Much Ado About Nothing

If the Caledonia protestors had really wanted to see the liberal government in action they should have moved their protest to Queen's Park and taken over one of the government buildings. Within hours the OPP, TPS and DND would have been mobilized and they would have been forcibly removed. Never mind the parliament buildings the same action would have been taken if they took over a bus shelter. THERE ARE TWO JUSTICE SYSTEMS.

Caledonia protest low-key
About 400 attend Caledonia march
5 people arrested for minor offences
Oct. 16, 2006. 05:53 AM
RICHARD BRENNAN AND PETER EDWARDS
STAFF REPORTERS

CALEDONIA, Ont.—A long-promised protest yesterday against the provincial and federal governments and the OPP over a lingering native occupation failed to attract the thousands of protestors its organizer had been bragging about for weeks.

The rally was a relatively quiet affair attended by some 400 people, mostly Caledonia and area residents, protesting the eight-month occupation of the former Douglas Creek Estates by people from the Six Nations reserve.

The 40-hectare housing development southwest of Hamilton is now owned by the province but is still occupied by native demonstrators who claim the property belongs to them.

Organizer Gary McHale, who lives in a condominium in Richmond Hill, declared the rally a success.

The march was originally planned to end at the disputed development site, but went to a school in Caledonia instead.

McHale pointed to security cameras outside the school, which he said were necessary to protect the building from native violence.

"We have made our point on two-tiered justice," he said.

The gathering served as an opportunity for residents to vent their anger over the occupation and the fact that Ottawa and Queen's Park seem to have made little or no progress on secret land-claim talks.

A large police presence kept the residents' and native groups more than 300 metres apart.

"Our goal is to march down the (Douglas Creek) land to prove that the OPP will do everything within their power to stop us not because it is legal or illegal but simply because of our race," McHale said.

Some residents believe the Ontario Provincial Police have lost control of the situation and should be replaced by another force while others are keen to see how incoming commissioner Julian Fantino, a former Toronto police chief with a reputation for being hands-on, will respond.

Five people were arrested yesterday — three men who tried to cross police lines and two women who were intoxicated.

Residents whose homes border on the development have complained for months about being intimidated by protestors who roar around the property in the wee hours of the morning on all-terrain vehicles and shout obscenities.