For immediate release:
May 9, 2006
-chorus of concern on chaos in Caledonia
Queen’s Park—MPP Toby Barrett told the Legislature today that the provincial government has created a boondoggle by failing to provide leadership on the Caledonia land dispute.
Barrett joined Opposition Leader, John Tory, and MPP Garfield Dunlop in questioning the provincial government on the new blockades, the power line replacement project, and the policing costs of Caledonia.
“We’ve been informed that the protesters are now also occupying the overpass over Highway 54,” Tory told the Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs. “I just wonder, given the apparent deterioration, both geographically, if I can call it that, and also in terms of business and other things, what are you doing to step up the pace of trying to get this resolved to the maximum extent you possibly can?”
The Minister caught everybody by surprise when he admitted that he was unaware of the blockade north of the Grand River.
“We now have trestles from the new hydro towers creating this weekend’s new blockade on Highway 6,” Barrett later told the Minister. “How long can this project be delayed before lights actually go out in Ontario?”
As with the bridge blockade, the Minister was unaware of the impact on the power line development.
“The officers at Caledonia have been dispatched from detachments right from across our province, and many of them are from detachments that are under municipal policing contacts,” Dunlop then told the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. “How are you preparing to compensate the municipalities for the use of their officers who are working full time at Caledonia today?”
The Minister then argued that there were no increased policing costs associated with the heavy police presence in Caledonia.
“Today clears up what little doubt there was left that the McGuinty government is in over its head,” Barrett said outside the Legislature. “They know nothing about the new blockades, know nothing about their own power line development, and astonishingly, refuse to admit that it costs money to have extra police in Caledonia.”