Family of builder beaten during native occupation hopes lawsuit changes policing

Wed Sep 17, 4:08 PM

By Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - A lawsuit brought by a home builder viciously beaten during a native occupation in southern Ontario will hopefully result in more power being handed to front-line officers policing the contentious dispute, the man's family said Wednesday.

Sam Gualtieri, 53, suffered serious brain damage after he was attacked Sept. 13, 2007, while attempting to clear native protesters from a home he was building for his daughter in Caledonia, Ont.

Two men and a youth were later arrested and charged.

The lawsuit, launched against the Ontario government, claims police were in the area and did nothing to prevent the assault.

The statement of claim alleges Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino instructed his officers not to remove the protesters "simply because they were native," an order contrary to his police duties "given for ulterior political motives."

"We're doing this on behalf of everybody in Caledonia," said Joe Gualtieri.

"If it's a victory for my brother, then it's a victory for everybody there. Because the way they're policing the situation is a two-tiered system and it's not fair to the people living there."

Sam Gualtieri was left unable to work, and suffers from depression, fatigue, vertigo and has trouble with simple cognitive tasks, the suit claims.

The Ipperwash Inquiry, which created a set of recommendations on how to handle occupations after the fatal police shooting of native Dudley George, has worked against the community in Caledonia, Joe Gualtieri said.

"(A favourable outcome) will allow police to do proper arrests ... because right now their hands are tied," he said. "Through this, we hope that they will be untied."

The allegations, filed with a court in Cayuga, Ont., on Tuesday, have not been proven in court.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday he can't comment on the case while it's before the courts.

But McGuinty expressed support for Fantino and provincial police, praising the job they've been doing in Caledonia since the aboriginal protest began in February 2006.

"If we're going to address this in any way that's permanent, then the (federal government has) got to resolve this," McGuinty said. "In the meantime, we will do everything we can to keep the peace."

Gualtieri is seeking $5 million in general damages and $500,000 in special damages. His wife Sandra is seeking another $500,000 under the Family Law Act as compensation, mainly for loss of guidance, care and companionship, said lawyer John Findlay.

"Although suing for negligence against providing police services is a fairly new tort, it's a fairly straightforward action," said Findlay, who is also behind a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of several business and property owners related to the Caledonia occupation.

On the day of the assault, Gualtieri was called away from his framing business to check out a disturbance at the site of his daughter's home. He arrived to find several officers nearby as a native protester planted a flag on the roof, the claim states.

Gualtieri climbed the scaffolding in a bid to get the man to come down. The man eventually descended.

Later in the day, Gualtieri returned to the site with two nephews and an employee to find several protesters in the home.

This time, when he attempted to remove the men, they allegedly used an oak railing to beat him over the head and kicked him until he was unconscious.

According to the claim, it was members of Haldimand emergency services who found Gualtieri in a pool of blood and not provincial police, despite officers being present on the site.

"(Police) knew that the protesters who were on the site were trespassers, had made threats, had a propensity for violence, and that the presence of the protesters imposed a danger," the claim states.

It alleges police took no steps to remove the trespassers or protect those at the property from potential harm. Provincial police declined to comment.

Gualtieri's suit is the second one brought against the province alleging provincial police failed to act appropriately in Caledonia.