Remembering Merlyn Kinrade

By Jeff Parkinson

He was the hero in every Western, & I don’t mean those half assed Acid or Spaghetti Westerns, but real horse riding, varmint wrangling, ass kicking men. The kind of rare mix of the best characters portrayed by John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Gary Cooper rolled into one, but with far more style.

On October 6, 2012 Merlyn lost a valiant 12 year battle with cancer & we lost a friend, colleague, mentor, inspiration, & without question one of the most unique people our society has ever seen.

When a person dies there tends to be a lot of hyperbole about them because nobody wants to remember any flaws that their loved one may have had. In this case however you’ll find none of that because Merlyn Kinrade was a character that no writer in history could have dreamed up.

A socialite at heart, Merlyn loved to entertain, but he was never afraid to put the so called upper class in their place. Be it the mayor, the OPP commissioner, his local council, or a room full of negotiators, Merlyn always had the time and the fortitude to sit down and tell them why they’re wrong and he’s right. I don’t phrase that in the past tense because it remains true that they’re wrong & he’s right.

There are far too many stories of this occurrence to be told in one sitting, but one of my favorites is the night he walked in the back door of a closed meeting of federal negotiators at the Caledonia arena.

Not knowing he wasn’t supposed to be there, he made himself at home and spent hours taking everyone to task for failing his family and his community. They tried to feed him from their lavish tax payer funded buffet but he refused to touch it. They tried to calm him with platitudes but he refused to waver.

New Video – The Caledonia Eight Arrested

December 6, 2011

By Jeff Parkinson

For those who have not yet heard, The Caledonia Eight is a group of people who on December 3, 2011 were arrested on Surrey Street in Caledonia because of the color of their skin. A trait over which they have no control.

The group consisting of Gary McHale, Merlyn Kinrade, Randy Fleming, Bonnie Stephens, Jack VanHalteren, Mark Vandermaas, Doug Fleming, & Jeff Parkinson had their freedom taken from them for walkilng down a public road owned by the Corporation of Haldimand County by order of the McGuinty government who does not own the road.

Video: The Ernie Palmer story

Update: A few people have reported difficulty in viewing these video’s at 720p (HD) so I have changed the embedded video’s to play at a lower resolution.

By Jeff Parkinson

In my early days with CANACE in late 2006 and early 2007, I was on a very regular basis told stories that saddened and repulsed me. I sat and listened to each and every resident who was willing to share with me what they had endured and over the course of 4 years; I thought I had heard the worst of if not all of them.

One exceptionally disturbing story unfolded in the summer of 2009, and managed to fly under the radar of many including myself. Many of us heard that a smoke shack had gone up at the farm of Caledonia resident Ernie Palmer, but I didn’t know too much about it at the time. We had a particularly busy year, and by the time we slowed down to catch our breath, the shack was gone.

I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Palmer on October 13 2010 and he generously allowed me to record that meeting. The only things I knew for sure when I arrived were that the facts were largely unclear to me, and that an interview with him would be interesting. The media reports that I had read in 2009 painted him as a collaborator, and the County had charged him with bylaw infractions for hosting the smoke shack.

I explained a bit about myself to Mr. Palmer and made clear to him that my objective was simple. I wanted to leave that day with the necessary information to tell his story in his words. I wound up spending a day with him, and the things I learned were absolutely shocking even to a 4 year veteran of the Caledonia crisis.

Harper adopts McGuinty’s lapdog

October 13, 2010

By Jeff Parkinson 

As a faithful Conservative, it is sometimes necessary to swallow my personal views about an issue so long as the party as a whole is doing the best job they can to represent us. That is not the case with the latest decision by Stephen Harper. 

Touting the tripe that he’s “good for the party” and under the apparent delusion that he’s a “law & order guy”, the Federal Conservatives are running former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino in the riding of Vaughan. This for me as a staunch Conservative constituent and as someone who has seen first hand the havoc that Julian Fantino wreaked on the town of Caledonia is too much to take quietly. 

National forum a big step for Caledonia

April 27, 2010

By Jeff Parkinson

The thing that’s most striking when speaking to any of the victims of Caledonia is how abandoned they feel. Race based policing and government cover ups have done their job of leaving many residents who were plenty feisty in 2006 feeling as though there’s little more they can do.

Some come to all of the rallies in the hope that their voice will be heard, but most feel that they have been abandoned by their government and their police force and that their voices have been squashed by forces much larger than they. A public meeting held last night by CANACE will however hopefully give them some new found hope. Change is in the wind, and I’m hopeful that everyone can see it.

On May 5^th 2010, CANACE director Gary McHale and Voice of Canada’s Mark Vandermaas will be invited speakers at a National Aboriginal Policy forum at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Their purpose is to address the policy makers and intellectuals about the disastrous effects of appeasing criminals who hide behind their aboriginal ancestry, and they will be in elite company.

Doug Fleming’s social gathering this Sunday

April 9, 2010

Doug Fleming Smoke Shop Protest – April 11, 2010 at 2 p.m.
The Plank Road 1 Stop Protest

Your participation is requested if you believe that:

1) The O.P.P. is responsible for law enforcement.
2) People should respect by-laws pertaining to building permits, vendor permits and trespassing.
3) No honorable person would sell cigarettes to a twelve year old.
4) An illegal smoke shack at the turn-off to Caledonia is not the same as a “Welcome” sign.
5) A criminal act, if allowed to occur, leads to more criminal acts.

