EDITORIAL: McGuinty caves again in Caledonia
Sat, June 17, 2006

Frightened politicians make lousy negotiators -- especially when they're representing us.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is apparently so freaked out by the native protesters in Caledonia that he's now making major concessions to them -- with taxpayers' money -- without getting anything in return.

Yesterday, McGuinty announced the province is buying the unfinished housing subdivision the natives are occupying from local developer Henco Industries Ltd. The province paid millions for the site, although exactly how much, he won't say.

The government plans to hold the land in trust while talks aimed at ending the occupation continue.

This is a huge concession.

One of the big concerns the Six Nations negotiators had was that if the disputed land was developed while they were waiting for their case to be heard, it would effectively negate their chances of keeping the land. In other words, it's reasonable to think a court would be reluctant to order the demolishing of an established subdivision years down the road, even if the natives won their case. The tendency would be to try to compensate the natives with something other than land.

By agreeing to buy the land and hold it in trust, McGuinty has removed that concern, but apparently got nothing in return -- unless there's now a deal or understanding between the two sides we aren't being told about.

The protesters say they'll continue to occupy the development until they win title to the land. Perhaps, sensing weakness from the province, they're upping the ante and pushing to get the entire issue settled now, rather than years from now.

And why not? A few days ago, McGuinty said he wouldn't continue negotiations with the natives until they took down all their barricades and co-operated with an OPP investigation that led to charges against seven native protesters last weekend.

Subsequently, the native protesters took down some of the barricades, but not the main one. And as of yesterday, only one of the seven protesters sought by police was in custody.

And yet, here's McGuinty not only negotiating but offering a big concession. Someone should tell the premier that there's not much point in drawing a line in the sand if, every time someone crosses it, you just end up drawing a new line.