Caledonia and Six Nations: Majority Opposed April 28, 2012 "Parade"

The Grand River land dispute includes 40 hectares in Caledonia.  Caledonia is located in Haldimand County, in Southern Ontario.  Henco Industries originally planned to build a residential subdivision, to be called Douglas Creek Estates (DCE), on this land.  But some aboriginals at the Six Nations reserve claimed that this land was never surrendered and started an occupation there on February 28, 2006; the occupation continues to this day.  The federal government maintains that the land was properly surrendered in 1841, and sold in 1844.  The Six Nations elected council agrees with the government's contention, but maintains there should be "fair compensation."  However, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (traditional) Council asserts that the signatories to the sale were deceived (Blatchford, p. 27).  Toby Barrett, the Haldimand-Norfolk Conservative MPP, stated in a February 29, 2012 news release that "there are a number of valid land claims along the Haldimand tract area but not on Douglas Creek Estates."  On the sixth anniversary of the standoff, Barrett announced that Haldimand County had lost 650 residents partly because of the "dismal economic conditions locally and the erosion of justice, rule of law and democractic process" that have resulted from the occupation of the former DCE.

Many of the best recommendations for improving the aboriginal situation originate with natives who recognize that changing things for the better is a two-way street.  They acknowledge that all the blame for native woes cannot be placed on non-natives' shoulders.  Tsimshian lawyer and entrepreneur, Calvin Helin's, book Dances With Dependency (2006) is filled with numerous insights that I share.  Cree Don Sandberg wrote lots of excellent articles for his former employer, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and continues to write ground-breaking pieces for media outlets like the Winnipeg Free Press and National Post.  Helen Miller, a Six Nations elected band councilor, has had a couple of her powerful letters published in the Brantford Expositor and Turtle Island News.

But I also believe that non-aboriginals have a role to play in recommending solutions.  In my case, I am speaking from two generations of experience dating back to the late 1950s, and as someone who worked in aboriginal organizations in different parts of Canada for about 12 years.  And Sandberg believes people like me should speak out.  In a January 2, 2011 National Post article, he was asked his opinion as to what should be done about aboriginal accountability problems.  He responded with "[t]he strongest voice aboriginal reformers have is the non-aboriginal taxpaying public, who can let their elected officials know something has got to be done.  Because we know the government itself does not listen to grassroots native people."

Fortunately, at Caledonia and Six Nations, many aboriginals and non-aboriginals found common ground in their opposition to an outrageous April 28, 2012 "parade" through Caledonia, orchestrated by a group of mostly non-natives from other parts of Southern Ontario.  One of the parade organizers was Tom Keefer who has been involved with the DCE protests since April 20, 2006.  Caledonia activist Mark Vandermaas described Keefer and his allies as a "gang of anarchists, Marxists, radical unionists, and anti-Israel groups who have been supporting the lawlessness in Caledonia since nearly the beginning."  

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/dear-caledonia-residents-about-tom-keefer-tomorrows-takeover-of-caledonias-streets/

A media release issued by the march organizers said that participation included representatives from Six Nations as well as non-natives from eight Southern Ontario cities, and that as many as 1,000 could be expected (Day, Dunnville, April 18, 2012; Gamble, Brantford April 27, 2012).

Although local and regional news outlets in the Caledonia area paid considerable attention to the discussions before, during and after the march, it received virtually no coverage outside of those areas.  But I think it is important to draw attention to it because it is a very encouraging development.

I first learned about the march through some correspondence I received from Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE) Executive Director Gary McHale and Caledonia Victims Project Founder Mark Vandermaas.  Both activists said their groups would not be present at the march because they did not believe in interfering with events initiated by natives.  However, McHale and Vandermaas did organize a protest the week before, on April 21, at which Vandermaas and another Caledonia activist Jeff Parkinson were arrested.  You can read about their unwarranted detainments at the following links:

http://caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/video-two-arrested-for-race-in-caledonia/

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/vandermaas-email-to-opp-officer-re-april-21-dce-rally-before-two-breach-of-peace-arrests/

Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt made it clear he did not agree with the April 28 "parade" in his April 3, 2012 article in the Sachem.  He said "[f]or most of us who live here, we need not be reminded of the time that has elapsed when assessing the absolute abysmal failure of government.  We do not need people coming from other regions to parade through our community in order to satisfy their personal agenda."

