This editorial appeared first in the Hamilton Spectator:
The settlement of a class-action lawsuit approved Friday by a Hamilton judge is a small sign that the ongoing native issues in Caledonia have not been completely forgotten by upper levels of government.
But for this agreement on the part of the province to pay $20 million to residents and business owners, there has been precious little progress in the Caledonia situation.
The lawsuit represented hundreds of homeowners and business owners and was filed in June 2006. It alleged the Ontario Provincial Police failed to provide required services to the people of Caledonia.
It focused on four incidents at the height of the dispute: when Argyle Street was closed, the Highway 6 bypass was closed, court injunctions were not enforced and hydro was interrupted after a transformer station was burned.
Last week’s settlement is welcome on several levels. Without such an agreement, the lawsuit likely would have dragged on at least until next spring before a trial even started. A trial would have been both costly and lengthy. And although the settlement is not even half what the lawsuit was seeking, it is a sure and more immediate thing.
After the settlement was announced, Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley insisted the fact the suit was settled doesn’t mean the government and the OPP didn’t do their jobs. He also denied the timing of the settlement was tied to October’s provincial election.
Maybe, maybe not, with regard to both statements. The point is, really, that at least something has been settled in this high-stress ongoing standoff.
Members of Six Nations took over the Douglas Creek Estates housing site at the end of February 2006. They claimed it was unsurrendered land; the federal government, which has jurisdiction over native land claims, maintains the land was surrendered in the 1840s.
In the five years since the natives took over the disputed site, Ottawa and Queen’s Park have spent more than $80 million of taxpayers’ money on the Caledonia issue. The province spent $15.8 million alone to buy the site from the company that had started the housing development. Policing the dispute has cost more than $46 million.
Members of Six Nations still occupy the site. Although talks began in May 2006 between Six Nations, the federal government and Queen’s Park, they stalled in the fall of 2009. Apart from a couple of informal meetings and an exchange of letters and proposals, there were no talks last year.
Land claims are notorious for their snail’s pace; they have, in the past, taken decades to work out. Similarly, class action lawsuits are not known for speedy resolution. But past practice is not an acceptable excuse. Along with providing some modicum of closure for Caledonia residents and business owners, this settlement should spur the feds to get moving on the Caledonia land claim file.