Caledonia, Ontario: Monument to the Coward Province
June 16, 2006 · By Peter Rempel
The Gazette on Canada’s post-Caledonia legal apartheid:
If you ever find yourself charged with trying to kill a police officer, don’t worry about being arrested - your family will just hide you away, and nobody will do anything about it, although the premier of your province might make some plaintive bleating noises. There’s just one catch - you have to be a native…
And what of those seven protesters that will never be arrested (predicted by ThePolitic here)? What of the Six Nations involvement in their protection?:
The native leadership now says the seven have been “removed from the area.” Since the whole business is “political” this is not, of course, a conspiracy to obstruct justice…Tried to kill a cop? Hey, it was political! No problem!
And now we have the news that McGuinty has used public funds to buy out Henco’s developments. But of course. All the better to hand over the disputed land to natives, who have gained this reward through vandalism, attempted murder, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Ontario: The Coward Province
Update: Andrew Smith:
The Ontario government has decided to settle the Caledonia dispute by appeasement…The Indians have effectively gotten away with lawlessness and it is clear this will only cause more lawlessness in the future… fear it is going to be a long, hot summer of friction between the two communities because now the Indians know they have nothing to lose.
Update: More common sense from the right side of the Blogosphere:
…it sends two very damaging messages: 1) That violent protest is effective and 2) That the government will allow them to circumvent the laws of the land. The first is very problematic, since its not like Caledonia is the only part of the province which some native band somewhere claims.
And more here:
If there are no negative consequences for the natives, you can expect to see this kind of thing happen all over Ontario and beyond.
The Ontario Dernier (he is no longer a Premier in my mind)is a lily livered, yellow bellied, chickensh*t coward.
Today I lost what little respect I had for him left after all the lies and broken promises.
I like Rempel’s reference to the “coward province”. It’s hard to feel sorry for that place.
But if one good thing has come, in the blogosphere at least, it is dispensing with the niceties of “aboriginal” and “first nations” talk in favour of good old fashioned “Indians”. The beginnings of a common sense come back.
what would you do?
throw all the entire first nations people in jail? the land claims are not going to go away. ontario recognized its mistake and bought out the developer to prevent further embarassment. the treaties between canada and the six nations will be honoured. gulp. honour our word? that’s a pretty big pill. get used to it.
Yes, if I were Premier of Ontario, I would have thrown all of the Indians in jail. They were given a court order to move off the land, to cease and desist from their protest, and they did not. They broke the law. People who break the law intentionally should go to jail. Not enforcing the court order as soon as deadlines were not met was the Ontario government’s first act of cowardice; it’s first failure to defend the rule of law.
These Caledonia residents were disgraceful. The handful of thugs do no represent all Caledonia residents. It was totally in the developers interest to keep the blockade going after the first one was brought down. So, a few of the Caledonia residents put up their own blockade and roughed up some of the first nations people. I’d love to see some investigation done on the developers actions during this protest.
Just a quick note to Goerge Freeman and all the protestors who showed up Sunday for the march…
You are all a bunch of brainless rednecks. The land was stolen from First Nations.
Ah yes, George, but I seem to remember you saying something about “what if the law is not right” on another topic. You cannot have it both ways. Either it is the law or it is not.
why dont we just get this over with…and if the natives say there are peaceful people they shouldnt have done things to ppls houses stared them down from there backyards or dressed in camoflage and carried guns around now that you think of it,it doesnt make anysence and this should stop leave those unfinished houses alone ppl need to build on land so the population can live!
Well, well, well, what do people in Ontario do when they can’t rant and rail against Francophones? The do the same about First Nations people.
Are all Six Nations peoples native to Caledonia? No, they aren’t. They were given that land in return for service during both the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Remember, much of the success in 1812-1814 was due to members of the Six Nations.
What about all those big, bad, nasty indians in their camouflage and carrying weapons? What about the battery of 105 mm artillery that the Army had levelled on Oka, folks? I know it was there, I was smuggling food into town and accidentally drove through the field where the guns were set up.
What do I wear when I think people will be shooting at me? Kevlar, lots of kevlar, and camoflage and yes, I would carry a weapon too.
Oh well, so much for Ontari-ari-ari-o. At least it looks like its over. One word of warning, be careful of the MWS, some may be a little over the hill but they got their experience the same place I did, Vietnam.
If we had a “government” this would have been over within twenty four hours of it’s start. I for one would gladly do what it takes. If any indian came to my community and said this land was his, he would have thirty seconds to get off MY property and then “well” take it from there.
One thing i learned was that.. The canadian ppl seem to be on the bandwagon and can agree that Natives have broken the Law. But what about the many laws Canada broke when they broke treaty agreements with the Natives and ripped them off for there land and resources.
Treaties mostly have shared resources clause but somehow the government forgot about that.. They have Land Agreements for a chunk of Land.. But somehow the government forgot about this clause…
So the question is do the Native ppl accept Canada as a country and are they really a country?? I would think not… Since Canada was built on Treaties and War.
