KAREN BEST
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Dunnville Chronicle
Six Nations Confederacy chiefs are pursuing lease revenues from 352,000 acres of land, 14 per cent of which is located in Haldimand County.
After a Feb. 28 press conference, Cayuga sub-chief Leroy Hill said 19,000 acres in Canborough Township and 30,000 acres in Moulton Township were leased for 999 years to generate ongoing income for Six Nations' health, welfare and service needs.
A map displayed last Wednesday at the Six Nations Confederacy council building showed Moulton Township included a portion of Dunnville east of Chestnut Street.
The two townships plus four more blocks north of Brant County compose a 352,000 acre lease holding but billions of dollars in payments have yet to be received by Six Nations, said Hill. There is a process in place to retrieve those funds, he said.
"Future leasing is on hold until they get caught up on that," said Hill. Once there is an accounting of what's owed a decision will be made on leaving Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia, he said.
Hill also said Six Nations needs more land. The federal government could buy farmland between DCE and Hagersville as additions to the Six Nations reserve, he said.
His comments came on a day that began with 40 Six Nations members and supporters walking into DCE at 7 a.m. on the first anniversary of their reclamation of a small portion of the 10,000-acre Plank Road claim.
Three hours later Hill and Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton told a crowd of reporters that the Crown was selling sections of the Plank Road lands months before a Dec. 1844 order in council was issued to purchase the land. One document showed Samuel Grey put 45 pounds down as a first instalment in July 1844.
In a May 1844 letter, 13 settlers on the road said they were told by the Upper Canada government that they would hold the land under 21- to 42-year leases. They requested the right to purchase should lands be surrendered for sale by Six Nations.
In 1784, Britain granted six miles on both sides of the Grand River to Six Nations who fought as their allies and lost territory in the American War of Independence. The Haldimand Tract was 950,000 acres when set aside for Six Nations use for posterity.
In 2007, Confederacy chiefs stood firm on the 21-year lease arrangements and disputed Canada's legal opinion that the land was surrendered for sale in Dec. 1844. MacNaughton said the Canadian government failed to produce proof of the approval of land sale.
"If the government had something, they would have used it on day one of the reclamation," said Hill.
In the past two years, the Ontario government's Green Belt and Places to Grow laws funnelled southern Ontario growth into Six Nations territory without their consent, said MacNaughton. The Grand River watershed cannot sustain such population growth and development, he said.
MacNaughton said negotiations were not at an impasse but that the Crown has been getting everything it wanted. He said the federal government did not know which authority to settle with financially and spoke about settlements with individuals. This is a bribe that some may want to accept, he said.
"We don't need another nation to tell us how to make a decision," said Hill.
MacNaughton said better relations exist with Ontario negotiators than their federal counterparts. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Jim Prentice met with him informally in an Ottawa coffee shop.
April 20, 2006 changed the resolve of the Six Nations people, said Hill of the day of the OPP raid. The "ugly reality" is it took the barricades to get the provincial and federal government to the table, where lands and waters of the watershed are under discussion, said MacNaughton.
He understood why some wished the barricades were back up because the federal government does not appear to be taking any action. Now Six Nations is pursuing different avenues with leaders sitting down to find a solution, he said.
"People who live up and down the tract are not our enemies," said MacNaughton. He was concerned that one day the federal government will try to cut a deal, run and wash its hands of the whole thing.
"How do we resolve and reconcile?" said Hill. "Our hearts are right there."
And so are the pocketbooks of developers who have $1.7 billion in development planned in the tract. They realize land issues will not go away and must be dealt with by the government, said Hill.
Six Nations leaders are asking for federal action. "Our leaders and people clearly demonstrated goodwill. It's now time for your government," Hill said.
If Canada does not exhibit the political will to resolve land issues, Six Nations will act. "There will be more reclamations up and down the river, " said MacNaughton.
With most of its population under 40 years of age, Six Nations can continue to assert its rights, said Hill, who wants these issues resolved by his generation.
"We have the strength and the stamina to do that and most likely (reclamation) can and will happen again if it has to," said Janie Jamieson, a Six Nations DCE spokesperson and one of the first on DCE in Feb. 2006.
It's almost as if the Canadian government is wasting time waiting for something to happen, said Hill. "The people that make decisions have no attachment to the issues," he said. "To be honest with you, I think they want to use force to resolve it."
"Force doesn't work," said former Ontario Premier David Peterson in an interview with The Chronicle. "At the end of the day, reasonable people need to learn to get along."
In May, he was asked by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to negotiate barricade removal to return the communities to normal. Peterson agreed and refused payment for his services.
Nobody was shot, he said when asked about progress.
"It settled down. People are talking and hopefully they will find a resolution to this potentially explosive situation," said Peterson. "It defies simple answers."
"The federal government does not appreciate how volatile this situation is," said Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino. "The potential for violence is always there."
He would like to sit down with federal officials to impress upon them the need for urgency in resolving the Caledonia land issue.
On his way to Caledonia on Feb. 28, Fantino told The Chronicle police received a tip about a potential issue on DCE that day. He messaged everyone including leaders on the site stating police would prevent any activity that would derail progress. He said he was pleased with how responsibly people reacted. The rumour was without substance, he said.
Meanwhile police continue to do their job while the situation goes on, said Fantino. Since Feb. 28, 2006 OPP have spent 480,000 man hours maintaining peace and laid 69 charges. Warrants are out for other individuals and OPP continue to investigate the May 22 vandalism of the Caledonia Hydro One transformer station.
To date 37 officers have been injured on this assignment, six seriously. They lost 176 days off the job.