Re: Caledonia
Six months ago, protesters from the Six Nations occupied the Douglas Creek Estates, which borders on parts of Caledonia, to stimulate land claim negotiations that have allegedly been delayed for decades. Since then, tempers have flared between protesters and Caledonia residents and all of the negative activity raises some questions.
If the dispute can be traced back to the 1840s and there is abundant information on the issue, why is it taking so long to settle the claim?
Why do many people of the Six Nations say they are not subject to our laws if the British bought the Haldimand tract in the 1700s from the Mississaugas, an Ojibway people, and the Six Nations came from what is now New York State to settle in what was British and is now Canadian territory?
If the Douglas Creek Estates land is in dispute, why are protesters from the Six Nations allowed to occupy it but Caledonia residents are not?
If the land is in dispute, why could the provincial government buy it?
Would the province have bought this land if it thought the former owners had legal ownership and the Six Nations had no case?
If the province now legally owns this land, why doesn't it send in the OPP to control the area?
Why is the province able to find millions of dollars so quickly for expenses including policing, repairs, money for Caledonia citizens, business and high-priced negotiators, etc. while the Six Nations get none and when the province says it can't find money for health care, education, etc.?
If the dispute is between the Six Nations and the Crown, if the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has jurisdiction over aboriginals and if the Governor General represents the Crown, why isn't the federal government the primary negotiator and the one to buy the land?
Why is the federal government negotiating by proxy and passing the buck to the province?
If Six Nations' protesters are creating trouble -- running SUVs near homes, shining lights at night in the windows of Caledonia residents, throwing rocks at their homes, making loud noises at all hours of the day and night, and so on -- why are they doing this if their fight is with the government and not with the people of Caledonia?
Why don't the Six Nations' protesters and the people of Caledonia get together, occupy public land in front of the parliament buildings in Ottawa and vent their anger at the federal government instead of at each other?
The list could go on, and on and on.