Teams watching police; Complaints will be filed

KAREN BEST
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Dunnville Chronicle

Every time an Ontario Provincial Police officer does not uphold the laws of Canada, police watch teams will record the incident and lay complaints.

Gary McHale told a crowd of 40 at a Caledonia community meeting that over 50 complaints will be filed by teams by the end of the summer. The government has been told they will be inundated with videos and complaints, he said.

Each police watch team will include a videographer, investigator and computer person. Together they will create a record, collect officer badge numbers and prepare two complaints, he said. McHale gave his first presentation on police watch teams the day before some Six Nations community members moved into a Hagersville construction site. A team attended and recorded breaches of enforcement.

Both OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and the officer at the scene were named. By so doing, the complainant must receive some kind of response within 30 days. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has no deadline to investigate allegations about Fantino, said McHale.

One Caledonia resident filed three complaints on the same incident. One was based on Fantino's failure to order OPP media relations officers to report violence or the potential of violence. The next was a complaint against a media relations officer for failure to do this. The final complaint was directed at OPP policy that interfered with warnings about native threats against OPP, Haldimand County employees and residents.

As an example, McHale spoke about a member of Six Nations standing in Douglas Creek Estates on May 17 with an AK47 and then firing it into a Highway 6 smoke shop where an innocent Six Nations man was struck.

McHale said OPP and Fantino failed to warn residents of the threat to their safety. Officials at Notre Dame Elementary School, which backs onto DCE, were not notified of the danger. He also said he had six months of police radio transmissions about violent situations.

"The government won't be able to deny that they knew if someone is killed," said McHale.

The flurry of complaints will also create a file of records with the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (OCCOPS). With so many complaints, it will not look good if action is not taken, he continued.

McHale said he will encourage everybody to sue. Facing a $7 million lawsuit from 19 OPP officers, he counter sued them and Fantino, Haldimand County and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's press secretary and staff for conspiring to silence his freedom of speech. Saying he would never come upon that sum of money, McHale contended that the officers' $7 million lawsuit was intended to intimidate him and to force him to shut down his website.

The operator of the Caledonia Wake Up Call website also criticized McGuinty for failing to act on promises to remove Six Nations protesters in June 2006 and before winter. Because he was reminding the public of "bold-faced lies of government," McHale said he was accused of inciting violence.

Haldimand County does have options to act, he said. Council can pass a no idling bylaw and charge OPP officers who are keeping warm or cool in their cruisers. Council can declare a state of emergency due to lack of policing on the Sixth Line, which runs along the south side of Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia. "Let McGuinty turn it down," said McHale.

Municipalities can petition the Ontario government to declare a state of emergency but authorization rests with the province.

Over the past 15 months, negotiations have not led to progress, said McHale, accusing all levels of government of lying.

He pointed to the Dunnville Shopping Centre and Wal-Mart, the York subdivision plan and the temporary occupation of a Hagersville construction site. "Contrary to what you were promised, it has gotten worse," he said.

Under the present circumstances what guarantee is there for anyone's property title, he asked.

Then the Canadian government offered $125 million to Six Nations, McHale said.

At the meeting, he played YouTube video footage of Shawn Brant speaking of First Nations interfering with rail lines, highways, and gas and hydro lines on June 29. In his speech at a Toronto Ontario Coalition Against Poverty meeting, he said he didn't care if First Nations created non-native victims.

When Caledonia happened, First Nations communities knew it was time, Brant said on the video.

McHale pointed out that if a Muslim made such a speech, he would be arrested before he finished talking. Brant made a direct terrorist threat, he said.

June 29, 2007 is a national day of action for First Nations. National Chief Phil Fontaine said he understood the frustration and sense of hopelessness that can lead to barricades. He said the day was a way of making Canadians aware of First Nations' situations which can include grinding poverty. In a recent speech, he spoke of his belief in diplomacy and negotiations.

McHale had his own plans to put pressure on the government and to get out the true picture of Caledonia's experience. This year he will publish a National Geographic calibre magazine, Canada at the Crossroads, to get the stories out that mainstream media will not write. People across Canada will have the opportunity to read this professionally bound 100 page magazine which will include exclusive material, he said.

Later Caledonia resident Bo Chausse said the magazine will be a good venue and will appeal to people. "I think Caledonia already made a difference," he said. "You hear people talking about it."

To further reach out, McHale asked Caledonia citizens to speak of their experiences at meetings across Ontario.

In order to maintain pressure on the government without resorting to violence or crimes, McHale asked people to make donations. Money will be needed for whistle blower protection, legal funds, the road show featuring Caledonia resident stories and the anti-McGuinty fund, he said encouraging people to fundraise for the cause.

Caledonia resident Merlyn Kinrade paid the $350 Lions hall rental fee. "I'm here to ensure a better future for my children, for their children, for young people in Haldimand County, Ontario and all of Canada," he said. "The reason we speak out is our leaders are mute." Kinrade credited McHale with getting on the ball from the outset to make sure Caledonia was not forgotten.

"I'm not here to throw a hatchet at the natives," said Kinrade. "I'm here for the terrorist activities we have endured and continue to endure."

Referring to smouldering DCE grass fires that recently sent smoke into Caledonia homes, he said he had an axe to grind with terrorist activities directed at law abiding citizens. He urged people to write to McGuinty and Fantino.

"Keeping the peace is not upholding the law," said Kinrade.

Calling police officers peace keepers is dangerous because it recognizes that "the rule of law is crumbling", said Mark Vandermaas who operates the Voice of Canada website. He criticized the Ipperwash Inquiry for failing to make recommendations on preventing violence toward residents during First Nations protests.