Caledonia man peddles from truck

The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 22, 2007)

A Caledonia resident is selling contraband cigarettes from the back of his truck to protest the recent opening of two native smoke shops on Highway 6 that he describes as illegal.

On Saturday morning Doug Fleming set up his own makeshift smoke shop on a lot next to the former Douglas Creek development occupied by Six Nations protesters last year. He then drove his pickup down Argyle Street to the Caledonia OPP office and set up shop in their parking lot. Fleming said that after a couple of hours he was asked to leave by an OPP officer who told him the plaza owner had complained he was trespassing.

He was not charged.

“I’m challenging the OPP to deal with me but they won’t because if they deal with me, they’ll have to deal with the Indians,” said the 45-year-old swimming pool installer. “I’m openly breaking the law.”

Fleming said that when the two shops recently sprung up on Highway 6 around 5th Line he went to officials at Haldimand County to complain.

He said they are on land that belongs to the Six Nations Band Council. But he added that since it is not reserve land it is under Haldimand County’s jurisdiction and should be subject to the county’s rules. He was told by officials the land was “in limbo.”

He wants the shops shut down so others are not encouraged to set up on the high-traffic route. He also wants to see local laws enforced.

Fleming first set up his rolling protest the weekend before and is considering making it a weekly event.

“I think I’m going to set up shop every Saturday until they enforce the law and close down the shops,” he said. “We’ve been living with laws being broken and police not enforcing them for long enough.”

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Natives protest Brantford site; ‘Development must stop on our land’

Members of Six Nations staged a 12-hour protest Friday at Henry Street and Wayne Gretzky Parkway, halting construction of a $40-million commercial development.

The peaceful protest was in reaction to a provincial statement made Thursday that a new Six Nations development institute has no right to charge fees or demand permits for construction on lands within the Haldimand Tract, the six miles on either side of the Grand River at one time granted to Six Nations.

“The provincial government has made statements that constitute a direct assault on our people,” said Six Nations spokeswoman Ruby Montour. “The statements made (by the province) go right to the core of our existence, our land.

“To be very clear, development must stop on our land. We will not go away and we will not be silenced.”

First Gulf Development Corp., based in Mississauga, is planning a 267,000-square-foot commercial centre on the 24-acre site. The protesters say the land belongs to Six Nations.

About a dozen natives arrived at 6:30 a.m., blocking the site entrance to stop workers from driving in. They erected Six Nations flags and signs that read “Six Nations Land” and “Your Lease is Up.” City police monitored the site during the protest, which ended at about 6 p.m.

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Ontario Algonquins suspend uranium site occupation

Two First Nations communities have temporarily left a prospective uranium mining site in eastern Ontario they have occupied since June after reaching an agreement with the Ontario government to begin mediation talks.

“We’ve removed much of our camp from inside the private property,” Robert Lovelace, retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, said Friday on behalf of the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations. “The reason we’ve done that is in good faith because we really do count on a good outcome from the mediation process.”

The Algonquins were trying to block a mining exploration company, Frontenac Ventures, from doing test drilling for uranium at the site near Sharbot Lake, about 60 kilometres north of Kingston.

Ontario has agreed to 12 weeks of mediation, although Lovelace did not know when negotiations were set to begin. But he said the Algonquins are eager to get going. They hope the province will consider making changes to the Mining Act to leave less power to prospectors and more to property owners, he said.

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Land rights letter riles up council

A Haldimand County councillor denounced a letter from the Six Nations land rights department as ridiculous at this week’s council meeting.“I think we are falling into the trap – to be quite frank,” said Coun. Buck Sloat. “We’re debating a letter that’s been sent to us that implies that we should follow an illegal course. Why are we even talking about it?”

Council was in the midst of discussing a letter sent to Mayor Marie Trainer to put the county on notice about outstanding land rights including 999 year mortgages, 21-year term leases and life leases with individuals with promised reversion back to Six Nations upon death.

If necessary, Six Nations will interfere with permit issuance, the author wrote.Sloat was visibly upset with the letter’s contents.

“It’s ridiculous – absolutely asinine. We should have thrown it in the garbage,” he continued. “It’s not our issue…It (the letter) comes from nowhere.”

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