Monte Sonnenberg SIMCOE REFORMER
Monday June 25, 2007
No one knows if the weather will co-operate, how many people might attend or whether the festivities might break down into disorderly conduct.
Added to the list for the event in July is the question of whether native activists might try to block access to town.
Keith Swarts of Port Dover, chair of the PD13 organizing committee, and the Norfolk OPP have both been warned that activists from Six Nations might try to deny access to Port Dover the day of the rally.
"That would be a major, major mistake," Swarts said. "For them to try to shut down Port Dover on Friday the 13th? Whoa."
Calls to native spokespeople connected to the claims protest in Caledonia were not returned.
Norfolk was drawn into the controversy this spring when aboriginals from Six Nations shut down a subdivision construction project in the north end of Hagersville.
During that protest, native chiefs said they were laying claim to land half a mile on either side of Hamilton Plank Road (Highway 6) from Port Dover to Hamilton.
When it was built in the 19th century, the south end of Hamilton Plank Road began on the east bank of the Lynn River in Port Dover. During recent land negotiations, federal officials categorically rejected native claims related to Highway 6. Federal officials say all historic records and legal documents indicate that title to this land was transferred to the Crown in the 1800s.
Const. Mark Foster of the Norfolk OPP has heard that traffic flows into Port Dover may be disrupted Friday the 13th.
"We can’t confirm if it will happen," Foster said Friday. "We have heard rumours. We will plan and act according to how events unfold. All we’ve heard is there may be a Highway 6 blockage. No locations have been confirmed."
Foster added the OPP will not sit back and wait for something to happen. He said OPP officials are engaged in a steady dialogue with leaders of the protest at the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia.
There have also been reports that natives have plans for Port Dover this Friday. First Nations have designated June 29 as a National Aboriginal Day of Action to draw attention to native issues and unresolved land claims.
Reports are circulating that unidentified protesters may try to lay claim to the Port Dover Harbour Marina this week on the assumption that it was once a traditional fishing ground. Walt Long of Port Dover, a member of Norfolk’s harbour marina board, has heard similar stories. He will be watching to see if someone tries something.
"You just can’t pooh-pooh everything," Long said. "Look what happened to that poor fellow (developer) in Hagersville."