The Ottawa Citizen
In real life, no hero is perfect. Even Gandhi had his flaws. But when a spokesman for a noble cause is irreparably flawed, he risks diverting attention away from the good fight. Shawn Brant is that kind of spokesman.
His rail and highway blockades in
Mr. Brant inspires every emotion except neutrality. His supporters call him a peacemaker, and indeed he deserves some of the credit for the eventual resolution of the blockade negotiations with the Ontario Provincial Police. Mr. Brant has supporters within the Mohawk community and across
He's also conspiracy-minded, and given to hyperbole. He doesn't speak for all aboriginal people, or even for all members of his band. Indeed, a recent court judgment about a land dispute between Mr. Brant (and his partners) and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Council, includes an assessment of Mr. Brant's character -- and it's not flattering.
Justice Lynn Ratushny, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, rejected Mr. Brant's testimony, saying he was "able to be loose with the facts" to keep using land that wasn't legally his. He didn't repay loans and he sold land that, according to the judge, he knew wasn't his to sell. To back up his sense of entitlement, he claimed that he and his father were the victims of a conspiracy and cover-up by the band council. The judge refers to Mr. Brant's "capricious and wrongful claims" against his opponents.
"He is a person who can speak quite eloquently about fairness and justice for himself and for members of his community, but whose actions reveal an extended pattern of a person looking after himself first, to the serious detriment of others and in deliberate disregard of the authority of the Council and of court orders."
This is, of course, just one opinion, and the judgment is under appeal. But the story of the land dispute suggests that the line is very thin between Mr. Brant's podium-thumping on behalf of a national cause and his personal ambition. He seems eager to believe that he, personally, is being persecuted. His supporters could be right when they claim that the police and the larger justice system have treated him unfairly; but Mr. Brant, like the boy who cried "wolf," is a hard man to sympathize with.
All of this incapacitates him as a spokesman for the cause of aboriginal justice. The fact remains that aboriginal communities need and deserve fairness and a shot at prosperity -- not to mention the basic necessities of modern life. And land claims negotiations have dragged on for years.
This is a problem that is much bigger than Mr. Brant or OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino or any other single person. If anything is ever going to change, Canadians from all communities must get fed up with the seemingly interminable status quo. They won't do that if they associate the aboriginal viewpoint with someone as damaged as Shawn Brant.