Oct 23, 2007
Brantford Expositor
Now that the Ontario election is over, the Ontario government has finally made a definitive statement about the Haudenosaunee Development Institute's (HDI) policy of setting permits and fees for developers within the Haldimand Tract of southern Ontario, through Murray Coolican principal representative for Ontario in land claims negotiations for Six Nations. I quote: "The HDI has no authority to stop development or charge development fees" and "consultation does not mean a veto over development."
He further states that private property will not be part of a land claims settlement because "Ontario's position is that private property owners have title to their properties."
Statements by persons such as this must have approval from the political ladder's top rung, which in Ontario is Premier Dalton McGuinty. Too bad the premier doesn't have the wherewithal to step into the limelight and state it for himself. However, the step has been taken and a line has been drawn in the sand for the HDI. All private property owners in Ontario and especially within the Haldimand Tract should express their gratitude to the premier for this long-awaited statement. Even Brantford's Mayor Mike Hancock welcomed Thursday's provincial announcement.
The response to all of this from advocates of the HDI, who are clearly Confederacy controlled, was to occupy a construction development on Henry Street in Brantford; and for the Confederacy to declare that "Ontario has chosen ... an attempt to incite violence." This declaration by the Confederacy about violence is very unfortunate and they should not hide behind the charade of alleged "disrespect to Confederacy Chiefs" who clearly have been acting beyond their mandate. They do not have the majority support of Six Nations and any responsibility for acts of violence must be put squarely at their doorstep. Inciters to violence must be treated the same as the doers of such under the criminal code of Canada.
So where do we go from here? The government of Ontario should take their pronouncement to the highest court in the land, but they won't. Not yet, any way.
The federal government should give the pronouncement the backing of legislation as the law for all of Canada. And Six Nations, with all their divisions, need to consider whether they will follow the orders of a few unelected leaders advocating violence and upheaval, or take the pronouncement in turn to the highest courts in Canada. It must be done within Canada, not the international forum, because the sovereignty of "the state" is still recognized in the world.
Robert Thompson
Brantford