Mainstream Media February 2007

February, 2007

Thursday, February 1^st: Toronto lawyer Stephen Ford took another "baby step" Wednesday in a long legal process that could ultimately change the way Aboriginal Canadians are treated in the criminal courts. Mr. Ford filed a writ of prohibition in Ontario court asking Justice Joe Nadel to suspend his jurisdiction and transfer the charges against Six Nations band member Ronald Gibson to Ontario Superior Court. Mr. Ford told reporters he wants the Gibson case heard in Ontario Superior Court because he believes it has the "inherent jurisdiction" to rule on constitutional issues (Paul Legall: HS A8).

Friday, February 2^nd: The Ontario government has reportedly initiated closed door meetings with an unknown number of Caledonia, Ont., residents in an attempt to gain advice on compensation for homeowners affected by the Six Nations occupation. The Ontario government has asked the “Caledonia Community Committee,” to sign agreements to keep the discussions confidential. The move has outraged Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant Tory MPP Toby Barrett, who said some community members have told him they would have preferred to have a more public process because they have concerns about the government’s trustworthiness (Daniel Nolan: HS A11).

Tuesday, February 6^th: According to a Senate report, the federal government should start setting aside $250-million a year to settle land-claim disputes, or risk more Caledonia-style blockades and violent confrontations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Tory Senator Gerry St. Germain, chairman of the committee, told reporters that federal leaders should treat their legal liabilities in the same way a business would, setting aside enough money each year so that the debt can be paid off. A spokesperson for Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said that the minister would examine the report before making any public response (Bill Curry: G&M A9).

Thursday, February 8^th: Incarcerated Six Nations protestor Trevor Miller is expected to get out of jail today. Mr. Miller, whose detention has been a bone of contention for supporters of the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia, will appear in a Cayuga courtroom today for a bail hearing (Marissa Nelson: HS A10).

Saturday, February 10^th: Ontario regional chief Angus Toulouse warned that Canada should brace for more dramatic displays of Aboriginal defiance in 2007, following incidents like the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia. Chief Toulouse said there are 1,000 outstanding land claims across Canada, and “any one of them could trigger the same reaction” (NBN D6).

Roberta Jamieson, a former elected chief of Six Nations, said it will take the expertise of an impartial arbitrator to settle outstanding issues in Caledonia. Ms. Jamieson said an independent mediator must take up the work now underway by Six Nations, Ontario and Canadian negotiators. Ms. Jamieson told an audience at a Brock University lecture series that Caledonia has been a reminder of “how far we have to go to work together” (Karen Best: Welland Tribune A3).

Mohawk activist Trevor Miller was released from prison on $10,000 bail after serving six months. Mr. Miller had just put up $10,000 in cash and two aunts from the Six Nations reserve had each pledged $5,000 to secure his release on bail pending his trial on assault and robbery charges (Paul Legall: HS A15).

Town residents vented their angst and frustration at a community meeting called by the local councillor to discuss the nearly year-old Caledonia standoff. About 200 people attended the meeting to express their concerns to Councillor Craig Grice, who promised to hold the meeting during last fall’s municipal election campaign. Residents gave Mr. Grice, who hosted the meeting along with Mayor Marie Trainer and councillor Buck Sloat, ideas on how the county can best deal with the occupation (Daniel Nolan: HS A10).

Tuesday, February 13^th: More than 200 people overflowed a McMaster University lecture hall to hear Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton, Cayuga sub-chief Leroy Hill and occupation spokeswoman Hazel Hill give history they say is not taught in Canada's history books. The speakers recounted Six Nations history along the Grand River in the context of the Caledonia dispute. They said the land in those communities was leased for 990 years in 1798. The trio told the crowd, including a number of Caledonia residents, they never gave up their rights to the land, but over the years it was gradually stolen by the colonial government (Daniel Nolan: HS A10).

Thursday, February 22^nd: A group of Six Nations Mohawks threatened a $4.4-trillion lawsuit over control of the land granted to Joseph Brant. The group claiming to represent the Mohawk Nation, and calling itself the "stewards of the Haldimand Treaty," has filed its intent to sue the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy, other Aboriginal groups and individuals on the reserve. They are also asking for another $3 trillion in aggravated and punitive damages for undermining Mohawk authority over the land. If the suit goes forward, it would be the largest lawsuit in Canadian history. The group's lawyer, Justin Griffin, was not available for comment (John Burman: HS A1 and A11).

Friday, February 23^rd: Negotiators trying to resolve the Caledonia standoff are not predicting a speedy end to talks as the dispute approaches its first anniversary next Wednesday. According to Ms. Barbara McDougall, a negotiator for the federal government, “(Negotiations) takes a long time (and) if it takes a long time, it takes a long time." Representatives for Ottawa, Queen's Park and the Six Nations Confederacy downplay concerns the sides have hit an impasse and Confederacy spokesman Cayuga sub-chief Leroy Hill believes the sides are at a point where they can develop ideas on how to end it (Daniel Nolan: HS A12).

