TORONTO - The cost to Ontario taxpayers of purchasing a tract of land in Caledonia, Ont., that has been occupied by native protesters for the past six months has climbed by another $8.6 million to $20.9 million.

 

The latest tally includes payments of $4 million to six builders who had been putting up houses on the 137.5-acre tract of land when it was taken over last February by Six Nations protesters. Henco Industries Limited, the developer that had owned the property, also received a final installment of $3.5 million for the land in addition to the $12.3 million it was paid earlier this summer.

 

Overall, Henco received $16.9 million for the land and costs related to its original plan for a 600-home development. The total includes $650,000 from the Ontario government in May to help cover the company's ongoing costs during the prolonged dispute, $300,000 toward legal, accounting and other fees associated with the development and $147,000 for expenses related to the provision of water and sewer services.

 

Ontario's Liberal government, in a bid to diffuse the tensions between Six Nations protesters and local Caledonia residents, agreed earlier this year to purchase the disputed land and to put it in trust pending the outcome of a land claims negotiation.

 

Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay said Thursday that Ontarians who might question the cost of purchasing the Douglas Creek Estates land need to realize that there are ''millions of dollars of outstanding liability on unsettled land claims (throughout the province.)''

 

''These we have been working on over the years. Every so often we have a settlement and, in Ontario, it is usually a combination of land and cash, especially in the north.

 

''In this case in southern Ontario, we have a very complex land claim where we know the Crown gave the land to the First Nations. There are outstanding claims here both in land and cash and we're not at the end.''

 

Six Nations protesters have occupied the Douglas Creek Estates housing development since Feb. 28, claiming the site was wrongfully taken from their ancestors in the 18th century. Government-appointed negotiators have been trying to forge a compromise to end the occupation since the beginning of May. Although the province now owns the land, Six Nations members have maintained their presence on the land.