The new head of the Ontario Provincial Police says he has no plans to change how the force is handling tensions stemming from the Caledonia land claim dispute.
Deputy Commissioner Chris Lewis will take over as OPP head after Julian Fantino retires on Aug. 1, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday.
Lewis has led the OPP's Caledonia operation since 2007.
Six Nations demonstrators have occupied a site in Caledonia primed for the construction of a housing development called Douglas Creek Estates since February 2006. Protesters maintain that development is being built on what is traditional First Nations land.
Hundreds have joined the action in the nearly four years since. The occupation has seen clashes with OPP officers and criticism of the force from protesters and residents alike.
Many residents near the site have had sharp words for the OPP, saying the force hasn't done enough to keep the peace in the area. Lewis told CBC's Metro Morning while the site remains occupied, the community is peaceful.
"Now there are people in Caledonia who are upset with the way that things have turned out. I totally appreciate that and sympathize with some of the issues around the housing immediately adjacent to the property," he said.
"But to say there's an actual standoff with people snarling over the fence, that's not really what's occurring."
Caledonia resident Joe Gualtieri disagrees.
His brother, Sam, suffered brain damage after being beaten in September 2007 at the disputed development site while working on a home for his daughter.
Police arrested three protesters in connection with the incident, but Sam Gaultieiri launched a lawsuit against the Ontario government, claiming police were in the area and did nothing to prevent it.
"The people of Caledonia are not tranquil and everything is not hunky-dory. It's the opposite," said Joe Gualtieri. "They just learned to live with it. We're living with it because we have no action from the OPP."
The dispute, which has cost taxpayers $64.3 million so far, has yet to be resolved. The provincial government has said protesters can remain there while all sides negotiate a resolution to the land claim.