John Paul Zronik
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Brantford Expositor
Six Nations farmers say they'll plant a crop at the former Burtch Correctional Centre this year, despite six area families arguing they are the property's rightful owners.
Barry Hill, representing the Six Nations Farmers Partnership, said natives plan to plant corn and soybeans on the 385-acre Burtch property, as well as prepare part of it for sowing a winter wheat crop.
Six Nations was given permission last year to use the land for agricultural purposes as a goodwill gesture by former Ontario premier David Peterson during negotiations to resolve the continuing native land occupation in Caledonia.
"One of the touchy subjects the farmers are trying to stay away from is whose name the land is in," Hill said Tuesday."It's still in limbo, as I understand it.
"We're non-political. (Our group) wants to preserve the asset and work around the politics."
For the past year, former county politician Mabel Dougherty has been lobbying government for the return of Burtch to six area families from which the land was expropriated during the 1940s. On Tuesday, she said Peterson should not have given Six Nations permission to use Burtch in the first place.
"David Peterson thought this was a quick fix to Caledonia," Dougherty said. "He didn't have any right to put it on the table and he should be treating us with some kind of respect."
Dougherty said the six families have no issues with Six Nations.
"It has nothing to do with Six Nations," she said. "It's between the provincial government, the federal government and the families."
The federal government expropriated the Burtch property from the six families for use as an air field in 1941, in the midst of the Second World War, Dougherty said. In 1949, Ottawa turned the property over to the province instead of giving it back to its previous owners. It later became a correctional facility, which closed in 2003. The land is currently under the ownership of the Ontario Realty Corporation, a provincial crown corporation.
"From generation to generation, it has been stated the land would be returned to the families when it wasn't needed any longer," Dougherty said. "We've asked that the province treat us the same way our ancestors treated the province, with honesty and integrity."
While no local documentation exists pertaining to promises the Burtch lands would be returned to the families, Dougherty believes it can be found among records kept in Ottawa.
Last week, she made a presentation at Queen's Park about the issue and spoke with Ontario's minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, David Ramsay.
When Six Nations farmers planted soybeans at Burtch last year, Hill, who is also president of the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, said some people living nearby were upset.
"When I was planting it last year, local residents came over and yelled at me for half an hour, giving their opinion on why I shouldn't be there," he said.
Hill said there is a debate in the Six Nations community as to who should administer the Burtch lands.
"There's controversy as to whether these lands go back into band lands or whether they're only to be administered by the Confederacy (the traditional government of Six Nations)," Hill said "That issue has not been resolved. In the meantime, the farming needs to go on." Hill said the Six Nations Farmers Partnership plans to develop a five-year crop rotation for the Burtch property, which will ensure it is properly managed farmland. The partnership is a local branch of a native agricultural organization that spans six Ontario reserves.
Dougherty said the six families fighting for the return of Burtch would like the property turned into a natural area for public use, with Carolinian forest, wildlife ponds and an interpretive centre. The facility could be operated as a trust by members of the six families, she said.