Dr. David K. Faux, a Caledonia resident whose maternal ancestry includes a Six Nations Mohawk clan mother, also raised concerns about the march.  In his April 10, 2012 letter to the Sachem, he said that the '''parade' is a euphemism for 'protest march.'"  He went on to say that the "'parade' organizers have an agenda and we (collectively known as 'settlers') are to be at the receiving end of their anti-establishment aims and aspirations.  DCE is just a matter of convenience to them."

Six Nations elected Chief William Montour was not able to get a resolution passed through his 12-member council opposing the march, but he said his feeling was that "our people are starting to get over 2006" and that the march could "create havoc" (Vo, Sachem, April 17, 2012).

The day before the march, Vandermaas sent an email to his Caledonia mailing list, in which he said:

Tomorrow the people who terrorized your town and those who support them will march in a propaganda effort to convince the victims they created to submit to their twisted logic that you are responsible for the violence against you and your town.

In this post, he also made reference to a July 14, 2009 letter that Helen Miller wrote to the Brantford Expositor, in which she said that certain groups at Six Nations, such as the Mohawk Warriors, "were not elected, appointed or authorized by the people of Six Nations to be their representatives or to speak on their behalf."

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/dear-caledonia-residents-about-tom-keefer-tomorrows-takeover-of-caledonias-streets/

There were other aboriginal and non-aboriginal people who spoke out against the march.  If you want to read more about it, you can refer to the bibliography below.

Although the parade organizers announced ahead of time that 1,000 people could be expected, only about 400-500, most of them non-natives, actually showed up (Wong, Spec, April 28, 2012; Pearce and Day, Dunnville, April 29, 2012; Pearce, Dunnville, April 29, 2012).

At the event, Faux carried a sign that stated in Mohawk and English "that 98 per cent of Six Nations and Caledonia want nothing to do with the march."  In his May 9, 2012 letter to the Spec, he said:

The sea of Palestinian, Black Panther, Communist Party of Canada and CUPE flags (what is my former union doing with its members' wages?) give an excellent indication as to who was at the march.  As someone with a foot in both the Caledonia and Six Nations communities, I will proposing a new approach to dealing with the problem since the folks in Ottawa seem to be a bit tardy in getting on with land claims negotiations.

I hope that Faux succeeds.  I think he will be building on the work of Caledonia activists, such as McHale, Vandermaas and Parkinson, who laboured for years, often suffering taunts and abuse, before they started to get some recognition from the media and general public.

The mixture of aboriginal and non-aboriginal opposition to the April 28, 2012 march also signals that many residents of Caledonia and Six Nations realize they need to come up with their own solutions.  I am greatly relieved to hear this.

Bibliography

Barrett, Toby.  "Occupy Caledonia will be six years February 28,"  February 28, 2012.  <tobybarrett.com>

_____.  "There is no valid claim on DCE."  February 29, 2012.  <tobybarrett.com>

Blatchford, Christie.  Helpless.  Toronto: Doubleday, 2010.

Day, Matt.  "Caledonia reacts to peace walk." Dunnville Chronicle.  April 29, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "No injunction for Caledonia rally organizers."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 18, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "Planned Caledonia rally has Hewitt upset."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 13, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "Two arrested during CANACE rally Saturday."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 23, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

Faux, David K.  "Caledonia march is opposed by mayor, chief" [Letter].  Hamilton Spectator.  May 9, 2012.  <thespec.com>

_____.  "'Parade' euphemism for 'protest march'" [Letter].  Sachem.  April 10, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Foot, Richard.  "Reserves look within for fix to accountability problems."  National Post.  January 2, 2011.  <nationalpost.com>

Gamble, Susan.  "Thousands expected for Caledonia peace march."  Brantford Expositor.  April 27, 2012.  <brantfordexpositor.ca>

Helin, Calvin.  Dances With Dependency.  Vancouver: Orca Spirit, 2006.

