The province has rejected the authority of a Six Nations development institute to charge fees and demand permits for construction on disputed lands.
It’s a move that the Confederacy traditional government says “can only be seen as an attempt to incite violence and raise doubt and more confusion in the minds of their own people and ours here at Six Nations.”
The Haudenosaunee Development Institute was recently created to handle development within the Haldimand Tract, which stretches 10 kilometres on either side of the Grand River.
The institute has said developers within the tract require a permit from the HDI and there has been talk about accompanying permit and development fees.
The province presented its position at the ongoing Caledonia negotiations Wednesday.
Murray Coolican, Ontario’s principal representative at the talks, said the province stands behind its land titles system and authority.
Coolican said work still needs to be done to improve consultations with the Six Nations community.
“However, in our view, consultation does not mean a veto over development, nor does consultation require developers to pay licensing fees or taxes to the Haudenosaunee Development Institute.”
In a statement from the Confederacy, Chief Allen MacNaughton said: “Ontario is making decisions on lands it doesn’t own.”
He also urged everyone to keep calm.
The statement also says the province has no authority to dictate to the Haudenosaunee how it makes laws or builds government structures.
HDI spokesperson Aaron Detlor said Wednesday that nothing will change because of Ontario’s position.
“The government can say what it wants to say,” he said.
“We know the development community is going to come to the HDI and if they don’t, there’s not going to be any development.”