The staggering $4.4-trillion lawsuit that seeks to gain Mohawk control of Six Nations and land negotiations has been called a “frivolous action” that hacks at the roots of peace. That is what the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy Council said in a statement last night, blasting the court action as “an obvious attempted 'cash grab.'” Self-titled “stewards of the Haldimand Treaty” said they will sue for $4.4 trillion for “mental anguish, pain and suffering deliberately inflicted on the heirs and descendants of the Mohawk Nation Grand River.” If they win, they also seek another $3 trillion in aggravated and punitive damages. A notice of action, stating intent to file a lawsuit, was filed in Superior Court in Brantford Feb. 12. A man at the centre of the lawsuit seeking Mohawk control of Six Nations was shocked to find his family named as plaintiffs. Trevor Miller said he, his mother and sister are not suing anyone (John Burman: HS A1 & A10).

According to Robert Howard, as the one-year anniversary of the Aboriginal standoff in Caledonia approaches, new “developments” add to the sense of the surreal hanging over this ugly affair. He said for example, “the statement this week by Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay that the province has run out of tools to deal with the Caledonia dispute. This is just another ratcheting of the federal-provincial argument over Caledonia, highlighted in November by Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice cancelling a meeting with Mr. Ramsay with virtually no notice. Mr. Prentice cited the province's “political grandstanding” on the occupation. Caledonia residents must not know whether to laugh or cry, at both the multi-trillion-dollar legal action and the intergovernmental squabbling. One year in, it is beginning to look like another long, hot summer ahead” (HS A14).

Hamilton Spectator editorial: According to Susan Clairmont, Constable David Hartless is the subject of a discreditable conduct investigation under the Police Services Act after he wrote an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty blasting him and the OPP for their lack of leadership in Caledonia. Off-duty cops are still citizens. They are not owned by the state. Or their chief. Or, more to the point, somebody else's commissioner. They still have some rights. They can still be angry at politicians. They still have the freedom to speak (HS A11).

Saturday, February 24^th: The one-year anniversary of the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia will be marked on Wednesday at the Douglas Creek Estates site with a pot luck dinner and celebration hosted by the Six Nations occupiers (John Paul Zronik: BE A12).

Brantford Expositor editorial: The one-year anniversary of the Caledonia protest offers no reason to celebrate. The cheering will come when Six Nations’ land claims are settled and Grand River neighbours can live side by side in security and respect (BE A8).

Letter writer John Hagopian: It has come time for the politically incorrect truth to be told. The Six Nations have no legal rights to the lands in question, and have had none for over a century (HS A13).

Columnist Susan Gamble: The Caledonia land claim protest has focused the attention of Canadians on land issues. It has cost the provincial and federal governments - and taxpayers - millions of dollars in policing, court time and other costs, and has added an urgency to what has gone from “discussions” to “negotiations” over some of the Six Nations many outstanding land claims (BE A12).

Susan Gamble outlined the various highlights of the Caledonia occupation over the past year (BE A13).

Monday, February 26^th: Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said during an interview that he does not expect the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia, Ont., to end any time soon. However, Mr. Prentice asserted that negotiations have brought relative stability to the community and, “If people are patient, we will get this resolved.” Six Nations spokesperson Janie Jamieson told reporters that the occupation embodies too much for Six Nations to back down now (Chinta Puxley: G&M A13, LFP C4, TSun 14, TStar A7, KWS B6, WFP A7, SJT A5).

Supporters of imprisoned Six Nations man Chris Hill held a public vigil Sunday afternoon outside Mr. Hill’s jail cell. Mr. Hill was arrested Jan. 3 and faces several charges, including assault of a police officer and assault with a weapon, in connection with an incident at the former Douglas Creek Estates last spring (HS A8).

Marissa Nelson: A year later, and the path to peace in Caledonia still is not clear. It has been a year of discovery, building community, cohesion and pride. Six Nations traditional leaders and culture has found new prominence and power on the reserve. There is change for everyone else involved: the town, the province, the OPP, and for Canada. What the protest means is different for each. Those differences help explain why, a year after it blew up and more than 100 years after it began, the dispute is still unresolved (HS A1).

Marissa Nelson: Initially, the federal government said the Six Nations occupation in Caledonia had, “nothing to do with,” Ottawa. Both Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and local MP Diane Finley have kept low, sometimes invisible, profiles on the issue. Jurisdiction has been an ongoing spat between the Ontario and federal governments. Even a federal “fact finder” said the arguments between the two levels of government were delaying resolution of the land claim (HS A10).

Letter writer Lori Whiteford: Since when does a citizen of Canada, let alone one directly affected by the Caledonia land claim, not have the right to express their opinion? Apparently since Julian Fantino took the reins of the OPP. David Hartless, a Hamilton police officer and Ontario taxpayer, has the right to his opinion just like anyone else and he is not in violation of the Police Service Act (HS A14).