Hewitt, Ken.  "Hewitt: DCE a quagmire."  Sachem.  April 3, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

 _____.  "What's April 28 march really about?"  Sachem.  April 17, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Miller, Helen.  "Only elected council can speak for Six Nations" [Letter].  Brantford Expositor.  July 14, 2009.  <brantfordexpositor.ca>

Parkinson, Jeff.  "Video--Two arrested for race in Caledonia."  April 24, 2012.  <caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com>

Pearce, Daniel R.  "Hundreds take part in Caledonia peace march."  Simcoe Reformer.  April 29, 2012.   <simcoereformer.ca>

Pearce, Daniel and Matt Day.  "Caledonia reacts to peace walk."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 29, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

Vandermaas, Mark.  "Dear Caledonia residents--about Tom Keefer. . ."  April 27, 2012.  <voiceofcanada.ca>

_____.  "Email to OPP officer re April 21 DCE rally before two 'breach of peace' arrests."  April 27, 2012.  <voiceofcanada.ca>

Vo, Jennifer.  "Coalition planning April parade in Caledonia."  Sachem.  April 3, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

_____.  "Parade rubbing salt in old wounds says Chief Montour."  Sachem.  April 17, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Wong, Danielle.  "Friendship walk peaceful, but Caledonia residents fear wounds reopened."    Hamilton Spectator.  April 28, 2012.  <thespec.com>

Part Two of Two - A Delectable Lie, a Tree and a Way Forward: Multiculturalism and Aboriginal Policy Compared

As mentioned in part one, I see similarities between Salim Mansur's concerns about multiculturalism (as expressed in his book Delectable Lie) and my concerns about some aspects of current aboriginal policy in Canada.

In both cases, the government enacted legislation in order to gain support from the immigrant and aboriginal communities.  The officials involved wanted to appease those who felt Quebec was getting preferential treatment in constitutional discussions, e.g., those who believed Canada was more than two founding nations.  In addition, politicians wanted to get all sides on board so that constitutional negotiations could be finalized.

The evolutionary climate of the last 40 years of the 20th century gave legislators the idea that it was OK to tinker with liberalism so that societal changes could be accommodated.  But Mansur feels that caving in to the demands of special interest groups results in a weakening of the small l liberalism that is important for maintaining freedom and individual rights in a democratic society.

In fact, it is not just small l liberalism that is at stake, but the security of the country.  There are increasing reports that Islamist and/or pro-Palestinian/anti-Jewish forces are involved with aboriginal protests.

Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Jewish Groups and the Six Nations Occupiers at Caledonia

One of the most glaring examples of this is the nearly six-year occupation by Six Nations militants of the former Douglas Creek Estates (DCE) at Caledonia, Ontario.  You can read my "David Peterson and the Caledonia Crisis" post for more information about this crisis.

Caledonia activist Gary McHale said "when the occupation of DCE first started five Palestinian groups helped finance the occupation, and a Palestinian flag was raised on DCE. . .Since then anti-Israel protesters were seen at DCE. . .At McMaster [University] the same protesters on DCE are organizing Six Nations/Palestinian struggle events."

You can read McHale's February 1, 2012 article about this at the following link.

As McHale explains in the article, some members of the Jewish community have been following this issue with deep concern.  In fact, representatives of the Hamilton-based Never Again Group, which defends Israel and fights anti-Semitism, have been present at events organized by the Caledonia activists.

"Ending Race-Based Policing:  The Caledonia Act"

On February 9, 2012, Toby Barrett, the MPP for Haldimand County (which includes Caledonia), provided the Queen's Park Media Studio for the following people to make presentations about the topic "Ending Race-Based Policing:  The Caledonia Act."

1.   Gary McHale, Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE)
2.   Stuart Laughton, Never Again Group
3.   Mary Lou Ambrogio, International Free Press Society-Canada vice-president
4.   Kristin Kaye, Caledonia-based Regional News reporter

You can find out more about the event and presentations at the following links on Mark Vandermaas's Voice of Canada website:

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/queens-park-news-conference-ngos-stand-with-caledonia-activists-for-release-of-caledonia-act-recommendations/

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/stuart-laughton-never-again-group-speech-at-caledonia-act-news-conference-individuals-are-the-ultimate-minorities/

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/mary-lou-ambrogio-international-free-press-society-connects-the-dots-wspeech-at-queens-park-caledonia-act-news-conference/

As Laughton says:

I want to stress that my group has made no opposition to the Natives who make land claims: we only protest the violent manner in which the claims to the Caledonia property were made and the racially skewed responses of the Ontario government. . .Will our next premier instruct police not to enter predominantly Muslim areas of our major cities, and allow microstates governed by Islamic Sharia law to flourish there? . .We also have to consider the effect that racially biased policing has on those Native Canadians, Tamils, Muslims, and others who ask for no special favours and want nothing to do with the more militant members of their community.  Who speaks for them? . .Our citizenry consists of millions and millions and millions of individuals and those INDIVIDUALS are the ultimate minorities.  Each of us has to be treated impartially before the law.

