Two years after an aboriginal band moved onto a southern Ontario housing development as part of a land claims dispute, little progress has been made to end the occupation, a local MPP said.
"The outlook is bleak. We at times thought this could be wrapped up in a few days.... We've had two winters now," said Toby Barrett, a Progressive Conservative whose riding includes the town of Caledonia, where Haudenosaunee Six Nations protesters have occupied a housing development construction site since 2006.
"There's a numbing acceptance of what would normally be unacceptable in any town or any county."
Barrett made the comments Thursday on the two-year anniversary of the occupation, which began when a small group of protesters from the Grand River Territory reserve moved onto the intended site of the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision, erecting tents, a teepee and a wooden building on what they say is native land.
Still barricaded today, the region has become one of the most heavily policed areas in Ontario after a number of violent outbreaks between protesters and authorities, as well as local residents.
Barrett said ad hoc shops line the streets around Caledonia, providing a source of income for what the province believes are illegal occupants.
"Over two years we've been told progress is being made. Nobody knows — the negotiations are secret," Barrett told CBC News.
In a video broadcast on YouTube Thursday, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said the province must work harder to end the dispute.
He said the once-peaceful town that was home to both aboriginal and other residents remains bitterly divided by the spat.
A spokeswoman for the protestors, Hazel Hill, acknowledged the ongoing animosity between groups in Caledonia but said her side has no intention of leaving before the conflict is resolved.
For their part, the protesters marked Thursday's anniversary with a potluck gathering. The Six Nations have staked their land claim on a massive land grant of 1784 that ceded rights to 10 kilometres of land on either side of the Grand River.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has said he would like to see a resolution to the land-claims issue with the Six Nations, but said it is up to the federal government to resolve the issue.