You Can't Resolve A Problem By Giving Into Extortion

Both the province and the feds have to take responsibility for this breakdown in our justice system but in this particular case McGinty has to bear the brunt...for not ordering the OPP, and whatever backup they needed, to remove the terrorists and compounding the stupidity by buying the property.

'Internal rifts' stall Caledonia talks
March 13, 2007
Canadian press

Internal rifts within the Six Nations community and an endless stream of observers at the negotiating table have stalled talks aimed at ending the year-long aboriginal occupation in southern Ontario, Six Nations Chief David General said today.

Government negotiators broke off talks last week after General, who has spoken out against the ongoing occupation of a former housing development site in Caledonia, was physically barred from attending the negotiations by several aboriginal community members.

Talks are supposed to resume March 21, but both General and David Ramsay, Ontario’s minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, say Six Nations has to resolve its internal differences before negotiations can get back on track.

“There are too many agendas and too many voices,” General said. ``It’s an impediment right now. We inside of Six Nations have to sit down and have some heart-to-heart talks.”

General is one of only a few representatives the provincial and federal negotiators have said they’re willing to negotiate with, but the Six Nations approach allows dozens of aboriginal observers to participate in the talks.

That’s hindering progress toward ending the occupation, which marked its one-year anniversary two weeks ago, General said. Negotiators should look at limiting the number of people at the table, he said, or even relocating the talks entirely.

“Right now, the room is too big,” he said. “There is too many people there.”

General, who said he wasn’t harmed in last week’s scuffle, said some community members didn’t agree with how he approached the talks. Still, that won’t stop him from participating in future discussions, he said.

It now falls to the Six Nations community to resolve its internal strife to allow talks to resume, Ramsay said.

“We know there are different points of view on Six Nations about all of this,” he said. “That’s not really my business. My job is to get this thing solved. We’re determined to work it out at the main table.”

“That’s something for Six Nations people to work out.”

Residents of Caledonia are the ones paying the price for aboriginal infighting, said Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer. Very little progress is being made at the negotiation table because ``everybody wants to be in charge,” she said.

“They can talk all they want, but who do you make the deal with?” Trainer said. “Six Nations have no one to blame but themselves.”

In the meantime, Trainer said the community is being torn apart. People who lived side by side several years ago are barely talking now, she said. Hockey games between Six Nations and Caledonia residents, which used to be commonplace, are now rare and highly charged.

“That’s because of the occupation,” Trainer said. “It is putting such a wedge between the two peoples.”

People waiting for a quick end to the occupation at the negotiation table will be disappointed, said former premier David Peterson, who helped kickstart the talks last year.

Negotiating with aboriginals who believe in consensus isn’t always easy, he said. During his tenure at the negotiation table, Peterson said there would often be up to 40 people in the room who all participated in the discussion.

“It requires the patience of Job,” he said. “It is totally different than the decision-making process that you or I are used to. I takes a long time. It’s hard on everyone’s nerves.”

But, he said, it’s better than the alternative. “As long as you’re talking, you’re not shooting.”

Six Nations protesters have occupied the former housing site for over a year, claiming the land was illegally taken from them more than 200 years ago. The occupation has been tumultuous and violent at times, with barricades blocking off the town’s main street and clashes between residents and Six Nations protesters.