Passing the buck on Caledonia

McGuinty's Liberals are discovering that applying different laws to different people is expensive

Bob Runciman, National Post

Published: Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recently made a public call for the federal government to pick up the ever-growing costs associated with the illegal occupation of land in Ontario's Caledonia region by aboriginal protesters.

In a purely political move, the Liberals followed up that call last week with a full court press from various sources, including the provincial police union and the Liberal-friendly Toronto Star, saying the Caledonia mess was the entire responsibility of the federal government.

All this, after the provincial Liberals made costly decisions in which the federal government played no part, such as buying the occupied land for $22-million, while allowing the occupation to continue.

The financial costs of the Caledonia occupation are estimated to now exceed $55-million. Policing costs alone have to be staggering, especially when you factor in resources required for overtime, vehicles, accommodation and expenses. After eight months of the occupation -- which began on Feb. 28 -- Mr. McGuinty's Liberal government is finally discovering that applying different sets of laws to different people is an expensive proposition.

But it's not just costs driving the Ontario Liberals' efforts to shift responsibility for Caledonia from the province to the federal government. A recent Leger poll indicated that the McGuinty Liberals are being hard hit in the Hamilton-Niagara Region by negative public perceptions surrounding their failure to end an illegal occupation and uphold the rule of law. And with a provincial election fast approaching, Mr. McGuinty decided to change the channel now to begin transferring the blame.

Several months ago, David Ramsay, Mr. McGuinty's Aboriginal Affairs Minister, described the occupation as an "accounting claim, by and large." Mr. Ramsay's own Web site did not initially include the Six Nations or Caledonia property under current land claims and related negotiations.

Public sources and documents show the Six Nations council agreed to surrender the land on Jan. 18, 1841, on the agreement the government would sell it and invest the money for them. On May 15, 1848, the land currently occupied was sold to George Ryckman, and a crown deed was issued to him. The same land was purchased by Henco Industries in 1992 and registered on title in July, 2005.

Six Nations council agreed on Aug. 20, 2004, to discussions with Canada and Ontario to explore reaching an out-of-court settlement as an alternative to litigation on a lawsuit. None of this relates to an active land claim.

Apart from buying the occupied land for $22-million, the McGuinty Liberals are also paying the hydro and water bills for the occupiers. When asked about the costs of the occupation, Mr. Ramsay declared, "It'll cost what it costs." That's the kind of approach to fiscal responsibility that the McGuinty Liberals believe someone else should now pay for.

Under our Constitution, the administration of justice is clearly a provincial responsibility. Dalton McGuinty's approach to fulfilling this responsibility has been to handcuff the Ontario Provincial Police by encouraging what could be construed as "hands-off" policing in Caledonia -- thereby damaging the once-stellar reputation of the OPP.

And now, Dalton McGuinty wants Stephen Harper to foot the bill for policing in Caledonia, the $22-million cost of the land, the $1.5-million compensation package for local businesses and who knows what else. Perhaps Dalton McGuinty will add the cost of compensation promised to local homeowners on June 16 of this year, or better yet, he will ask Stephen Harper to keep this promise for him -- since Mr. McGuinty's record in the promise-keeping department leaves too much to be desired.

When readers are deciding who is ultimately responsible for the Caledonia file, they should ask themselves the following question: Should Prime Minister Harper be expected to pay for things he had no say in approving, such as the cost of purchasing the occupied land, the cost of keeping the occupiers' hydro and water running, the cost of the business compensation package and the $1,500 per day negotiating fee paid to Jane Stewart, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister?

The federal government does not have jurisdiction over the title to the occupied land. Furthermore, regulations around land use, construction and development are the province's responsibility, as are public safety of the site and local highways.

Every day that Premier McGuinty continues to mismanage the Caledonia file, and fails to uphold the rule of law, is another day that the costs of the occupation will be driven upward. Trying to pass the buck to the federal government merely proves that Dalton McGuinty has lost faith in his own ability to end the occupation.

- Bob Runciman is the Progressive Conservative MPP for Leeds-Grenville and a former Solicitor General for Ontario.