I completely agree with Laughton.  I am generally very supportive of the need by aboriginals to lobby for their rights, and to receive just compensation with regards to property, social justice, and other issues of concern.  But the events at Caledonia, in particular, have made me realize that the process of aboriginals lobbying for their rights can easily get sidetracked by those, like pro-Palestinian/anti-Jewish forces, who have an agenda that may not be in keeping with what all the people at Six Nations want.

Furthermore, what about the third of aboriginals who do not identify themselves as such in the federal census?  Do they share the views of the Six Nations occupiers and their supporters?  See my "Canadian Aboriginal Integration is Better than Assimilation or Parallelism" post for more information about this, and some related information.

Protecting the Rights of Individuals

One of the tests Mansur recommends for determining if a culture is of equal merit and deserves equal respect, is to see how the culture protects individuals (you can find a discussion of this in part one).  The bottom line is, how well is the Ontario government upholding the rights of the Caledonia residents, and, indeed, the rights of the Six Nations residents who are not participating in the occupation?

"Caring Measures" More Important than Attaining "Stratospheric Rights"

Australian anthropologist and linguist, Peter Sutton, has more than 40 years experience with the Aborigines in Australia.  His book, The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the liberal consensus (2009, 2011), is filled with many insights that I share.  Marcia Langton, the Aborigine scholar who penned a foreword for the book, also echoes his concerns.

Sutton complains that too many politicians, lawyers, and activists insist that Aborigines will not be truly happy and fulfilled until all outstanding issues, such as social justice, treaty and reconciliation, have been met.  He responds with ". . .[t]his unscientific mumbo jumbo beggars belief. . .Caring measures. . .rather than documentary measures based on increasingly stratospheric rights. . .lie at the effective end of realistic processes of improvement."

I do not know if Sutton is aware of the Caledonia situation, or if he has read and agrees with the concerns expressed in Mansur's book, Delectable Lie.  Therefore, I do not want to imply that he shares the opinions expressed in this post.  His words, nevertheless, resonate with me in terms of what I see is wrong, not only at Caledonia, but also what I often find is counterproductive regarding aboriginal policy development.

"Caring Measures" We Can Learn from the Six Nations Occupiers' Dog

CANACE videographer, Jeff Parkinson, took this footage, entitled "CANACE attacked on DCE," at a February 18, 2012 hostile encounter between the Six Nations occupiers and non-native residents who were objecting to the occupation.

http://www.youtube.com/CanacehD

As you can see, there was a lot of swearing and shouting and violence.

But photographer David Strutt was there, and was able to capture a more positive moment.

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/david-strutt-photos-capture-caledonia-8-history-on-douglas-creek-estates-in-caledonia/

This was when the Six Nations occupiers' dog welcomed Gary McHale.  Vandermaas said: "[f]or this one moment all the hostility evaporated.  David saw that the dog didn't understand hate; it didn't judge us [Caledonia activists] by the DNA running in our blood beneath our white skin.  It just saw a friend.  And David saw hope."

I think this dog can teach us all a few things about hope--and "caring measures."

A Way Forward

Here is a photo I took last summer, of a path in a park near my home:

It reminds me of the fact there is always a chance we will pull ourselves out of this mess, that we will find a way forward to a more peaceful solution.

David Peterson and the Caledonia Crisis

As a follower of Caledonia Wake Up Call, Jeff Parkinson, Voice of Canada, International Free Press Society – Canada (IFPS-Canada) and related websites, I know about the “No More Nightmares” event, which was sponsored by the Free Thinking Film Society and IFPS-Canada.  It was held on March 22, 2011 at the Library and Archives Canada building in Ottawa.  The event included presentations by Caledonia residents and activists who are concerned about the breakdown in the rule of law in this Southwestern Ontario community.  I would like to comment on two of the presentations that mention the central topic of my post:  David Peterson. 

Marie Trainer was the mayor of Haldimand County (which includes Caledonia) from November 2003 to October 2010.  She was therefore in this position on February 28, 2006 when Six Nations protesters first occupied what was then the Douglas Creek Estates.  She says that during the height of the confrontations between the protesters and Caledonia residents, the following activities took place:

Digging up a main road in Caledonia; burning tires in the middle of a main street; throwing a van over the bridge onto the road below; burning down a bridge in the middle of Caledonia; running over a police officer; taking another 2 police officers hostage; beating up and permanently injuring a developer; holding a former premier hostage for several hours; making residents who live in the area show passports issued by protesters. . . .

