MNR says licence is needed, native operator or not
Paul Legall
The Hamilton Spectator
HAGERSVILLE (
A Six Nations businessman has been told he'll need a government licence like everybody else to operate a controversial limestone quarry off the reserve.
Barry Radford, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources, said Bill Monture wouldn't be exempted from the Aggregate Resources Act of Ontario just because of his aboriginal background.
He indicated it might have been a different matter if the quarry had been in lands that are currently the subject of land claims negotiations.
"It doesn't change very much (that he's native). We should make it clear (the quarry) is outside the land claims disputed areas," he said.
He said the ministry recently notified Monture and Gary Nichols, whose company owns the quarry, that they were operating illegally and would need a licence.
Radford said the MNR provided them both with copies of a letter revoking Nichols' licence four-years ago and of a Superior Court injunction issued in November 2006, prohibiting Nichols Gravel Limited or its principles from operating a quarry on the 233-acre site off Regional Road 9 west of Hagersville.
Asked what the MNR would do if Monture or Nichols ignored the warning, Radford replied: "We're monitoring the situation and will take appropriate action."
Monture, who owns Aboriginal Imports, has stated he doesn't need a government licence because he has the blessing of the native-run Haudenosaunee Development Institute (
The agency was formed last year to control development within the Haldimand Tract along the
"Our position is that a permit or licence is not required at this time from any level of government to operate a quarry until such time as all Six Nations land claims have been resolved," Monture stated in a letter last month.
He had just signed a one-year lease with Nichols' company which had received the go-ahead in 2002 from the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to operate a quarry on the site, despite strong opposition from surrounding farmers.
A non-native whose family has been in the aggregate business since 1943, Nichols had hoped having an aboriginal person running the site would allow him to collect some rent and royalties while he fought to get his licence back.
He remained resolute and defiant when he spoke to The Spectator at the site yesterday.
He accused the MNR of conducting a "vendetta" and trying to drive his company out of business.
He said the MNR had revoked his licence for failing to comply with 23 pre-operating conditions. They were designed to protect neighbors from any adverse environmental impact from the operation.
But Nichols said the conditions were never included in the MNR order but were later imposed upon him by the MNR.
He said some of the pre-conditions were impossible to implement unless the plant was in operation, forcing him into a "catch-22 situation."
"That's been the dispute from Day 1," he said.
Monture couldn't be reached yesterday.
The case has precipitated a protracted and acrimonious court battle between Nichols and the MNR.
Nichols has filed a private prosecution accusing government officials of contempt of court, operating illegally and using false pretenses in revoking his licence.
He has also filed a multimillion-dollar suit alleging the MNR had no authority to revoke his licence.
The MNR has described Nichols and his business associates as "ungovernable" and has asked the court to have him declared a "vexatious litigant." The term applies to persons who use the court process in bad faith and in a frivolous manner.