But a federal negotiator told a town meeting last night Ottawa could be wrong and wants to negotiate a way out of the occupation of the former Douglas Creek Estates.
Ron Doering, a lawyer hired by the Conservative government to help deal with the land claim, says two recent court rulings uphold special constitutional rights for natives so Ottawa has to try to negotiate a deal that reconciles native and non-native rights.
More than 200 people attended the meeting organized by the Caledonia Citizens Alliance.
Six Nations officials are to return to a Nov. 3 meeting with evidence to prove the Argyle St. S. site was not surrendered in the 1840s. Doering said Ottawa has documents from 1844 indicating the Douglas Creek Estates land was surrendered and sold.
"If they don't convince us we're wrong, the federal government will stand by its position," he said.
But Doering, sitting with federal and provincial officials, including Haldimand-Norfolk MP Diane Finley, couldn't tell the boisterous crowd what would happen then or how long talks would last to resolve the occupation.
"The alternative to reconciliation is to use some type of force," Doering noted. "For my part, I'd rather negotiate than use some type of force."
Finley, though she has met with individual Caledonia residents to discuss the standoff, was making her first appearance at a public gathering on the issue. The human resources minister faced taunts when she spoke about the work she has done and reiterated she has not been invisible.
She said part of the problem is that she is needed in Ottawa to back the minority government in case of a non-confidence vote.
She also said communicating to Caledonia residents is tough.