Unhappy Anniversary in Caledonia
It is hard to believe, but the crisis in Caledonia has now passed the one-year mark. However, if you live near the occupied site, it would seem much longer.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thoughts and deepest regrets to those families. I cannot imagine what they have been forced to endure.
It was February 28, 2006, when a small group of First Nations protestors took over the construction site known as the Douglas Creeks Estates claiming that homes were being built on aboriginal land.
Since that time, Caledonia has been witness to significant violence including: the injury of 32 police officers and countless local residents; the attempted murder of a police officer; the suspension of the rule of law causing hooliganism and vandalism; a violent assault on the media; destruction of property including the tearing up of a major highway; highway blockades; a black-out caused by the vandalism to a Hydro One transformer; and an enormous destruction of relationships within the community, with the police and with the government. The McGuinty Government was forced to admit that it has spent at least $55 million, including $30 million in OPP costs and $21 million to buy the disputed land and compensate the builders to date with more costs to come.
Taxpayers are also paying Dalton McGuinty?s handpicked appointee, former Federal Liberal Cabinet Minister Jane Stewart, $1,300 per day to mediate the dispute. She was appointed in May 2006. It is difficult to determine what she has accomplished for that handsome sum.
Sadly, over the past year, no measurable progress has been made at the negotiating table, the site remains occupied, the local economy has been dramatically impacted and local residents continue to be intimidated in their own homes. The people of Caledonia have not forgotten Dalton McGuinty?s promises to provide them with financial compensation and to bring an end to the occupation by winter.
Spring will be here in two weeks and the people of Caledonia are still waiting for the Premier to make good on either promise. Canada functions best by adhering to the principle of equal treatment under the law. A government paralyzed by the Caledonia occupation has shattered that Canadian value.
The McGuinty Government seems content to let the untenable situation persist until the land claim is resolved. The federal Minister for Indian Affairs sees no end in site, recognizing that land claims, due to their complexity, take years if not over a decade to resolve.
Here is the reality. The Douglas Creeks land has been frozen; the threat of development has been removed. Negotiations are happening, albeit at a snail?s pace. Since Premier McGuinty is afraid or unwilling to call upon the occupiers to leave the site, perhaps we can bring some pressure to bear on the First Nations leadership.
It is well past time for Chief Allan MacNaughton, Chief Arnie General and other First Nations leaders to show some leadership and convince the occupiers to leave the site. This will allow for negotiations to continue in an atmosphere of peacefulness and stability and help begin repairing some of the damage.
The problem is that when the occupiers see a leader in Dalton McGuinty who always folds, they rightly wonder why they should throw in their cards.