Bryant skirts homes fight

By CHINTA PUXLEY, CP
Posted Toronto Sun

Ontario will not stop Six Nations from charging developers fees on disputed land near the Grand River, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said.

He spoke yesterday as calls mounted for the government to halt what some are calling extortion.

A Six Nations development institute is demanding developers pay fees to build around the site, while protesters continue to occupy a former Caledonia housing project.

Developers who got letters seeking fees say the province is hanging them out to dry by not intervening or guaranteeing their safety.

But Bryant said it's up to police to intervene and press charges.

"Developers ... didn't just fall off the turnip truck," he said. "They know very well what the rules are and the laws are."

Developer Mike Quattrociocchi said he had numerous demands for fees for permission to continue a Grand River project.

'OUT IN THE COLD'

"We aren't in a position to say no to these people for very long," he said. "We have been left out in the cold."

But Six Nations institute head Aaron Detlor said the province doesn't have any power over Six Nations.

Detlor said 10 developers have paid the $7,000 fee and others are likely to pay.

Meanwhile, Tory party leader John Tory wrote Gary McHale yesterday opposing the Richmond Hill activist's "inappropriate" planned Caledonia demonstration Sunday at OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino's home in Woodbridge. Public figures accept protests with their jobs, but "have a reasonable expectation that our families and our private homes will be left out."