This mess in Caledonia has escalated well beyond the negotiating table.....the indians should be sitting behind the defendant's table in a provincial court.
A violent confrontation last week in Caledonia, Ont., has prompted the Ontario to pull out of this week's scheduled negotiations with Six Nations and the federal government.
"Ontario considers last week's confrontation unacceptable," Lars Eedy, spokesman for the provincial aboriginal affairs ministry, said Tuesday in a release. "Violence is never a solution to any dispute."
Developer Sam Gualtieri was hospitalized with face and head injuries Sept. 13 after confronting a group of protesters in one of two houses on the Stirling Street subdivision he is building for his daughters.
The provincial government said it continues to support the federal government in the effort to find a lasting solution to the Caledonia land claim issues.
"We hope to be able to resume negotiations," the release stated.
The federal negotiating team said Tuesday it was working towards the next scheduled meetings on Oct. 3 and 4 and hoped Ontario would return to the table.
"Canada remains committed to the process of resolving the complex land claims issue along the Grand River," Barbara McDougall, the federal representative and Ronald Doering, the federal negotiator, said in a release.
"The continued presence of all three parties at the table is a key element to finding lasting solutions to these complex issues," the release said.
Six Nations officials have said anyone planning to build in the Grand River watershed needs aboriginal approval.
The site of last week's confrontation is about a kilometre from the Douglas Creek housing development that's been the site of a contentious Six Nations occupation since February 2006.
The aboriginals were given the land in 1784 by the British Crown, but Ottawa says most of it was surrendered or sold by 1850.
The protesters claim the land was never surrendered.
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