September 9, 2013
By Jeff Parkinson
When I started CanaceHD in September of 2010, it was nothing more than a stable place to host The Ernie Palmer Story which I knew I would soon be filming, but a series of events lead me to an experiment which has worked out somewhat better than expected.
With over a Million views I thought it might interest some to know a bit about how CanaceHD came to be.
November 27, 2007
The ongoing protest known as Dougs Smokes by Caledonia resident Doug Flemming of the illegal Native smoke shacks on highway 6 outside of Caledonia have been an effort on his part to be arrested or at least shut down by the OPP so that they would have to deal with the bigger issue of Natives illegally selling tobacco off of the reserve.
Several times, Doug has set up his smoke shop on the property owned by Chris Syrie that is adjacent to DCE.
The word this morning is that the OPP are about to take action against the protest known as Dougs Smokes.
Mr. Flemming has grown tired of being ignored by the OPP who have stood and smiled as he sold illegal cigarettes to protest the illegal smoke shacks set up by Natives on highway 6, so he’s planning to set up his own on the grounds of one of said shacks.
The OPP plan to stop him this morning is to illegally shut down highway #6 around 10am instead of simply shutting down Dougs illegal smoke shop as they might then have to address the 2 Native run shacks illegally set up just outside of town.
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.”
JeffParkinson.ca 