Updated Wed. Nov. 1 2006 11:36 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Politicians need to stop acting like children and resolve a long-simmering aboriginal land dispute in Caledonia, Ont., the town's mayor said Wednesday.
"They are just playing games right now," Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer told The Canadian Press. "We're in the middle. We're the ones suffering."
Trainer added she would "like them to stop acting like children. I wish they would quit holding Caledonia residents as hostages. It's pretty frustrating."
Her comments came a day after Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice cancelled a meeting with David Ramsay, Ontario's aboriginal affairs minister, about ending the standoff. Prentice said he was unwilling to keep the appointment because of "political grandstanding" by Ontario politicians.
"They were ratcheting up the political rhetoric on the Caledonia issue," Prentice told CTV's Mike Duffy Live.
"I've said all along I'm prepared to sit down and have a serious discussion on these issues, and I've had serious discussions before. But I'm not interested in grandstanding and I'm not interested in publicity stunts."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had demanded the federal government "step up to the plate" and resolve the dispute, although the land in question was purchased by the province.
Ramsay travelled to Ottawa Tuesday night with a list of costs run up by the province during the land occupation by members of the Six Nations.
But Prentice cancelled the 7 p.m. appointment with the provincial minister.
"We were led into the minister's office, and the federal bureaucrats were there, and we started up a conversation," said Ramsay. I guess it was a few minutes after that when the minister's chief of staff came in and said there wouldn't be a meeting."
Deirdra McCracken, a spokesperson for Prentice, said the minister felt it would be better to reschedule the meeting "when there is an atmosphere more conducive to constructive discussions that will lead to progress in resolving the dispute."
The Ontario government says it has spent close to $40 million since February when the occupation of a disputed tract of land began. Included in that figure is $12 million to purchase the property back from a property developer and $15 million going to the OPP.
Ramsay said he was "disappointed" Prentice called off the meeting, especially since he argued it's up to the federal government to resolve land claims.
"The province has neither the authority nor the power to settle a land claim, so it's up to the federal government," said Ramsay. "And quite frankly, to move these negotiations along, the federal government really needs to bring more vigor to these talks."
He was supported by Premier Dalton McGuinty who said three-way talks have been dragging.
"I'd like to see the federal government acknowledge that we have a situation in Caledonia, which the provincial government cannot address," McGuinty said.
"The Six Nations community would be the very first to tell you that."
No date has been set for another meeting between Ramsay and Prentice.