BY KAREN BEST
Dec. 20, 2006
Dunnville Chronicle
Before any flags were attached to poles in Caledonia, an Ontario Provincial Police inspector warned people about impending violence.
Around 11 a.m. on Dec. 16, OPP Inspector Ross Nichol explained the OPP position to Gary McHale and media.
"We're concerned that there might be a physical confrontation that could involve violence and we're duty bound to prevent that," he said.
As the Richmond Hill man persisted to question this, Nichol repetitively said police expected violence as the flag campaign moved down the street in front of Douglas Creek Estates, which is occupied by some Six Nations members.
"If there is any attempt to put up flags on that stretch of the road, there will be arrests," he said. "From the OPP perspective it is a breech of peace."
McHale was on a mission to erect Canadian flags on poles adorned with Mohawk and Haudenosaunee flags. They were attached to hydro poles on the east side of Argyle Street South across from DCE after McHale's Oct. 15 rally. He said Caledonia people were not going to become violent and OPP were applying two tier justice.
Merlyn Kinrade of Caledonia said it was disgusting that police were not upholding the law and that natives can do what they want. "We've got to keep this on the front page," he said.
Nearby McHale and Mark Vandermaas of London began to hang flags upside down, a universal sign of a country in distress. As a member of the military, Vandermaas served on a six-month tour of duty in the Middle East. He said he was enraged with Ontario Aboriginal Affairs minister David Ramsey's comments that natives deserve to be treated differently. "I am equal. I am prepared to die for this flag today if I have to," he said.
Michelle Robitaille of Caledonia came out to support the flag effort. She said businesses in town are suffering and three will close down after Christmas. With no building here, the economy will go down the tubes, she said. "After 40 years of being in town, I'm thinking about moving out," she said.
During this street gathering, the OPP line between Caledonia residents and Six Nations was easily bypassed a number of times.
Just after noon, about 40 people walked into the field on the east side of the street going around the police line by Canadian Tire. Several officers formed a loose line to keep the group away from a pole.
After a woman carrying a flag walked between them, the rest followed. About 70 Six Nations members watched from DCE.
The woman stood on a fire hydrant within 20 feet of the pole where the first Mohawk flag on the street was flying. OPP officers formed a tighter line in front of the pole. The flag was handed off to two 13-year-old girls who walked right up to the police line. Stretching their arms as high as possible they held up the flag, bringing it the closest it would get to the Mohawk banner.
By 12:30 p.m., McHale and Vandermaas, who were past the police line at Canadian Tire, were arrested for breach of peace. A few Caledonia residents tried to block the paddy wagon's path and a couple of people sat down in the street but were immediately removed by police.
After the paddy wagon got away, 16 vans full of Toronto riot police officers and tactical medic vehicles rolled down the street and into the Baptist church parking lot between Canadian Tire and DCE. The Caledonia crowd dwindled and the Toronto officers and medics left.
A woman who only identified herself as Lucy said the SWAT team was not needed and that police were making this worse. If they had let the flags be hung, people would have left by now, she said.
An Ontario government position that natives are treated differently "goes against the way people were brought up - that we are all equal under the same law, " said Haldimand Norfolk Brant MPP Toby Barrett. He said people are having trouble sorting out a Court of Appeal decision that says natives can stay on DCE and the federal government position that there is no land claim on it.
Arrested for breach of peace which is not a chargeable offence, McHale was held in the Cayuga OPP holding cell for 23 hours.
To show that police could not control him, he removed all his clothing but his underwear and refused to eat or sleep. After appearing before a justice of the peace on Sunday morning, he was released because the justice had no jurisdiction over him, said McHale.
He filed a complaint against the officer who detained him over night to the Haldimand County police services board. He is also launching a civil suit against the OPP and OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. If the case goes to court, they will have to prove that putting up a Canadian flag is a breach of peace and officers will have to speak about their orders, said McHale. After his release, he accepted a lawyer's offer to represent him.
McHale said he will be back in Caledonia to hang flags on Jan. 20 if Fantino does not come to town before that to tell residents why flags cannot be hung across from DCE.