MPs duck and weave over Caledonia issue

Oct. 25, 2006. 01:00 AM
IAN URQUHART
The Toronto Star

When it comes to the Caledonia issue, Premier Dalton McGuinty is an exasperated man, as well he should be.

It is now 240 days since the beginning of the occupation by native people of a development site in Caledonia, on the edge of the Six Nations reserve, and there is no end in sight.

Despite the provincial treasury spending large sums — $55 million, according to an opposition estimate — and the devotion of countless hours by provincial police and bureaucrats, tension remains high in the area and McGuinty's courage is being questioned.

"When are you going to show some spine?" asked Conservative Leader John Tory in a question to McGuinty last week about Caledonia.

McGuinty often gets asked about the lack of progress on the Caledonia front during question period at Queen's Park.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is getting off scot-free on the issue, even though Indian land claims, which are at the heart of the Caledonia dispute, are constitutionally a federal responsibility.

During an appearance in Niagara Falls last week, Harper did not mention the Caledonia dispute in his speech, nor did he stick around for media questions afterward. A TV reporter accused Harper of "ducking out the back door" to avoid questions on Caledonia and other issues.

That, in part, is what prompted McGuinty's outburst the following day, when he said Ottawa should help pay the Caledonia bills.

"What I would like to see is the federal government pursue this with more vigour, more enthusiasm, more determination," said McGuinty. "In some ways, they (Ottawa) seem to be 100,000 miles away from all of this.

"It would be great if at some point in time the federal government said, `We're going to get serious about this'... so we can wind up negotiations sooner rather than later."

This represented a change of strategy for McGuinty, who heretofore has been complimentary about the federal government's role in helping to resolve the Caledonia dispute.

Explaining the turnabout, provincial sources said that the land claims negotiations are moving at a ponderous pace — the negotiators met last Friday and won't meet again until Nov. 9 — and they blamed overly cautious federal officials for it.

After McGuinty's interjection, David Ramsay, the provincial minister responsible for native affairs, followed up with a phone call last Sunday to his federal counterpart, Jim Prentice, to press for a face-to-face meeting. Ramsay wanted a meeting this week, but Prentice, apparently not sharing his sense of urgency, put him off until next week.

Media inquiries to Prentice's office were also brushed off. In response to a query about McGuinty's suggestion that Ottawa needs to become more engaged on Caledonia, a Prentice spokesperson responded blandly: "Canada (sic) has been working with the province of Ontario and the Six Nations to address concerns and resolve the issues." He declined to elaborate.

Meanwhile, McGuinty continues to pay a political price for his alleged inaction. After his outburst last week, for example, Tory issued a press release saying: "Dalton McGuinty's comments this morning regarding Caledonia are ridiculous. His weak leadership on this issue is embarrassing. In typical McGuinty Liberal form this is just another attempt to dither, deflect and deny."

No one issued any such press releases in Ottawa.

And therein lies a story:

While Caledonia is very much on the minds of the opposition parties at Queen's Park, it isn't in Ottawa. There are 65 Liberal and NDP MPs from Ontario, but not one has asked a Caledonia question since the House of Commons resumed sitting on Sept. 18.

"We have 10 questions we get to ask a day," explains Pat Breton, spokesperson for interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham. Echoes Brad Lavigne, spokesperson for NDP Leader Jack Layton: "There are many, many issues we just can't get to."

The Liberals did, however, manage to ask a question last week about increasing tensions between non-native fishermen and the Chapel Island First Nations band in Nova Scotia.

And both Graham and Layton found time to ask questions about the Canadian Wheat Board.

But Ontario and Caledonia are apparently not on their radar screens.

With opposition like that, no wonder Harper was smiling during his visit to Niagara Falls last week.