Mohawk roadblock ordered down; Premier Dalton McGuinty says blockades were a ‘real concern’ to police

Kingston Whig Standard

April 23, 2008

Road blockades that are a headache for police, create anxiety and threaten people’s safety are no way to resolve long-standing aboriginal land disputes, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday as a Mohawk barricade was dismantled in eastern Ontario. (Edit: The same McGuinty who claimed in 2006 he wasn’t going to negotiate with the DCE terrorists and then resumed negotiations within 48 hours)

Deseronto residents ‘fed up’

Belleville Intelligencer

April 23, 2008

Two extreme examples of how a native blockade affected residents here played out early Tuesday.

The first occurred on the corner of Dundas and Second streets – just a stone’s throw from the protest site – within moments of the Mohawk barricade being taken down on Old Highway 2.

A 20-year-old Deseronto man, who declined to give his name, parked his vehicle along the side of Second Street, walked over to a telephone pole along Old Highway 2 and stapled a white piece of Bristol board reading ‘White Land’ to the post.

When approached, the man said he and fellow town residents “were fed up” with the actions of native protesters.

“I’m tired of them stopping me from going to work … and I don’t see anybody else doing anything,” he said.

Native affairs minister faces libel suit

The Hamilton Spectator

April 23, 2008

Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant has been served with a notice of intent to sue for libel by a controversial critic of the government’s handling of the Caledonia land dispute and the OPP.

Mark Vandermaas, of London, Ont., editor of the Voice of Canada website and a founder of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality, served the notice on Bryant shortly before a Haldimand County council meeting yesterday.