For immediate release:
May 29, 2006
Calls for plan to open Southern Ontario Railway and Hwy 6
Queen’s Park—MPP Toby Barrett used a statement in the Ontario Legislature to say the McGuinty government is doing nothing to open the Highway 6 bypass, and nothing to re-open the railroad through Caledonia.
“People in the area feel the government is doing nothing,” Barrett said. “They feel as if they’ve been abandoned by Premier McGuinty and his Cabinet.”
“There’s been no effort by this government to communicate with those citizens on all sides who have been affected—no effort at all,” Barrett continued. “No elected members of government have come down.”
Barrett took action on the Caledonia/Six Nations land dispute just days after the occupation began. His efforts- and those of community advocates- were rewarded this past Tuesday when the Argyle Street blockades were dismantled.
“True leadership requires leaders at minimum to be present during a crisis,” Barrett concluded. “Not a single cabinet minister accepted my invitation to come down to Caledonia, to come to Six Nations during this last weekend, when you were really needed, and we all know what happened on Victoria Day. We know what happened on Bread and Cheese Day. That was a disaster!”