I know for a fact the government already spent 70 million on fighting the Natives in Caledonia rather then spending that 70 Million in helping resolve some of there problems as a first nation.. Is that sending the right message of wanting to help out the conflict?? I think not because the only cost of the Natives have been to pitch a few tents and cook some hot dogs.. Somehow 1 dollar of that 70 million never saw Native hands to buy land that was stolen the Laundered back into canadian use..
The funny thing is that.. before i reached the age of 25 as a native person in Canada .. Ive had the OPP, QPP, NBPP, Canadian Army, point automatic weapons at me starting at the age of 4… Now how about us natives go around to each of the schools and start doing pointing automatic weapons at the kids for going to school and being on native land..
I am not scared of death .. My father went to Residential School where they tried to break him and imprisioned him from his family…
Thats another idea.. lets take all the White Kids and put them in Native School abuse the heck out of them, take them at the age of 3 or 4 and then let them see there family once a summer like the white ppl did with the natives, up until they reach the age of 16.. Maybe give them a couple grand each after they reach the age of 60 for there hardship..
Hell lets just shut down some citys in the middle of winter..
Land Stolen, Hearts Stolen, Souls are almost Stolen, nothing to show for anything because of being so ripped off..
Who cares about the Natives??
Ontario used to be a proud place, loysl to its British heritage of freedom under the law. Now it seems any bunch of non-white creeps can run amok and nobody cares.
I recall how proud I was to have a photo taken with two Indians -they weren’t ashamed of themselves then, no need to hide behind First Nations nonsense- at an Orange Walk, where we were all on the same side, whate’er betide. No more- that charter tomfoolery treason has ruined Canada.
I live in distant exile now but miss that dead Dominion and write about it in my Morfiny Books.
God, Ross, ain’t it the truth.
My family’s from Georgia. The South used to be wonderful part of the US, and everyone just got along. I have a photo of my great-great grandfather with two of his house Negroes - there was none of this “Afro” and “black” nonsense back in the good old days - and this now fashionable so-called “equality” drivel hadn’t yet driven a wedge between us. Damn you, Lincoln - that ridiculous Emancipation Proclamation has ruined the South.
I live in Canada now, but I still cherish the thought of those golden years every time I surreptitiously slip into my white sheet and hood…
The big question, whether or not the natives have any legal claims, is why our government and police forces are allowing them to get away with criminal acts? Non natives (and we are by far the majority and by far the biggest tax payers) have lost tremendous respect for our government and especially the O.P.P. for the travesty they’re permitting to happen in Caledonia.
Where are our rights? Why are the people, whose salaries we pay, not protecting the rights, freedom,and property of the general public?
If the relatively small native population can control our government and our police forces, then we have no protection in this country from any invading or dangerous forces.
The government has never held my respect but the pitiful actions of the O.P.P. in Caledonia came as a shock and I’ve lost all respect for them now.
ENOUGH OF THIS APPEASMENT BULLSHIT. THEY HAVE BEEN LEECHING OFF OF US FOR 200 YEARS. THEY ARE A CONQUERED PEOPLE. IMAGINE ME GOING TO THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT AND DEMANDING COMPENSATION FOR THE ROMAN INVASION OF BRITIAN. RIDICULOUS. REACTIVATE THE AIRBOURNE AND END THIS CHARADE.
I think it is less than fair to blame the O.P.P. One could imagine their frustration, at the ready, stand down, at the ready, stand down. Consider how long this situation has been dragging on. The police in Caledonia do not work independently, each to their own and without orders. Instead of the constant bitching about the officers the focus should be on where the orders are coming from. Or not as the case may be. I find it’s beyond the scope of a police issue anyway. As far as I am concerned what has been perpetrated by the Natives in Caledonia is nothing short of terrorism. Ah, to live in the States, where the military or national guard would have been sent in to deal with this. Although i have great pride in claiming native heritage, I certainly can not sympathize with, agree with or condone anything that has occured in Caledonia in the name of Six Nations. They certainly do not speak for, or represent me.
These Indians are all bullshit.
Think about it, have they ever provided a piece of Archelogical evidence to prove that they were here first? Never, they just make false claims to get free money for booze and taxi
rides.The whites in caledonia had better nip this in the bud, or else they will be kicking all of you off your property.
How can you be so biggoted? It was a land claims argument. To me that says that both sides are at fault. I am not by any means condoning what any native or white protestors did, but I am certainly not going to prosecute one side as the author of this article does. I realize that this issue is part of history now, but it really bothers me that people think they can just throw blame around without understanding the issue at hand. I recently learned a lot about the past conflict in Caledonia and I just want to say that especially in a time where every country is fearing terrorism and war, we as a people need to be understanding of others. There is a time for standing your ground and defending yourself, but self-defence does not include racism, racial profiling and hate mongering. Why is everyone so quick to pass judgment based on stereotypes? If everyone would just stop and listen to each other instead of trying to “get them before they get you” maybe issues wouldn’t escalate the way the one in Caledonia did.