John Paul Zronik
Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 01:00
Brantford Expositor
A sign declaring Mohawk Park "sovereign Mohawk nation land" was removed by city workers late Tuesday afternoon.
A small group of natives calling themselves representatives of the Grand River Mohawk Nation had erected the sign, which said "You are no longer in Canada," earlier in the day.
City staff removed the sign at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and took it to the city's public works yard, said Wayne Garabedian, the city's director of public works. "There was no incident, nobody around," he said.
Before the sign was removed, natives were asked to relocate it to the nearby Glebe land, which the city acknowledges belongs to Six Nations, said Mayor Mike Hancock.
'inappropriately placed'
"They were well aware the sign was inappropriately placed," Hancock said. "I can't see any reason to not have removed it."
Vic Hergott, the city's director of parks and recreation, said natives were asked to move their sign sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. "It was amicable, but they refused," Hergott said.
Hancock said any prohibited sign placed on city property would be removed.
The city is studying the possibility of constructing a portion of the Brantford Southern Access Road through the Glebe land. The same group that erected the sign on Tuesday appeared before city council last year to say it would rather see the Glebe land and nearby Mohawk Lake cleaned up, as opposed to having the road built.
The incident at Mohawk Park Tuesday is the third Six Nations action in Brantford during the past year. Last summer, natives constructed a Mohawk information trailer on Grand River Conservation Authority land off Erie Avenue. In June, native flags were erected at the site of a proposed retail centre at Wayne Gretzky Parkway and Henry Street.
Hancock said the actions have caused uncertainty among city residents.
"It causes concerns among the citizens of Brantford and I don't think that's a good thing," he said. "My concern is really that it can cause a misunderstanding between us and our Six Nations friends. "I don't think it's constructive."
Acting Insp. Geoff Nelson said city police have had minimal involvement in the three native actions.
"We deal with these incidents one at a time," Nelson said. "That's the approach we're taking."
Nelson said he couldn't divulge if city police are developing a plan to deal with any possible larger action by native protesters in Brantford.
"I can only assure the public that, in any decision we make, the common denominator is (examining) how it would affect public safety," Nelson said.