Caledonia residents get payouts for distress

Tue, March 20, 2007
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO
SUN MEDIA QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Printed London Free Press

TORONTO -- Caledonia resident Russell Kavanagh says a $3,000 provincial compensation package announced yesterday isn't going to make his wife feel any safer.

"I'd prefer they keep the money and use it for proper law enforcement," Kavanagh said.

Christina Acciaccaferro, who also stands to receive $3,000 from the Ontario government, said the money won't compensate her family for the many times they've had to rush inside to escape the "crazy stuff" happening at the nearby occupied Douglas Creek Estates.

"If they offered me a lot more money, I'd be able to sell my house," she said.

Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen is providing a $450,000 compensation package for residents who live closest to the Caledonia lands occupied by members of the Six Nations.

Households will receive $6,000, $3,000 or $2,000, based on their proximity to the site.

Gerretsen said his ministry consulted with the Caledonia Community Committee and others before deciding on the amount of compensation.

"We felt $6,000 for those individuals who are directly involved was fair," Gerretsen said. "It's for the distress and the anxiety and the pain and suffering that these families have gone through."

Gerretsen said the federal government, which is responsible for the land claim negotiations with natives at Caledonia, needs to match the compensation package.

PC Leader John Tory said the payouts don't reflect the suffering and the loss in property value.

"I think it's pathetic."