Brantford Mayor Chris Friel says he won't let a "media circus" -- engineered by a small group of protesters to cancel an open house -- deter the city from its efforts to carry on a meaningful dialogue to build co-operation with Six Nations.
"I was outright surprised at all the e-mails I received from people at Six Nations who were disappointed at what happened," Friel said in an interview after Saturday's scheduled open house was called off in the face of the protest.
"They said 'that group doesn't represent me or my family.' They were sad about it."
Friel vowed that after the Six Nations band council holds its scheduled community meeting on Wednesday about the proposed consultation and accommodation agreement, he and city councillors will discuss how to resume discussions with parties at Six Nations about the other subjects they tried to talk about on Saturday.
Those matters were: the Greenwi c h Mohawk remediation and redevelopment project, the downtown including the south side of Colborne Street, and the Waterfront Master Plan.
Friel said it's still worthwhile to inform people at Six Nations about the city's plans, but he insisted progress on them will continue.
"I'm honest and sincere about wanting a dialogue," he said. "We made a mistake in not being as open as we could have been early on in working on the consultation and accommodation agreement. It's a work in progress for us and Six Nations."