June 25, 2009 The Napanee Beaver
A group of concerned citizens from Deseronto (and other areas, including Caledonia) are planning to hold a meeting tonight in Picton regarding the ongoing native protests and blockades, and discuss their charter rigthts as they relate to those protests.
They're holding that meeting in Picton because the Town of Deseronto refused to rent the Lions Hall, which they own, to the group for such a meeting. That move has since prompted a charter challenge, as the meeting's organizer claims that her rights were violated in being denied rental of the hall.
We will see if Cindy Welsh has a case - we suspect that she does. At the same time, we believe Deseronto council is quite sincere in its belief that the meeting has the potential to upset what fragile balance remains between the native and non-native communities in the area. In other words, even if they have the right to hold the meeting at the Lions hall, the meeting might not be such a great idea.
Obviously, the people in Deseronto are frustrated by the fact that, through absolutely no fault of their own, they're being caught up in issues and disputes over which they have no control. That frustration spread to Prince Edward County when the Skyway Bridge was blockaded to protest government actions in Adwesasne. These people are justifiably frustrated. And, as we've written in this space before, those blockades aren't just illegal, they hurt rather than help the causes they support. They're steps in the wrong direction.
The problem is, the community meeting like the one being proposed may well be a step in the wrong direction as well, despite best intentions to ensure it will be a peaceful meegting.
Deseronto area residents might think it can't get any worse than it is now. But it most certainly can get worse if the situation is not handled properly.
The issues over which the Mohawks are protesting are between the federal government and native peoples. It is these two groups that need to solve these problems. It's not the Deseronto council, and it's certainly not the OPP. The police, in our view, have acted in the only way they reasonably could: the heavy-handed tactics which some are advocating against the protesters would not solve the problem. At the end of the day, such action would only spark more blockades and much more tension here and elsewhere, and increase the chances of violence - and do absolutely nothing to solve the problems that caused the protests to happen in the first place. The debacle at Ipperwash shows how high the stakes are when the police misstep.
The federal government must understand that the current situation is completely unacceptable, and these problems must be solved as quickly as possible. It is up to Ottawa.
In the meantime, cooler heads must prevail among natives and non-natives alike.