By Bill Jackson – The Regional
Provincial police and their penchant to uphold a two tier justice system are protecting native extremists who don’t represent upstanding aboriginal communities that are being affected just as much as non-natives, according to
On a day where a brother representing a local builder who was almost killed last month spoke to the community on behalf of his family members, others drew a comparison to the trend seen at Ipperwash, an issue that most have heard of but many don’t know anything about. It’s a different similar issue that’s still unresolved a decade and a half later.
Reading from a speech written by Ipperwash resident Mary-Lou LaPratte who was unable to attend on Monday,
The only thing it hasn’t experienced as a direct consequence of the native related issues it faces, is death. Yet.
Joe Gualtieri, the brother of a
“But he was literally one blow away from dying” his brother said. “What would have the government have done then?”
Gualtieri called on the government to hold a public inquiry, highlighting the fact it took years to investigate the Dudley George shooting in Ipperwash. He said his brother and his family do not want revenge, only answers similar to those sought by Caledonians to tell the truth of injustice.
If his brother’s injuries were predictable and preventable, then why did they happened he asked a crowd of about 200 people who gathered at
Before the long congregation set out on a flag raising mission to the Stirling Street housing development where Sam Gualtieri, 52, was assaulted and left to die, Mark Vandermaas, a London area resident and author of the website voiceofcanada.ca said that the Mohawk Warrior flags predominantly used on the former Douglas Creek Estates site and other places as a means to draw attention to supposed land claims actually represent a group of organized criminals that have been accused of drug, tobacco, weapons and alcohol smuggling in various locations such as Akwesasne, Oka, Ipperwash and now Caledonia, as exposed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, native website and many investigative journalists.
He than asked the crowd how many native parents can teach kids about respect for the rights and property of others, when the OPP so eagerly award sociopaths for violence and criminality. He said a man was almost beaten to death and that two native women have been raped on DCE according to a statement made by Six Nations Elected Chief, David General, and reported in a native paper last August. How many people knew that? Vandermaas wondered.
Vandermaas contends that these and many other stories must get out.
Another non-native woman and her child were threatened near the DCE site with an AK 47 earlier this year before a native manning a smoke shack on the outskirts of town was shot and injured.
“For many months now we have tried to share the reality that native people themselves are victims of tiered justice, a fact that has been consistently unreported by non-native media” Vandermaas said.
The same race based policies and procedures implemented by the OPP in Caledonia and endorsed by the official Ipperwash inquiry report as quote “best practices” the same policies that cause OPP officers to violate the rights on non – natives and allow native criminals to escape justice, are actually responsible for victimizing native people themselves.” The Sarnia Observer reported in 1998 that originals Ipperwash protestors were driven out of the their park by youth who thought they owned the place, by guns and threats. Similar stories have been reported by native paper on DCE said Vandermaas, recalling the story of a native youth being hit over the head with a crowbar.
A 15 year old resident of Sixth Line recalled the days following the 2006 failed OPP raid at the DCE site.
In the weeks that followed her family members were threatened and held captive in their home and could only get across barricades with a special pass. Access was granted only some of the time and while she was practicing dancing in her front yard, natives hurled fire crackers at her and intimidated her family and her mom out in the garden. Natives peered in their windows and the girl had to be driven half an hour to school when it was only two minutes away. And the ATVs continue to burn through their property and nearby lots. Residents including seven children on the road haven’t had a good sleep in a year and a half she said, And to this day, police won’t respond when they’re called to an emergency on the road. If they do it’s often hours later.
Police told the young girls that if natives entered her home and she did anything, she would be arrested.
The young girl still fears natives with baseball bats and masks. She’s taking medication, is undergoing counseling, and says “I had to live through that. You don’t have any clue what life is like until you have to live through it.” Her mother said the uncertainty is ongoing and there’s no one to help her family if a crisis does occur. She spoke to reporters who consoling her daughter Monday as she wept.
A former Canadian Peacekeeper in
Kinrade and Gary McHale, owner of the popular and controversial website caledoniawakeupcall.com led the march to
As expected, OPP lines greeted marchers at an intersection on
The marchers main objective was to erect a Canadian Flag on the site where partially developed homes are under construction, near where Sam Gualtieri was assaulted during a land dispute. In Kinrade’s opinion, Kragten posed the latest road block to the community. He said the developer accused him of embellishing a situation.
“I said No, I’m here to tell you that a man had to get his head beat in and close to death before anything happened.” Kinrade explained.
Kragten apparently told Kinrade the bulldozers would start moving before someone tried to halt work again. Kinrade said the developer should be careful what he says to other people.
“So John has been adamant with me that I’m not welcome on his development because it’s the bottom line and in my opinion it’s the dollar. It isn’t anything to do with the Canadian flag or anything, it’s the almighty dollar. But everybody’s got to sacrifice and if you don’t think that’s the way it’s got to go, nothings going to change.”
Paramedics waiting inside
“If you go past here you will be arrested for obstructing a police officer“ said a uniformed spokesperson who helped form a line of about 10-15 cops, with backup waiting in the balance. No native protestors were on the
Marchers hurled insults at officers for not taking a moral stance, or upholding the law equally in their view. Many said they were ashamed of them.
A large crowd at
The boy and his father said the officer committed assault by grabbing his neck which was red after the conflict cooled down. The youth told the Regional News that he was sticking up for his mom against police who had no right to try and stop her. Another man was arrested by police for trying to get across police lines.
Most people claimed
McHale thought officers could take a moral stand and defy illegal orders that tell them to block innocent Canadians while Vandermaas said his appeals to the OPP union bosses for change have gone unanswered.
While a number of people urged people to form human chains and “lock and load” men and women near the front gave the OPP an ultimatum to either let them put a flag on the
Some marchers tried to gain access at the DCE site at the entrance off of
All the fuss seemed to gain the attention of about 60 or 70 natives on the former DCE subdivision. The group split to stand off against marchers at both entrances where terse words were exchanged. Nothing physical in nature occurred however.
The crowd of about 35 non-natives quickly dispersed about 20 minutes later, leaving a smaller group on
“At least the OPP had to do some work today” McHale jested to his comrades. He promised to have a flag up by the end of the day off
Marchers later dispersed around dinner time. No more arrests of violent confrontations occurred. But just as marchers believed they were doing a positive thing for the town of
People living in homes off
The overriding message of people at the march was that people have to start speaking with a more unified voice when it comes to native related issues across
VanElslander admitted he and his partner haven’t had any trouble from the natives recently, but in the words of Ipperwash survivor Mary-Lou Lapratte: “We may agree to disagree on methods used to get the story out to the public, but never lose sight of the main goal. We must have fair and equitable treatment under the law and the right to all services provided in enforcing the law. Don’t stand idly by and hope others will do it for us.”