So it is inexcusable that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is not only letting Ontario shoulder most of the short-term costs and political heat for a long-simmering land-claim dispute in Caledonia, but also signalling that Ottawa is not solely responsible for sorting out a longer-term solution.
The signs that Ottawa wants little to do with the Caledonia dispute are clear.
First, federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice rudely stood up his Ontario counterpart David Ramsay on Halloween when Ramsay arrived at Prentice's Ottawa office for a scheduled meeting on the issue.
Then, Prentice suggested the occupation by Six Nations protestors of a housing development south of Hamilton might not be exclusively a federal matter, because their claim to the land predates 1867, when Canada came into being.
Such pettiness shows the lengths to which Ottawa will go to pass the buck on this politically sensitive issue. Rather than try to deny its legal duties, Ottawa should work with native leaders and Ontario to settle this dispute once and for all.
That means accepting that Ottawa, not the province, is responsible for dealing with the underlying land claim and taking a lead role in negotiations. It also means paying a fair share of the $40 million Ontario has spent thus far to keep a volatile situation under control.
The standoff in Caledonia began more than eight months ago, when Six Nations activists occupied the Douglas Creek Estates housing development, arguing the land is theirs.
Their claim stems from the Haldimand Proclamation, which in 1784 granted the Six Nations a large tract of land on either side of the Grand River to reward them for their loyalty to the British during the American Revolution. They now hold only a fraction of their original grant as a result of surrenders and land transactions, for which they say they have not been properly compensated.
Only one of the 29 claims they filed with the federal government between 1976 and 1984 has been settled. A legal case has been winding its way through the courts since 1994, although it is on hold during the current negotiations.
Ontario has more than done its part to defuse this crisis, which has been marred by tension and violence between native and non-native residents.
Provincial police have kept a careful watch over the situation from the start, although not without criticism from both sides. Ontario negotiators have been actively talking with native leaders to resolve the dispute.
Queen's Park has also effectively removed the immediate cause of the protest by buying the disputed land and stopping development pending a decision on the land claim.
But native protestors, angered by the tortuous proceedings, still refuse to leave the property and are digging in for the winter.
Ottawa has had negotiators at the table from the start. But their political masters are undermining them by snubbing Ontario and playing games. It is time the federal government to set aside petty politics and negotiate in good faith.
No one can afford for these talks to break down. Not Six Nations members, who have been waiting too long to have their grievances dealt with. Not Caledonia residents, who are the innocent victims of this standoff.
And certainly not Ottawa, whose attitude risks turning Caledonia into a focal point for aboriginal anger across the country.