February 4, 2012
Hamilton Spectator
CAYUGA Law and order activist Gary McHale is planning another protest at the scene of a six-year-old native occupation in Caledonia after trespassing charges were dropped against the so-called Caledonia Eight for entering the property last year.
The charges against the eight, including McHale, were dropped Friday afternoon by the Crown when the group made their second appearance in court in regards to the Dec. 3 protest.
McHale announced he will hold a rally Saturday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. at the Caledonia Lions Hall on Haddington Street, and then walk to the occupation site, Douglas Creek Estates on Argyle Street South.
McHale, leader of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE), argues that the Ontario Provincial Police have practised “two-tier justice” in Caledonia during the land claims dispute by treating natives more leniently than non-natives.
Douglas Creek Estates, a former housing development, was occupied by a group from Six Nations in Feb. 2006 because they say it was being built on unsurrendered land. McHale and some of his supporters entered the site Dec. 3, 2011, but said they were not trespassing on the Ontario government-owned property because they were on a road allowance owned by Haldimand County.
“It’s completely legal,” McHale told the Dunnville Chronicle about walking on the road allowance.
“They have the opportunity to prove to the public that they honour the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for all people, but I believe the OPP will find a different tactic this time … they’ll find some trick once again to target us even though we’re doing a peaceful march down a road.”
The OPP deny they practised “two-tier justice” and say of the 162 charges laid against 69 people at the height of the dispute, the majority was residents from Six Nations.
Constable Mark Foster of the Haldimand OPP told the newspaper there are no “tricks” involved when officers are patrolling the area. He said each circumstance is judged on its own merits and police only act when a situation “reaches a point where it may breach the peace.” When McHale and his supporters go to Douglas Creek Estates, it usually draws a group of natives who mill about on DCE, keeping a close eye on them. Sometimes the OPP get in between the two sides.
Foster said police will be monitoring the Feb. 18 rally, but warned “as soon as (the Caledonia Eight group) comes on to the property, it causes unrest and that’s the beginning of disturbing the peace.”
Other members of the so-called Caledonia Eight were Doug Fleming, Merlyn Kinrade, Randy Fleming, Bonnie Stephens, Jack Van Halteren, Mark Vandermaas and Jeff Parkinson.