made it June 29, a week after he was arrested and released.

Is Ken Hill making the trip back home? For all I know, he has already come back, and there is nothing to worry about. But if he intended to avoid coming back to Canada for a spell, Hill's partner Jerry Montour explains why Germany might be the place to be:

Germany opened its arms to us. Your government worked with us to make this happen. For our first venture into Europe we couldn't have picked a more friendly or progressive place. [emphasis added]

Now if I was an aboriginal and wanted to claim asylum in a comfortable country, I could do worse than pick Germany. Bring up Canada's "genocidal" treatment of First Nations people, and you are sure to strike a chord with Germans. Germans are understandably sensitive to accusations of genocide. Throw in some "green" references (pretty easy for an aboriginal who knows a thing or two about public relations), and in no time you'd have a crowd of German political figures willing to stand behind you at a podium, each eager to take turns demanding that the German government protect you from the evil pro-Bush Conservatives in Ottawa (even though the federal government has nothing to do with this directly).

I'm just saying expecting people awaiting court dates on serious charges to stay in the country seems like a pretty reasonable restriction.

And what about border controls? Doesn't a serious criminal charge cause you to get flagged when you present your passport at a ticket counter at the airline? Does this mean that if the 17 men currently in jail on terrorism charges had been let out on bail, and then decided to take a trip to Syria, no one would stop them?

Perhaps Ken Hill got permission to go on this trip. Mighty generous, given that GRE seemed to be well represented already. It's not like asking for permission to attend your mother's funeral. If he was given permission, I'd like to know who signed off on it.