BY KAREN BEST
Dec 08, 2006
Haldimand Review
It probably had to come from the mouth of someone who has experienced it. Maybe that’s why we have not yet heard it said so clearly.
It was newly-sworn-in councillor Craig Grice who gave a voice to Caledonia residents in the Haldimand County council chambers at a special council of the whole committee meeting on Dec. 5.
There are people in Caledonia who continue to suffer financially and emotionally, he said. They are the ones who live closest to the Six Nations land occupation on Douglas Creek Estates. Some are forgotten — like the handful of Caledonia residents on the other side of the Stirling Street bridge, on Oneida Road and on Sixth Line. Grice told council that what they go through is three times worse than those who live on the town streets against the site.
Supporters of Six Nations and some members of their community are quick to denounce this reality as an over exaggeration or a twisted ploy to seek sympathy, media attention and money.
Probably as it does for some Six Nations people, the history and the politics stand apart from and lean directly upon the everyday lives of people in Caledonia. One man said, “You don’t know if you don’t live there.” It’s true.
Would someone from Toronto understand how conflicted a Caledonia resident feels when a cop must guard a Canadian flag. A town resident will feel gratified that the only flag with a yellow bow on Argyle Street South south of the occupied site is safe. At the same time, fury tears the same person apart because the flag should not be in jeopardy. It is a political statement as much as the Mohawk and Haudenosaunee flags down the street. Freedom of expression is a right of Canadians.
If you don’t live where the water reservoir and hydro transformer station are guarded, do you really know how that plays with your mind? A town resident is assured that key resources are under surveillance but at the same time angry that circumstances make it necessary to reduce the risk.
Grice captured this conflict in his oration to council. The tension some feel is overwhelming which is why the community sees actions it would rather not see beside DCE, Grice said. Just as Six Nations fears their land claims will be forgotten if they leave the site, Caledonia residents fear they will be forgotten if there is no activity related to the occupation, he said.
Caledonia residents want police protection but some no longer trust OPP, he said. It’s difficult when two-tier justice is thrust into their faces every day, he added.
“It tears the community apart. Council has to take a stronger stand,” said Grice. He gets it. He knows it but he understands that Caledonia residents as close as two blocks away wonder if it is really that bad next to the site. Grice does admit that some things are sensationalized but also said there is a kernel of truth at the root.
“Whatever can be done has to be done. People want to know that we’re there,” he said capturing the aching need of the community for leaders to stand with them. Some times bearing witness is enough.
“If 400 people want to yell at me, I’m OK with it,” Grice said. A leader, a real states man or woman knows how to absorb the pain of the people and to counsel them to move toward a calmer place. This extremely potent set of skills was direly needed in the darker days of April 20, May 22, June 9 and Aug. 8.
At the meeting, Grice kept poking at the issue. In the summer, representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing canvassed the streets closest to the disputed land asking people about impacts on their families. He demanded that council push for assistance for residents. At this point, Coun. Lorne Boyko demanded the mayor call a point of order because the discussion had wandered away from raising issues. He said the mayor knew the answers and should have mentioned they could be discussed but not in the open.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. People don’t know. This affects a lot of lives. People bought homes along DCE as an investment or because they wanted to be living here,” Grice responded.
Boyko kept insisting on a point of order but Mayor Marie Trainer said Grice was relaying concerns heard at the door, something she wanted to hear at the meeting. After Coun. Buck Sloat agreed that there was not a lot of information shared and there were reasons why, Grice had more to say.
“It’s the people of Caledonia that asked me to speak and fast,” he said. Here was a councillor speaking the angst of the people he represented. He could not be faulted for that even though he did not yet know the rules of the game or the striations of negotiations and liaison tables ongoing between the county, the province, the country and Six Nations. He did recognize the need to keep some details confidential.
The solution is knowledge. Knowledge is power. It’s something to grasp even if its edges are jagged instead of soothingly smooth.
“The biggest problem around DCE is the lack of information,” he said. Inform the people, hold public meetings, Grice continued.
Here Sloat stood forward. He said all along, since DCE was occupied, he wanted the county to hold public meetings on the issue. He said it is important that the county start to do that now. If council members do not have answers to the people’s questions, at least tell them that, he added.
This is a good idea and one underway on Six Nations for months. Their representatives at the main negotiating table and at the side tables regularly share information in their community, where consensus is required for action. Two Confederacy chiefs do keep some matters in confidence. Revealing their negotiating tactics would undermine their strategy, they said at a recent meeting.
Again council shone in a unanimous decision to meet with key players. It was Sloat who suggested meeting with OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino to discuss the land dispute and policing related to it plus OPP contract details. Soon Boyko was calling for a meeting with Jane Stewart, Barbara McDougall, two deputy ministers and their entourages. This is an excellent starting point for a new council to look at the situation.
Boyko said Stewart and McDougall would share confidential details in closed sessions. He underlined the importance of council receiving that information. With it, our leaders understand the context and can make decisions or ask questions to forward the county’s interests.
Grice and Boyko did agree to a more open approach to council business.
“People have to see we are being as open as we can on any issue,” said Grice. Much of what council discusses in a closed session can be done in the public forum, noted Boyko.
Obviously the land dispute will be in the forefront at council’s orientation on Jan. 9. At the beginning of their term of office, council members will set priorities. They face the incredible challenge of supporting their people and moving this county forward while working with Six Nations neighbours who are part of the greater community in this area.
While council undertakes the tough job, we can support them. The people can shore up the government they selected and shoulder the responsibility of interacting with it. A government without a connection to the people and a people without connection to the government is a ship without a rudder. May our course be true.