Brantford, natives return to court Friday

Developer wants protestors found in contempt

by James MacDonald

CHCH News

Thursday, August 14, 2008

The city of Brantford and Six Nations protesters are preparing to face off in court once again. The dispute centres on several properties in a north end industrial park that natives claim as their own. One man at the centre of the conflict spoke out Thursday. James MacDonald reports.

Just metres away from this bustling construction site sits a teepee, set up by protestor Steve Powless.

Work continued behind him on this day, with a visible police presence nearby.

He and his fellow protesters have been a fixture here.

They have shut down this site in the past.

And, they say, they will do it again -- no matter what the court says.

"It's my rights, it's my land. What I am is a party to a dispute, and my rights as a party to a dispute are not being respected."

Friday, the city of Brantford will ask a judge to find Powless and seven other Six Nations protesters in contempt of court.

It's alleged they breached the city's injunction last month when they shut down two construction projects.

The city says the men are disobeying the rule of law.

Just down the road, this site has been idle for some time, even though there is a separate injunction in place to keep protesters away. But now, the developer of the site, Kingspan Insulation, appears to want nothing to do with it.

A letter sent from Kingspan to Brant county officials late last month asks that they *not* enforce the injunction order, saying the Irish company is working with Six Nations leadership to come to a resolution.

But there's talk the company may be preparing to close down the project for good.