OPP under fire from both land defenders and developers over tactics in Caledonia

Developers looking to build a subdivision on McKenzie Road in Caledonia and the Haudenosaunee land defenders who have occupied the construction site since July don't agree on much of anything.

But these days they are both unimpressed by the OPP - albeit for different reasons.

The OPP don't have any other language except for violence," said Skyler Williams of Six Nations, spokesperson for 1492 Land Back Lane, the name given to the McKenzie site by the group claiming the territory as unceded Haudenosaunee land.

Williams said he has received open threats" from the OPP about the imminent removal of street barricades that land defenders put up to protest police action against them.

The tone is becoming a bit more forceful," Williams said. More police violence is not the answer here."

A senior executive at Foxgate Developments counters that the OPP aren't doing enough to evict the occupiers and return the property to the builders.

William Liske, vice-president and chief legal counsel, noted that it has been more than 50 days since court injunctions ordering the occupiers to clear the roads and leave the construction site were made permanent.

We haven't heard any indication with respect to how the OPP intend to deal with the directions from the court or take any steps at all," Liske said. Most of all, our homebuyers do not understand why the court's orders have been ignored."

Three options

The OPP have three main options to enforce the injunctions.

Officers from the Provincial Liaison Team continue what Haldimand OPP Const. Rod LeClair described as peaceful, open dialogue with the demonstrators."

The liaison team is a main plank of the OPP's Framework for Police Preparedness for Indigenous Critical Incidents. This policy tasks police with establishing lines of communication, remaining neutral while getting up to speed on the issues underlying the dispute, and minimizing the use of force while keeping the peace.

As a second enforcement tactic, police have arrested 34 people - mostly recently a single arrest on Nov. 18 - alleged to have set up road barricades in Haldimand or set foot on the occupied territory.

The arrests have mostly taken place away from the McKenzie site itself. Most of the accused are charged with mischief and disobeying a court order, though some face more serious charges such as assaulting a police officer and arson.

The most potentially combustible approach to enforcing the injunctions would be a full-on effort by police to take down the barricades and remove the occupiers en masse.

While testifying at an injunction hearing in October, OPP Chief Supt. John Cain said that option poses the greatest risk to public and officer safety, since it could spark a large-scale response at the site and retaliatory civil unrest across the country.

Brian Haggith, chair of Haldimand County's Police Services Board, says the OPP's approach to Indigenous incidents - however well-intentioned - does not work in practice.

McKenzie Road is blocked - not only blocked, but destroyed. So is Argyle Street and so is Highway 6. The rail line was actually dug (up) and torn from the ground," Haggith said.

Police officers in uniform are watching this occur, and no attempt (is made) to stop it. People just don't understand."

Haldimand Mayor Ken Hewitt agreed that by blocking roads and destroying property, the occupiers have gone too far."

I continue to have ongoing dialogue with the OPP, and while this injunction does hang over them and the expectation to reopen these roads are a must, it is with the most delicate and peaceful approach that everyone wants to see said roads open," Hewitt said in a statement on Wednesday.

Nobody is advocating for a confrontation and no one wants to see any violence occur as a result from one."

In the meantime, police cruisers sit at the barricades around the clock, with officers from the outside the region brought in to bolster the local detachment.

The only people winning here are the OPP, because they're making copious amounts of money," said Sheri Harding, owner of the Pita Pit on Argyle Street.

Harding is the representative plaintiff in a planned class action lawsuit against the OPP and the province launched by local residents and businesses looking to recoup financial losses because the barricades have cut off traffic through town.

LeClair thanked the public for their patience, noting that the OPP is not involved in the land claim negotiations.

The OPP will continue to maintain public safety for everyone involved, including demonstrators, police and any member of the public," he said.

We have no role to play in the land dispute issue."

Government inaction truly appalling'

Liske called it truly appalling" that the federal and provincial governments have largely stayed silent despite their responsibility for this continued situation."

Our biggest frustration is that we are unable to explain to our customers why the various authorities, governments included, do not assist," he said. We should all be able to rely on our courts rather than just hope."

Hewitt is optimistic that a political solution is possible.

While it may not seem like much is happening as we continue to deal with these blockades, I can tell you that there have been many meetings, conversations and exchanges with all parties involved," the mayor said.

I firmly believe that there are some real solutions here and some real opportunities for the province, Haldimand and Six Nations."

At the barricades, Williams said the threat of police action is never far from his mind.

Every single day that those cops sit out there with guns, I'm worried," he said. When the only dialogue that we're getting from the government is at the barrel of a gun, that is not a nation-to-nation relationship."

He added that the Land Back group is continuing back-channel efforts to open up negotiations between Ottawa and the two leadership groups on Six Nations, namely the elected council and Confederacy chiefs.

We're trying to do all we can on our side, and we hope the government is doing the same," Williams said.

J.P. Antonacci's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.