E-mail threats over MPPs remark

The local MPP for Caledonia says he has received anonymous threats telling him to "go back to Europe."

Toby Barrett, the Conservative MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant, initially blamed organized crime yesterday for the native barricades in Caledonia but later retracted his comments.

"I got a message, 'Go back to Europe.' I have been told I'm not welcome on Six Nations," Barrett said.

Conflict has flared up repeatedly between Six Nations protesters and their non-native neighbours at the occupied site of a former housing development in Caledonia.

'NO-GO ZONE'

Natives are negotiating with representatives of the Ontario and federal governments to resolve a longstanding land claim.

Barrett said it's well known that native communities are a "no-go zone" for the OPP.

Six Nations neighbours are speculating the Mohawk Warriors and their criminal partners may be trying to get a casino or facilitate the smuggling of illegal cigarettes with the barricade, Barrett said early yesterday.

"People see no agenda, they see no plan other than from the occupied site. And the perception is that things are driven by the (Mohawk) Warriors and by the organized crime that they represent," he said.

Asked to name the organized crime outfit, Barrett listed the "Hells Angels, Sri Lanka mafia, Italian mafia, Russian mafia, Vagabonds."

Later in the day Barrett issued a written statement: "I do not believe and in no way intended to imply that organized crime was behind the occupation in Caledonia."

E-mail threats over MPP's remark