Stalled land claims stoking flashpoints, mediator warns

Too easy to disrupt roads, rail lines. Ottawa has 'gotta get on it,' Peterson urges

JACK AUBRY, CanWest News Service – The Gazette

Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2007

It is too easy for militant aboriginals to disrupt roads, rail lines and pipelines running through their territories across the country for Canadian government officials to risk stalling land-claim negotiations further, former Ontario premier David Peterson warns.

His experience as a mediator in a number of disputes has made him aware of a growing militancy in First Nations. He says a number of them are ready to erupt if the government doesn't start engaging in serious negotiations.

"Here are the facts: There's hardly a road, a railroad line, a transmission line or oil pipeline that doesn't go through some disputed territory," Peterson observed yesterday. "There are a million native Canadians with the highest birthrate in the country and a very high unemployment rate, and you know, these kids are learning they are victims.

"So you are seeing more and more militant people. Some of them feel they have nothing to lose and they feel they haven't had their concerns responded to. And don't forget there were a lot of hearts broken with the scrapping of the Kelowna Accord."

The accord was a series of agreements signed by the former Liberal government and First Nations leaders in 2005, aiming to improve education, employment and living conditions for aboriginal people. The Harper government would not implement the accord.

With the number of land claims more than tripling over the past 15 years to about 800, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice agrees the negotiations system is not working and reportedly will soon seek approval from the cabinet for a new action plan.

Peterson says it is an urgent matter that the government must deal with or else tense situations like the one near Deseronto, in eastern Ontario, will repeat themselves over and over again. Train service on one of the country's busiest rail corridors was paralyzed during the weekend as a long-simmering aboriginal land dispute erupted into a blockade, sending thousands of passengers scrambling for alternative transportation to reach their destinations.

The blockade shut down all freight and passenger service from Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa.

"You have some people who say: 'Look, the only time we're listened to is when we cause a fuss. And it's not that hard to cause a fuss and tie up major things like the railroad line in Deseronto or the roads in Caledonia," Peterson said.

"So I guess my point is, you have to engage and you gotta get going on it fast."

An unscientific radio poll conducted in Ottawa yesterday morning found an overwhelming 90 per cent of respondents felt it was the duty of the government to take "more proactive action" on threatened blockades this summer even though the weekend demonstration ended peacefully.

With Ontario Conservative leader John Tory appearing as guest host, a couple of emails were read over the radio urging the government to withhold cheques going to the communities causing the trouble.

Peterson called the radio emails "terribly inflammatory," pandering to "the lowest common denominator."

"I understand their reaction," he said. "Tempers are on edge, nerves are raw in Caledonia and there's a lot of unfortunate victims. But I can't condone this kind of behaviour. ... There are just too many ways to make things worse and you can't send in the police. "

The dispute in Deseronto revolves around the use by developers of a quarry on disputed land and yesterday, affiliated demonstrators dumped what they called "toxic waste" from the quarry site on the steps of Queen's Park in Toronto.