Security tight for Brant trial

Sept 28, 2007
Kingston Whig Standard

Stringent security measures were in place as the trial of three men accused of confronting Canadian military personnel during a native protest last year began yesterday.

Shawn Michael Brant and Jerome J. Barnhart are facing several charges of uttering death threats stemming from the Nov. 15 incident east of Deseronto, in which a convoy of military students on a training mission happened upon a group of native protesters blocking Highway 2. Barnhart is facing an additional count of mischief, while Mario Baptiste Jr. is facing two counts of assault and one charge of mischief.

The proceedings are being held before a Brockville-area judge, Charles Anderson of the Ontario Court of Justice.

As with all court appearances involving Brant this year, the Ontario Provincial Police had strict security measures in place at the Dundas Street West courthouse – those entering the public gallery were asked to empty their pockets and were scanned using a metal detector.

While Baptiste and Barnhart sat with friends and family in the public gallery, Brant was seated between lawyers at the defence table during the day, often taking notes and whispering in the ear of his solicitor, Napanee-area lawyer Rob Smart.

During the early morning hours of Nov. 15, a number of Tyendinaga Mohawk demonstrators staged an event on Deseronto Road in protest of a proposed $30-million residential development on property subject to land-claim negotiations.

What had been a quiet, peaceful protest deteriorated rapidly into a confrontation as the group drove to Highway 2 to cover a sign advertising the development around 11:45 a.m. and a convoy of Canadian military vehicles happened upon the scene.

According to Master Cpl. Stephane Dionne, who was in the lead truck, the contingent of 10-ton vehicles and an army pickup truck were driven primarily by military students who were learning how to operate the machines.

As the group stopped in front of the protesters – a pickup truck pulled across Highway 2 – Dionne got out of the vehicle and approached, unaware of what the demonstration was concerning.

“The first sentence I said was, ‘How are you doing’ – we didn’t know the situation or what was going on,” he said during his afternoon testimony yesterday.

The reaction from his simple inquiry shocked the veteran military officer, who was in charge of the military exercise.

“They just started screaming and yelling … I have never seen people that angry before,” he said. “They said, ‘Go home, you don’t deserve to drive on our land’ … and saying, ‘White s–t, we are going to f—ing kill you.’ “

Before the unarmed group had a chance to turn around and back out of the scene, a protester in a minivan raced to the rear of the convoy and blocked in the last vehicle, he said.

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Mine protesters take fight to Ottawa

A group of local natives is canoeing from Ardoch to Ottawa to raise awareness of their campaign against a proposed uranium exploration venture north of Sharbot Lake.

Randy Cota, a chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, which is one of the non-status native bands fighting a company that wants to carry out exploration in the area, said the flotilla will end its journey on Parliament Hill today, where supporters will hold a rally.

At that time, a Mason jar holding water that was filled at Ardoch and symbolizes the threat of pollution, will be poured onto the ground.

“That’s what we really want people to realize, that this isn’t just an aboriginal issue,” he said from the outskirts of Ottawa after finishing paddling for the day.

“If anything goes into the river at Ardoch, it’s in Ottawa’s water four days later.”

Cota said the core group of paddlers consisted of six canoes flying traditional Aboriginal and wampum flags, but they were joined by other canoeists at various times during their week-long journey.

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Politicians steer away from Aboriginal issues

Kingston Whig Standard

Green party candidate Bridget Doherty was the decisive favourite at an Aboriginal affairs debate last night that often strayed off topic from native issues to the broader issues of the campaign.

Doherty received several loud ovations from the small and mostly Aboriginal audience gathered at a lecture hall at Queen’s University for the debate for plain language statements such as: “We need more Aboriginal teachers” and “We need more Aboriginals on the elected school boards.”

Doherty was applauded for pledging to increase the $2.58-million budget for funding the eight Aboriginal post-secondary institutions in the province. She singled out the First Nations’ Technical Institute on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Reserve as being in particular need.

“If all children are equal, why do these schools get less money?” Doherty asked.

But perhaps the loudest ovation she received was after she took the stage and responded to answers given by the other candidates on an Aboriginal housing question that digressed to health care.

“I’m pretty annoyed, and you probably are, too, that your questions aren’t being answered,” she said.

During that series of questions, one man in attendance interrupted the candidates and said, “Are we talking about housing or health care?”

Early on, the candidates fell into a familiar pattern of partisan and political attacks, dodging the questions posed by moderator and Queen’s politics professor Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant to take shots at their opponents.

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Federal parties pass the buck

Brantford Expositor

Listening to the Ontario Conservatives blame the Ontario Liberals for their handling of Caledonia and the Ontario Liberals blame the Ontario Conservatives for their handling of Ipperwash, one clear common denominator becomes evident. Both Ontario parties were, and are, trying to cope with the vacuum of authority left by the federal parties. Add the federal reaction to native protests at Oka in Quebec and this lack of concern for the residents of Ontario becomes even more pronounced.

The Harris Conservatives tried the hard line approach. It resulted in the death of a native protester, the destruction of an OPP officer’s career, the blemishing of the OPP’s reputation and the spectacle of the Ontario Conservatives trying to pass the responsibility onto the shoulders of the OPP. I have often asked myself to what degree today’s reluctance of the OPP to act is the result of the Conservative’s manoeuvre.

During the Ippwerwash crisis, the federal Liberals were invisible in spite of the fact our Constitution makes them responsible for our aboriginal population. During the Oka crisis, the federal Conservatives stepped in between the province and the natives to establish order. At Ipperwash it never happened. As at Caledonia, Ipperwash involves land claims. As at Caledonia, Ipperwash remains unresolved.

The McGuinty Liberals, seeing the disastrous results of the hard line approach, opted for the soft approach with no better results. A main traffic artery was torn up. A rail line was blocked. A power transformer was damaged, eliminating power not only to those whom the protesters were opposed to, but also those whom the protesters claimed to be helping.

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