Sept 28, 2007
Brantford Expositor
Listening to the Ontario Conservatives blame the Ontario Liberals for their handling of Caledonia and the Ontario Liberals blame the Ontario Conservatives for their handling of Ipperwash, one clear common denominator becomes evident. Both Ontario parties were, and are, trying to cope with the vacuum of authority left by the federal parties. Add the federal reaction to native protests at Oka in Quebec and this lack of concern for the residents of Ontario becomes even more pronounced.
The Harris Conservatives tried the hard line approach. It resulted in the death of a native protester, the destruction of an OPP officer's career, the blemishing of the OPP's reputation and the spectacle of the Ontario Conservatives trying to pass the responsibility onto the shoulders of the OPP. I have often asked myself to what degree today's reluctance of the OPP to act is the result of the Conservative's manoeuvre.
During the Ippwerwash crisis, the federal Liberals were invisible in spite of the fact our Constitution makes them responsible for our aboriginal population. During the Oka crisis, the federal Conservatives stepped in between the province and the natives to establish order. At Ipperwash it never happened. As at Caledonia, Ipperwash involves land claims. As at Caledonia, Ipperwash remains unresolved.
The McGuinty Liberals, seeing the disastrous results of the hard line approach, opted for the soft approach with no better results. A main traffic artery was torn up. A rail line was blocked. A power transformer was damaged, eliminating power not only to those whom the protesters were opposed to, but also those whom the protesters claimed to be helping.
The military calls it collateral damage and, for bystanders on all sides in Brant County, it has been extensive and expensive - the most serious being the grievous injury to the man who was building a home for his daughter.
During this crisis it is the federal Conservatives who are invisible. Both the prime minister and his Minister for Public Safety have travelled half-way around the world to see how the folks in Afghanistan are doing, but neither has traveled a couple of hundred miles to see how the folks in Brant and Haldimand counties are getting along.
The Conservatives' Indian Affairs Minister saw no reason to stay in his portfolio to get the job done. Treating Indian Affairs like a revolving door is a common trait for both federal parties. We have a federal representative from the Liberal Party for Brant County and a federal representative from the Conservative Party for Haldimand County, plus NDP hopefuls for both. Yet, the federal Liberals, Conservatives and NDP have all shown a great disinclination to relax their fixation on Afghanistan enough to pay any noticeable attention to their representatives from these Southern Ontario communities.
So far in Ontario and Quebec, the score has been one police officer dead, one protester dead, one father seriously injured and no solutions for any of the three crises. This is a score that any party claiming to be guardian of the welfare of its citizens should be ashamed of.
At this election time, one would hope that all Ontario Parties would unite in a single demand that all federal Parties accept their federal responsibility and make dealing with native land claims a priority, not just for the government, but for Parliament, or if federal politicians prefer to strut their hour on the world stage then tell them to transfer native affairs and public safety to those who for their communities take seriously, peace order and good government
Unfortunately, this will not happen, given our prevalent political culture of my party right, everyone else wrong. Instead, no matter which party is elected, the Caledonia crisis will continue to limp along, its only benefit being that it gives our political tribes new opportunities to snipe at each other.
Robert MacMillan