McHale’s willing to get arrested…again

By Bill Jackson
Jan 10, 2006
Haldimand Regional News

Richmond Hill resident Gary McHale says that he won’t come to Caledonia if OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino promises to hold a public meeting to explain why natives are allowed to hang flags on Argyle Street where non-natives are not.

If Fantino declines the offer, McHale promises to gather at least 50 people who will be willing to get arrested on Jan. 20.

“There are no grounds to be arrested”, he maintains.

Anyone can hang things on a hydro pole.

“So when I say I’m looking for 50 volunteers, we’re not doing anything illegal, we’re doing things the Supreme Court has ruled we have a legal right to do,” he said.

McHale said the O.P.P including the officers who make any arrests, will be slapped with lawsuits.

“The individual officers should be aware that they are violating our Charter of Rights,” he said.

If McHale proceeds on Jan. 20 it will be the third major event he’s planned to illustrate two-tier justice in the town dating back to the Oct. 15, 2006 March for Freedom.

Just before Christmas, McHale and a London-area man were arrested and later released unconditionally following a flag raising attempt that drew hundreds of non-natives who were prevented from making their way down Highway 6 on a Saturday afternoon by police.

“I’ll tell you why Canadian flags are illegal and native flags are legal” said McHale. “Because when the natives put up their flags the O.P.P. know and understand completely that the residents (of Caledonia) will not turn violent. That’s been completely demonstrated.

There’s been no acts of violence as a result of native flags being put up. The OPP are convinced to the very core of their being that the site of a Canadian flag put up in certain areas will result in the natives just going crazy. They know it. They just don't want to say that."

Amid all the speculation and community uncertainty; OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino was scheduled to make a visit to Caledonia yesterday for a lunch date with the Caledonia Rotary at an undisclosed location.

According to President Maureen Thompson, Fantino requested' that media not be permitted. She didn't reveal a location.

"It was by his request so I'd have to say no," she replied to a Regional News request to attend. "When he accepted our invitation he had a criteria set up and he shared that with us and one of the items was to not have the media. I don't really question that, I just put it in place."

Thompson said that the Rotary invited Fantino to come and speak months ago and applies to have different speakers come and talk all the time.

But Fantino's no ordinary guest.

Tension continues to plague the Caledonia community in one form or another. As one store owner said recently, commerce is better than it was, but is still not the same as it was last January. The tension isn't always seen, but is rather in the form of mental torment, she said.

An ad placed as a "Good Faith Legal Public Notice" in the Brantford Expositor last week by a. group calling' itself the Mohawk Nation says that "anyone. bearing an inherent land and birthright will no longer be paying GST and PST, "anywhere."

The notice of inherent land and birthright will replace the "now defacto Government of Canada's Certificate of Indian Status which was enacted through Canada's genocidal policy The Indian Act."

The ad goes on to say that “failure to comply on the part of any party will result in immediate action against the obstructing party in a private capacity, there will be no exceptions. Prosecution will be through provisions of the Personal Property Security Act and the Uniform Commercial Code."

When asked if the ad was a threat setting up confrontations in local stores, a spokesman on behalf of the Mohawk Nation who refused to give his name said that wasn't the intent.

'We're going to replace the cards that are issued by the government of Canada that makes us Canadian Indians. Because we're not Canadian Indians, we're North Americans," he said. ''The thing is, you've got to remember, there is no tax for us," he continued.

The Haldimand Tract was given to indigenous peoples for fighting a war hundreds of years ago, he noted.

''There wouldn't be such a thing as, Canada if the Mohawk Nation never helped.,, We just want to be left alone on this land… And you guys shouldn't just be taking the taxes either. This isn't just for us, it's for everyone."

The notice had a gathering of shop owners wondering what to expect after hearing of the advertisement.

A spokesperson for Indian and Northern Affairs directed the Regional News a Revenue Canada spokesperson who did not return calls prior to The Regional News deadline.

The owner of one local store said she was "leery" of what she should tell her employees should a native refuse to pay GST or PST without a native status card.

"It's still tense around here, especially when people heard about the possibility of gunshots," said Caledonia Councillor Craig' Grice.

Over New Year's the OPP was notified that it might occur and basically said they couldn't stop it, Grice said.

On New Year's Eve, Aboriginal Affairs' •Diane Woods wrote to one local resident: "It is traditional with some Six Nations/Haudenosaunee to fire shots into the air at midnight on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year. The OPP are aware of this tradition and Inspector McLean has asked that this information be communicated to local residents."

"Some people say they heard gunshots. Other people say they didn't hear a thing," Grice commented.

Some local residents took special precautions fearing the possibility of stray bullets in the air.

"Everyone, in Canada truly understands already that there is a two tier system at play," Grice said. "Do we constantly need to be reminded of that? We don't... Does the provincial government, does the federal government need to be constantly reminded that there is a very, very serious issue here in Caledonia? Absolutely. Is (McHale’s way) the best way of doing it? Therein lies the question.”

The ripple effects of the Caledonia dispute are now being felt throughout the Grand River watershed. ‘Mohawk’ supporters, not Six Nations, have most recently reclaimed Mohawk Park in Brantford with a good faith notice board and are objecting to development of roadways near the city's old downtown.

Meanwhile, main table negotiations between Six Nations and both provincial and federal governments continue regarding former Douglas Creek Estates property and related matters, stalling development all along the Grand.

On his website caledoniawakeupcall.com, McHale justifies his position and reasoning with speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.

"Anyone who lives inside (Canada) can never be considered an outsider within its bounds," McHale paraphrases.

With a speech written by King Jr. from a Birmingham jail in 1963, McHale draws parallel lines connecting the oppression of negroes with non-native residents in Caledonia and native warriors with the KKK.

The non native ‘Residents’ greatest stumbling block in their stride toward ending Two Tier Justice is not the Native Protesters or the Warriors, but the non-Native moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek; but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set back and wait for the end of Two Tier Justice."

In other news related to the Caledonia land occupation:

·        Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council brought in the New Year with a return to its original seat of government - the old Confederacy House in Ohsweken.

The house, built in 1864, is 140 years old and predates Confederation. The building served as the council house for the Six Nations Confederacy Council until 1924 when the council was ousted by the Canadian government and an Elected Band Council was created.

On the first day of the New Year, Six Nations people marked a turning point in their collective history with the Elected Band Council working in concert with the community in returning the building to the Haudenosaunee Chiefs in a ceremony at the building.

·        The Ontario government has also handed down $20 million to help pay for $15 million in policing costs incurred because of the Caledonia dispute. The money will only cover I until the end of province's fiscal year April. The money will also be used to pay for new officers and equipment and to expand the Cayuga OPP detachment.