Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen announced today that approximately 20 homeowners will receive $6000. Another 115 residents will receive between $2000-$3000.
"The provincial government recognizes that the residents have been affected. We share their hope to see the resolution of this situation.
Citizen activist Ken Hewitt, who led the Caledonia Citizens Alliance last summer and has since been less involved said he doesn't understand what criteria the government used to determine how much each homeowner was impacted.
He said the details for compensation were worked out in secret by The Caledonia community Committee and members of that group were required to sign a confidentiality agreement
Hewitt, who lives in the town but is not affected by the compensation package, does not believe the homeowners wanted money. "I think they just want it over with, resolved and move on."
Kevin Clark, who lives on
He also says he had "heard some talk" about this kind of thing and wonders why the government would compensate "when it is not over."
The provincial package amounts to $430,000, far less than the $2 million Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer had said would be needed to compensate residents for everything from vandalism to their homes to the cost of new security systems.
The Liberal government will give $6,000 to each of 20 homes in the area closest to the disputed site, and $3,000 each to another 80 homes in the immediate area.
Another 35 homes across the street from the occupation will get about $2,000 each.
Trainer had also wanted the province to compensate homeowners for psychological damage she said many have endured during the year of often-violent confrontations between residents, protesters and police.
But the government has so far made no mention of psychological suffering.
The occupation has cost
Six Nations protesters have occupied the former housing development site since February and say they won’t leave until the land is returned to them.