The “former premier” referred to is David Peterson, who was Ontario premier from 1985 to 1990.  Peterson was also the “provincial lead” negotiator for the Ontario government during the Caledonia crisis, April 29 to June 5, 2006.  During this period he held 13 meetings with Six Nations and other “stakeholders.”  These meetings led to the May 23, 2006 removal of the barricades that had been placed on Argyle Street.

Although many saw the removal of the barricades as a positive step, people on the Sixth Line of Caledonia knew that the crisis was far from over.  Some of these residents expressed concerns about the deals that Ontario government officials had made with the protesters in order to secure the removal.  One of these deals was to not have Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) policing on the Sixth Line from April 20, 2006 onwards.  In fact, policing was not restored until around March 2010.

One of the Sixth Line residents who spoke out about the problems was a teenager named Pam Dudych.  The Ottawa event included a video that was filmed on April 17, 2007, when Dudych attended a Queen's Park rally organized by Caledonia activists, including Gary McHale, Merlyn Kinrade, Jeff Parkinson and Mark Vandermaas.  At the end of Dudych’s presentation, she says:

People on the 6^th line have not had a good night’s sleep for over a year now!!! That’s sad!  This is why we need your help!  I’m 14 years old and I will fight with as much power as I have to get police and justice back on my road!  I know Mr. Peterson made the mistake of taking it away and it’s sad when he can’t fix his own mistakes and that I am, a 14 year old girl trying!

Obviously Dudych felt that Peterson played a role in her distress.  I don’t know enough about the goings on behind the scenes to say what role exactly Peterson may have taken in the removal of policing, but certainly Dudych was not alone in feeling he was at least partly responsible.

On March 31, 2011, I had a telephone conversation with Marie Trainer, and she said she thought there was media coverage of Peterson being taken hostage by the protesters.  She said it occurred on Argyle Street South before the barricades were taken down.  I have not been able to find the media coverage for this, so if any readers of this post can fill me in, please do so.  However, I do not think it’s surprising that this could have occurred since Peterson himself reportedly described one particularly wrenching time in the conflict as, “the day the Devil threw a party and everybody came.”

Although I have had many positive experiences with aboriginals, I have also been intimidated and harassed by some of them for what I consider to be completely unfounded reasons—I was used as a sacrificial lamb.  Therefore, I can well imagine it must have been very upsetting for Peterson to be held hostage for hours.  Did this incident contribute to his making concessions to the protesters that maybe he should not have made?

I am old enough to remember Peterson’s often less than successful relations with aboriginals during his term as premier.  He alienated various native groups across Ontario, particularly when they concluded that he had failed to live up to promises he had made to them regarding the Meech Lake Accord.  In fact, in June 1990, one aboriginal leader said Peterson had betrayed the country’s native people.  Mind you, aboriginal issues were a contentious matter throughout most of Peterson’s tenure, e.g., the Oka crisis.  Nevertheless, it seems to me that Peterson has gone from alienating the aboriginals when he was premier, to being overly accommodating when he was involved with the 2006 Caledonia negotiations.  He has been quoted several times as saying he views the Caledonia situation as “heartbreaking.”  But saying it’s heartbreaking is not good enough for me.

Some people have accused the Caledonia activists of stirring up trouble because they have asked for apologies from Six Nations, the OPP and the Ontario government.  But I completely agree these apologies are needed.  For years I tried to set up a healing circle regarding the harassment and intimidation I experienced, and was astounded by the runaround I got.  Although some aboriginals showed concern about what happened to me, they still would not follow through and help me bring about this healing circle.  I can personally identify with the distress being experienced by many Caledonia residents because they have not experienced the closure they deserve. 

This lack of accountability contributes to a breakdown in trust that does not help either the people of Caledonia or Six Nations to move forward.  The bottom line is, if there are no official apologies, then who’s to say it won’t happen again?  I advise all federal, provincial and municipal officials to bear this in mind the next time they are at the negotiating table.

• Helpless by Blatchford.  ‘No More Nightmares.’

• International Free Press Society – Canada.  Caledonia:  No More Nightmares.

• Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.  Land Claims/Haudenosaunee/Six Nations  Haldimand Tract Negotiations.  Background. 

• Voice of Canada.  Caledonia’s Youngest Hero:  14 year old Pam ‘Dancer’ Dudych.

• Jeff Parkinson.  Featured Video:  Pam ‘Dancer’ Dudych at Queen’s Park.