Twenty-three people were arrested by provincial police as a First Nations land dispute at a housing development in southwestern Ontario echoes a similar, divisive occupation in the same town in 2006.
The occupation in Caledonia, a community 20 kilometres south of Hamilton, now extends into a third month accompanied by court injunctions, arrests, protests of support and road blockades, highlighting the impasse of land claims in the Grand River area, despite the fiery dispute 14 years ago at Douglas Creek Estates.
That occupation split the community, sparked roadblocks, violence, dueling protests, lawsuits and a government payout.
The planned development of 218 detached houses is supposed to be called McKenzie Meadows, but since its occupation on July 19, has been dubbed 1492 Land Back Lane, a reference to the year Europeans arrived in North America beginning colonization.
Protesters say the development violates the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee people.
“The fact that Douglas Creek was in 2006 and here we are in 2020 with an ongoing situation is just a reflection that there are issues between Six Nations and the Crown that we hope gets resolved,” said Paul DeMelo, lawyer for the housing developers, Foxgate Developments Inc.
“We don’t have any power to resolve that. It’s unfortunate that ourselves and 200 Ontario families who bought homes are caught in the middle of it.”
In Caledonia in 2006, the OPP was criticized, first for a heavy-handed raid on the large construction project and then for allowing the site to become a “lawless oasis,” as it was called in court, when the force retreated from enforcing any laws against Indigenous protesters.
“The OPP has no role to play in the land dispute issue,” Const. Rod LeClair, a spokesman for the OPP’s Haldimand County detachment, said Thursday.
“Our role is to maintain public safety for everyone involved including demonstrators, police and any member of the public.”
He said the OPP is required to assist in the enforcement of court orders, including two injunctions in effect for the McKenzie Rd. site.
One injunction prohibits anyone from being on the property and another prohibits anyone from establishing a blockade in the county.
The OPP is “engaged in significant, collaborative, and respectful dialogue aimed at bringing about a peaceful resolution, while ensuring everyone’s safety and preserving their respective rights,” LeClair said.
Protesters dispute the respectfully and collaboratively part.
A second Indigenous journalist was among those arrested. Wearing media credentials on a lanyard around her neck and accompanied by a video camera, Starla Myers surrendered at the local Six Nations police station to meet with OPP officers, Tuesday.
Myers reports for Real People’s Media, an Indigenous-focused online news source.
“This is just another example of how they’re controlling the narrative to ensure that our land is completely removed from us,” Myers said on camera before going inside to face two charges of mischief and one of disobeying a court order.
“What’s happening, not only to myself, but other Indigenous journalists, are we are effectively being silenced by use of police force to ensure that nobody is saying anything,” she said.
The OPP declined to discuss the circumstances of her arrest.
“I am not able to provide evidentiary information,” said LeClair. “Being a reporter does not exempt anyone from the applicable laws of Ontario and/or Canada.”
Since Aug. 5, when the OPP arrived at the site to enforce the court injunction, 23 people have been charged over the occupation, the most recent on Wednesday. The accused are from both the local Six Nations community and other municipalities, including Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie, London and Niagara Falls.
All have been charged and released with a pending court date. Most face charges of mischief and disobeying a court order, some with obstructing a peace officer, causing disturbance and intimidation.
“Giving the accused persons the opportunity to turn themselves in was helpful in de-escalating a potential confrontational situation. All of the individuals who attended the detachment were co-operative with police,” LeClair said.
Earlier this month, however, Skyler Williams, who has been living at the site since the first day, said the OPP’s arrests were harmful to a resolution.
“This is what escalation looks like,” said Williams, who was arrested when the OPP raided the encampment in early August.
Karl Dockstader, the co-host of a radio show on NewsTalk 610 CKTB, said he spent six days living at the encampment for an immersive piece on the issue. After he left he was contacted by the OPP and arrested.
Courtney Skye, a Ryerson University researcher from Six Nations who studies injunctions and land claims, was similarly arrested after leaving the site.
The arrests so far have left neither side satisfied.
“We appreciate the fact that there are efforts being made to effect the orders of the court,” said DeMelo. “The end result is there is still an occupation that’s going on the land.”
National Post with files from Canadian Press
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