Where Was The Police Protection When The Law Was Broken

If the tresspassers had been removed when they first broke the law this would be a mute point but the premier failed to order the OPP to do their job and that was probably due to the negative impact of the shooting of a protestor during another illegal occupation. Possibly the next Caledonia.....

Protest blocks Ontario rail line


Policing Caledonia
April 20, 2007

A growing sense of frustration is understandable as the native occupation of a Caledonia housing development drags into its 14th month.

Aboriginal protesters and their supporters have been disappointed by the official response to their land claim, dating from when the Six Nations moved to the Grand River area more than 200 years ago.

Many Caledonia residents are upset by the lengthy native protest, which has been marked by sporadic violence and lingering tension in their community.

Amid the distress felt on all sides, it is important for residents and protesters alike to resist acting on their frustrations. Restraint is also important for the head of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Despite that need, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino sent an email earlier this month to local politicians on Haldimand county council and to senior bureaucrats at Queen's Park in which he threatened to pull OPP protection from the area next year if confrontational protests against the native occupation result in violence.

Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter is taking correct action by reviewing the email and analyzing its implications with an eye toward determining if Fantino's conduct was inappropriate.

As well as threatening not to support renewal of an OPP contract to protect the town, Fantino indicated he would back lawsuits against the municipality filed by police officers injured at protest rallies.

Marches directed against natives occupying the former Douglas Creek Estates do represent a dangerous flashpoint for violence and should be discouraged. But threatening to remove OPP protection from an entire community is the wrong way to dampen protests. If anything, such a move would only increase Caledonia residents' frustration.

These residents have a right to police protection. And politicians have a right to speak without the community being threatened, even if some say foolish things such as voicing support for controversial rallies.