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2008-01-20 Great White North
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Indians On Warpath In Ontario, Government Spineless To Stop It
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It's been a long time since we've received as much response to an article as we did following our Jan. 17 editorial, "Caledonia redux." A huge number of Ontarians from the Caledonia area -- many of them with first-hand stories to tell about militant native activity -- thanked us for shining a light on the problems they've suffered. Few could understand why their provincial government is standing by as violent protesters wreck the region's economy, intimidate private citizens and render local homes and businesses virtually worthless.
As reported earlier this week, the freshest outrage to come out of the land claim by the Six Nations band in southwestern Ontario amounts to an extortion racket.
Members of an entity calling itself the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI), which apparently has the official blessing of the Six Nations council, have been confronting developers along a 10-kilometre swath on either side of the Grand River --a tract potentially almost 300,000 square kilometres in size -- demanding exorbitant development fees and "royalties." Even just to "apply" for a permit to operate on land the band claims as its own can cost up to $7,000.
Businesses that don't pay up are threatened with blockades and standoffs of the kind that have paralyzed the Douglas Creek Estates development at Caledonia, southwest of Hamilton, for the past two years.
Were a motorcycle gang or organized crime family shaking down the same entrepreneurs for protection money, the Ontario government and the province's police force -- the OPP -- would move swiftly to identify the guilty parties and lay charges.
But because the culprits this time are members of a politically correct minority -- aboriginals -- and because the government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty is deathly afraid of any and all confrontations with natives, which they fear might summon memories of the Ipperwash standoff in 1995, the best it can bring itself to do is advise business owners not to pay.
It is a case study in cowardice, and everyone who voted for Mr. McGuinty should be ashamed of it.
Business owners aren't listening to the Premier, and with good reason. They know the Ontario government won't protect them. The government at Queen's Park has stood by for almost two years while Six Nations squatters have illegally occupied unfinished homes at Douglas Creek. Rather than enforce court orders for the occupiers to leave, the province bought the land from the original developers and effectively handed it over to the squatters.
Nor have the OPP been any more help. Aboriginal protestors have caused untold damage to the economy of Caledonia, blockading main streets, burning vehicles, harassing citizens, even assaulting seniors, television camera crews and residents near their protest site. Yet police have done little more than stand by and watch.
Nearly 18 months ago, protesters swarmed an SUV full of U.S. police officers who were in Caledonia to observe. Three occupants were dragged out and assaulted, then one of the swarmers stole the vehicle, attempted to run down an OPP officer and fled to the nearby reserve. The OPP didn't even investigate who might be hiding the alleged perpetrators. 
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Posted by Anonymoose 2008-01-20 10:30||
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Posted by Excalibur 2008-01-20 13:23||
2008-01-20 13:23||
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Posted by OldSpook 2008-01-20 21:53||
2008-01-20 21:53||
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