Posted By John Paul Zronik
Sept. 12, 2007
Brantford Expositor
A local developer is accusing the Six Nations Confederacy of "extortion," claiming natives demanded he pay $48,000 before continuing work on a $1.2-million housing development on Grand River Avenue.
Mike Quattrociocchi, owner of Mayberry Homes, said he was asked for the money during a meeting with Confederacy representatives on Monday.
"They asked me for $48,000, which is four per cent (of the project cost)," Quattrociocchi said. "If a bunch of Italians asked for $48,000 and then said you can go ahead with your project, it would be called the Mafia. What I experienced was not negotiating. It was extortion."
A small group of Six Nations protesters last week stopped the construction of four duplexes being built by Quattrociocchi's company on Grand River Avenue, near Jarvis Street, claiming the development was on Six Nations land.
Protesters agreed to leave the site when Quattrociocchi promised he would stop work and meet with native leaders. While he met with the leaders, Quattrociocchi says he won't pay.
"If they think I'm going to pay $48,000, they've got another thing coming," he said.
As well as the $48,000, Quattrociocchi said he was asked to pay a $7,000 development application fee.
Six Nations representative Aaron Detlor on Tuesday said discussions between the developer and Confederacy are confidential, but that Quattrociocchi has not been asked "for any specific amount" of money.
Detlor said talks with Quattrociocchi will continue based on the Haudenosaunee development protocol recently implemented by native leaders.
"I believe that we're having good-faith discussions with Mr. Quattrociocchi," Detlor said. "We want to try and assist him in moving forward."
Quattrociocchi said he's never heard of the Haudenosaunee development protocol and that he intends to move forward with his housing project.
"At some point in the future, I'm going to start up work again and they're going to try and stop me," he said. "They're not going to stop me. I will want the police to do their job (and remove any protesters)."
Quattrociocchi said the the inaction of the federal and provincial governments to deal with the Six Nations land claims issue is allowing natives to dictate the course of local development.
"They're being allowed to do it, so they're going to do it," he said. "We've reached a boiling point. This is the tip of the iceberg."