An Intelligencer reporter was told to leave a controversial meeting here regarding a quarry which has some community members up in arms.
The Intelligencer was instructed to leave the meeting, which excluded the Mohawk band council, during a brief break following an hour of discussion about the creation of a quarry by Thomas Maracle.
George Smart, Shelley Brant, Dave Lewis and Wayne Maracle called the meeting -- attended by 60 people at the community centre on York Road -- after expressing concern about the quarry to the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte band council brought no action.
"These are pretty serious issues," Brant said. The group said they are
upset that Thomas Maracle -- who was convicted of illegal environmental work on other lands in Tyendinaga in 2003 -- has created a quarry in the township. He is using the soil and material from the Clarence Road site to cover the landfill which has been closed down.
Brant said Thomas Maracle's conviction has been ignored by the band council and the chief, although it has been brought to their attention.
"We have a chief and council down here that continue to do nothing," Brant said. "We took it upon ourselves as community members to deal with this because it's wrong."
Brant said when a resident of the territory has a certificate of possession for a parcel of land, he or she has the right to use the land, not to abuse it. She said the community must step up and say whether or not it agrees with what Thomas Maracle is doing.
Wayne Maracle told the crowd he was impressed to see so many young people in attendance at the meeting as it is the youth who must make changes to improve the community. He said as a member of the territory's environmental committee, he brought the quarry issue to the committee's chairperson but he would not discuss the matter.
"As a spokesperson for the community I thought I had to go over his head and bring it to you," he told the crowd. "This is about destroying good agricultural land."
Wayne Maracle said the land, which now houses the quarry, was once a farmer's field.
He said band council was not invited to the meeting to ensure residents' were able to speak their minds without ending up on a "shit list."
Smart said Thomas Maracle, who attended the meeting, has created "devastation" on the property and his actions are in direct conflict with the Mohawk people's way of life. The Mohawks are trying to teach their children how to protect and preserve the land but Maracle's actions are the exact opposite, he said.
Smart said he found an environmental report filed with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte regarding the quarry. Though the band council has no bylaws in place regarding use of territory land, there are still requirements for environmental screenings and assessments.
That report, which Smart quoted from, was prepared by Quinte Ecoconsultants. Quinte Eco-consultants is headed by environmental consultant Ron Eugene Carter, 67, who was convicted earlier this year of lying to environmental investigators about contamination levels at the former Bakelite plant in Belleville. While working for the owner of the Bakelite site, Carter provided misleading or false evidence to Ministry of Environment officials on several occasions.
In the prepared report for Maracle, it is noted there were no public consultations regarding the creation of the quarry.
Smart, looking at Thomas Maracle in the crowd, said, "I don't personally have anything against you. You were born communal and you will remain communal as long as you live here."
He then asked him if he has put any "royalties" back into the pockets of the people of the community.
Maracle told Smart he has not. At this point Smart suggested the
meeting take a 10-minute break "to cool down."