The smoke shacks on Haldimand land are a symptom of a larger problem. Getting rid of them won’t solve the problem but will be a small step in the right direction. This has nothing to do with rights or land claims. This is about unscrupulous people exploiting the fact the O.P.P. is unwilling to enforce the law.”

Video: March 21 2010 Rally

March 23, 2010

By Jeff Parkinson

Before we arrived at the Tom Keefer counter protest to our scheduled anti racism rally, an amateur videographer was on scene with our camera gear to capture the scene and mingle with the crowd. Between us, we got some good footage of the event which I’m glad to share with you here.

Please note in advance that these videos will need time to buffer if you want to watch them full screen in high resolution.

In the first clip our guy is questioned at length by one of the Natives for taking video of the Keefer protest. It’s worth noting that there were dozens of cameras on us the entire time we were there, and not once did we bother anyone about it, or try to hide from them.

Resident speaks out about bridge occupation

Recently I wrote about the Shawn Brant led occupation of the Skyway bridge from Picton to Prince Edward County, and have had the good fortune to hear from a resident who wants to share her thoughts on the situation in her home town with us. Her insight as a lifelong resident is invaluable and I want to extend my thanks to Vicki Leversedge for having the courage to speak out in this guest editorial.

I was born and raised in Prince Edward County as a farm girl, and plan to remain here always. I am a good law-abiding citizen who pays taxes in this community, and I want to know why the Mohawk Warriors are allowed to get away with the UNLAWFUL blockade of the Skyway Bridge.

The OPP have cordoned off the area, and their response to this situation is that it could take “10 minutes or ten days.  Who knows?”  This does not satisfy me in the slightest. I have elderly family on the other side of the Bay, and we are quite close.  Mobility is not an issue and fortunately neither is health, but when I am needed I am supposed to be only minutes away. That is, unless I have to go through the County and then Belleville first. I take my family responsibilities quite seriously and nothing gets my temper flared faster than someone interfering with that. Would you please explain to me why this allowed to go on?

Caledonia residents win one during heated protest

September 02, 2008

Contrary to the fluff piece garbage that’s been published today by much of the mainstream media, residents of Caledonia took a significant step toward reclaiming their town by refusing for at least this one day to be afraid of the Terrorist Natives who continue to use the town as a pawn in their political game, nor the OPP who so diligently protect their tormentors.

Using the long overdue arrest of Steve Powless for breaching the injunction in Brantford as an excuse to cause trouble, the Natives dragged their ever present stolen hydro tower across Argyle Street and started a land protector tire fire on the Highway 6 bypass to choke off access to the town on Labor Day.

April 28 update from Caledonia residents

1pm – From residents of Caledonia we’ve received the following update:

The Terrorists blocking the highway have torn up and are using sections of the railway in their blockade in addition to a hydro tower and hydro poles, and the Natives have used a Backhoe to dig up the road. 

The number of “protestors” is increasing at this point and Haldimand Council has called an emergency meeting for 2pm. Much as in 2006, the Natives have used a Backhoe to dig up the road.

Caledonia residents visit Fantino’s home

March 3, 2008

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino made an interesting move yesterday in an effort to counter the Caledonia residents protesting outside of his Woodbridge home. He created a second headline for the media, and I’ll leave it to you to decide which one was more news worthy.

Headline 1: Caledonia residents protest at OPP Commissioners home

Headline 2: Cop visits donut shop.

Live updates from the Fantino protest

Live updates will begin around noon and continue from the protest at Julian Fantino’s home at CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Caledonia “Interlopers” coming to Woodbridge

Feb 26, 2008

Julian Fantino will soon get another chance to use his beloved term “interlopers”, only this time it won’t be Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, and myself he’s targeting. A convoy of Caledonia residents who have grown tired of being ignored by the Commissioner will be heading to Fantino’s neighborhood this Sunday March 2 to exercise their legal right to peaceful protest.

On the eve of the 2nd anniversary of the Caledonia crisis, it’s time for the premier to apologize for a horrible wrong

CALEDONIA — If Sam Gualtieri had died when he was attacked by a pack of goons last year, would Premier Dalton McGuinty have come down for his funeral?

That was the main question people here asked yesterday.

If he ever decides to check out one of the province’s most embarrassing messes, the first place he ought to stop is the home of Gualtieri, a 53-year-old former homebuilder who believes he was one blow away from being murdered.

Instead, after being viciously attacked by native protesters who were squatting in a home he owned, he spent a week in intensive care with numerous broken bones and severe brain trauma.

“He has been through so much,” wife Sandy said. “We are just glad we have him.”

This May he will walk his daughter Michelle down the aisle for her wedding. He was attacked in a home, in a neighbouring development to the occupied Douglas Creek estates, he was building for her. “I just went there to check it out and was jumped when I walked in the door,” he said.

Read the full story here

Much more on the Human Cost of Illegal Occupations here

More harassment of residents by the OPP

November 29, 2007

One would think that the Haldimand OPP would have learned their lesson having been sued by Dave Brown for his wrongful arrest and detainment, but their efforts to intimidate residents of Caledonia into submission appear to know no bounds.

In light of the recent attempt by an OPP officer to run him over, Chris Syrie has decided to make public another of their efforts to stop him from speaking out.