Charges dropped for some 1492 Land Back Lane supporters

Some supporters of 1492 Land Back Lane, the occupation of a since-cancelled Caledonia subdivision by a group from Six Nations who say the land is unceded Haudenosaunee territory, are seeing their charges dropped in court.

Courtney Skye, a policy analyst from Six Nations who was arrested in September 2020 after visiting the occupied site on McKenzie Road, had charges of mischief, disobeying a court order and breach of conditions withdrawn on Oct. 12.

Skye said she donated $500 to an Indigenous organization and the Crown agreed to not seek a conviction.

I didn't admit to any guilt," she said.

Skye is a research fellow with the Yellowhead Institute, an Indigenous-led think tank based at Ryerson University, and a frequent panellist on programs such as CBC's Power and Politics. She said she got involved in the Land Back movement last August after police moved in to clear land defenders from the occupied site.

That confrontation reminded Skye of the standoff at the former Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in 2006, where a large group of Six Nations members and supporters repelled OPP efforts to remove them from territory that remains occupied to this day.

I remember just how many of our community members showed up. There was that strength and unity," Skye said.

For me, it was just a Haudenosaunee thing to do - there's a crisis in our community and you need to be there. You need to show support. So even though I really see myself as a researcher and a policy analyst, this crisis called me home to be there and witness what was going on."

Skye is the latest in a string of Land Back supporters to avoid trial. Myka Burning, who organized a legal fund that has raised nearly $507,000 toward the defence of Skye and other supporters, had her charges dropped over the summer.

Hamilton rocker Tom Wilson and Six Nations musician Phil Davis faced charges of mischief and breaching a court order after performing on the disputed McKenzie Road site. Those charges were later withdrawn, as were the same charges against Indigenous journalists Karl Dockstader and Starla Myers.

According to criminal defence lawyer Ian McCuaig, it is fairly common in cases of civil disobedience for prosecutors to drop relatively minor charges against a movement's peripheral players so they can focus on the core organizers" and those facing more serious charges.

In fairness to individuals charged with less serious offences, to burden them with a criminal record, especially these days, is disproportionate," said McCuaig, who has represented nearly two dozen people charged in connection to the occupation.

None of the Land Back supporters who were offered diversion" by the Crown are alleged to have assaulted police, stolen construction equipment or taken part in the destruction of roadways or railway tracks, McCuaig noted.

Really all they're accused of having done is attended the site," he said. It's just essentially the breach of the (court) order to stay away."

Skye sees arresting people for simply visiting the McKenzie Road site as part of the OPP's strategy to chill support for the Land Back movement.

This was really the police using their powers to intimidate people like myself who support the camp and kind of make us an example for other people who might want to lend their support to Indigenous land defence actions," she said.

That tactic backfired, she added.

I think (the arrests) really rallied people in support of the camp," she said.

McCuaig said while questions should be asked about the cost of policing the occupation, the OPP were within their rights to arrest those who disobeyed the court order in a show of civil disobedience.

So for the police to lay the charges, from a legal point of view, fair's fair," he said.

But, he added, charging dozens of people created an administrative nightmare" for an already clogged court system and made diversion an attractive option for prosecutors.

It's not really in the interest of justice to go after every one of these participants," McCuaig said.

Not all Land Back figures are in the clear legally. Spokesperson Skyler Williams still faces multiple charges in connection with the occupation. He turned himself in to police in May and was released on the condition that he not return to the occupied site or attend any unlawful demonstrations.

Williams was later arrested Sept. 16 in Toronto after speaking at a rally outside the condo building of Toronto Mayor John Tory in support of the city's homeless living in encampments.

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.