January 10, 2011 Simcoe Reformer
HAGERSVILLE -- The McGuinty government's record on the native land dispute in Caledonia will go under the microscope if the Progressive Conservatives are elected to a majority government this fall.
Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett shared that agenda item this weekend during a New Year's levee event in Hagersville.
If that happens, it will be a repeat of what occurred eight years ago when newly-elected Premier Dalton McGuinty called a public inquiry into the native standoff at Ipperwash Provincial Park in 1995.
That event ended with the death of native activist Dudley George. He was shot during a confrontation with members of the Ontario Provincial Police. Following the inquiry, Justice Sidney Linden was highly critical of the role the Harris government played in the standoff .
Barrett, who along with wife Cari played host to levees in Hagersville and Courtland Saturday, said the word around Queen's Park is that the McGuinty government is bracing for a probe.
"I've been given to understand that formal government communications on Caledonia have been kept to a minimum simply because they are expecting an inquiry," Barrett said.
The fifth anniversary of the Caledonia standoff is Feb. 28. The situation in the town remains tense. The standoff has been marked by confrontations, violence, intimidation, road closures, property damage and accusations that the McGuinty government and the OPP have suspended law enforcement against the native community while cracking down on non-natives who protest or attempt to assert their rights.
Merlin Kinrade of Caledonia, a candidate for Haldimand council during October's municipal election, hopes the provincial PCs succeed in their mission.
"It would be an exceptionally good idea," he said. "Is McGuinty going to walk away from this with a clean slate? I hope not. So far to date, the people responsible for this have been acting above the law."
Caledonia's ordeal is chronicled in a recent book by Globe & Mail columnist Christie Blatchford. Barrett has high praise for Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy and How the Law Failed All of Us. He intends to nominate Blatchford as Caledonia's Citizen of the Year once forms for this purpose become available.
"Who else would you nominate?" Barrett asked. "Who better? Who else has done so much for Caledonia over this? When it comes to Caledonia, I've been told in the legislature so many times that I'm imagining things. Christie Blatchford -- with her credibility -- has laid it out. She's laid it out, in fact, better than any inquiry could."
In speaking with Barrett this weekend, it is clear he and his PC colleagues are on a campaign footing. Ontario voters head to the polls Oct. 6.
Barrett, who has represented Haldimand-Norfolk since 1995, is already canvassing door to door. He reports the top issues are jobs, the fragile state of the local economy and taxes.
"We will be cutting taxes," Barrett said. "We're conservatives. That's what we do. You cut taxes, you create jobs. I've seen too many young people; they work all year and at the end of it they have nothing left. We will also go to war on red tape and unnecessary regulation."
Chris Van Paassen of Port Dover, outgoing chair of Norfolk's Agricultural Advisory Board, was in Hagersville to put in a good word for local farmers and the possibility of producing biomass fuel for a retooled Nanticoke Generating Station. The McGuinty Liberals have pledged to close the coal-fired plant at the end of 2014. Ontario Power Generation has expressed interest in the biomass alternative, but so far has made no commitments.
"We'd like clear direction on biomass," Van Paassen said. "The Nanticoke station is slated for closure and there is potential in biomass. All we want is clear direction. If it's not going to happen, so be it. Just stop stringing us along."
Monte Sonnenberg 519-426-3528 ext. 150
msonnenberg@bowesnet.com twitter.com/montereform