Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer is pleading with a Richmond Hill man to cancel another planned flag-waving march in town this Saturday near the site of the native land dispute.
Meanwhile, negotiations are set to resume today among Ottawa, Ontario and the Six Nations Confederacy to try to resolve the 10-month occupation of the onetime housing project Douglas Creek Estates.
Talks have not been held since Nov. 14 after positions were staked out, with Ottawa saying Six Nations surrendered the Argyle Street South site in the 1840s and Six Nations saying they were duped.
Trainer is pleading with Gary McHale, who organized a contentious rally in Caledonia in October, to forgo the new march because it could lead to trouble. A similar march held Dec. 2, ostensibly to salute Canada's military, was attended by about 30 people. OPP stopped the group from flying flags near Douglas Creek Estates and arrested one man.
"I haven't heard anyone who is for it," Trainer said. "Caledonia people don't really want him in their business. They'd like him to stay home."
The march is proposed to begin at 11:30 a.m. from the Canadian Tire parking lot. Participants will try to plant flags across the street from Douglas Creek Estates. Trainer said the OPP are prepared.
"They're hoping nobody shows up, but they'll play everything by ear."
McHale, who runs a website on the Caledonia standoff, dismissed Trainer's comments and said he's not advocating trouble. He said he wants to demonstrate his belief natives are being treated differently from non-natives by the OPP and new commissioner Julian Fantino.
"It's not illegal to put up a Canadian flag," McHale said, noting natives have put up flags on Douglas Creek Estates. "No laws are being broken."
In other developments:
* The Ontario Court of Appeal is expected to release its ruling today on Justice David Marshall's order in August to halt negotiations. The province bought the site and partly argues that this action changed his order. The appeal court heard arguments in September.
* In the Ontario legislature yesterday, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Conservative Leader John Tory sparred again on the standoff. Tory accused the government of breaking a promise to have protesters off the site by the start of winter, but McGuinty said his government has worked hard to ease tensions and said Tory and his party "are eager to pour gasoline on the situation."
* A man accused of assaulting two members of a CH-TV news crew will remain in custody until his next court date in January. Trevor Miller, 31, has been in jail since August.