Alocal developer is once again calling on native and non-native leaders to take a neighbourly approach to easing tensions between the two communities.
"We need our leaders to step up, come to the table and see what they can do to not only solve these problems but to find ways of making our communities stronger," Steve Charest said Monday. "Too many people look at this as a crisis instead of an opportunity.
"This is an opportunity for neighbours to sit down and figure something out that will not only ease tensions but make us all better and stronger."
Charest, of King and Benton, made the comments after being told about protests at construction sites in Brantford by more than 150 natives. The protesters stopped work at The Hampton Inn, the Kingspan headquarters and two building projects on Diana Avenue in West Brant.
NEED FOR TALK
The protests are a byproduct of what hasn't been happening in recent months, he said. Community leaders haven't been talking to each other.
Charest suggested there has been too much emphasis on legal action and too many lawyers involved in trying to negotiate a settlement.
"If you're having a problem with a neighbour, why not look over the fence and invite him over for a barbecue and see what you can do," he said. "I've never been involved in successful negotiations when the two parties have been kept apart and divided by lawyers."
Last month, Charest and a group called the Haldimand Tract Good Neighbours Coalition presented a proposal that would ease the growing tensions between the Six Nations and Brantford.
The proposal calls for the city to pay a percentage of the municipal portion of taxes to the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations on new development in areas currently under claim. In exchange, the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations agrees that protests that occur on land under claim will not stop work.
The plan was presented to both communities at a public meeting on June 23 at the Woodland Cultural Centre. It was offered as an interim peace agreement until land claims are settled.
When agreement on the land claims is reached, the proposal calls for the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations to reimburse the money paid under the interim peace agreement.
In addition, the proposal calls on the federal government to establish a time-line for settling land claims.
Charest said that the document is being well-received by people.
"A lot of people are saying, 'Finally, we've got something positive that we can work with...something that can address the issue,'" he said. "I think that's what people are looking for."