Judge Issues Injunction against Six Nations Protestors in Caledonia, Ontario
Members of Six Nations of the Grand River occupying the camp believe the government is unjustly seizing their land. (Wikimedia Commons.)
Ontario Superior Court Justice R. J. Harper issued a permanent injunction on October 22 against members of Six Nations of the Grand River’s 1492 Land Back Lane camp, who have been occupying a housing development in Caledonia since July.
Members of Six Nations of the Grand River have been occupying the land to prevent Foxgate Development from building another subdivision.
In 1995, the Six Nations elected council filed a court case to contest the ownership of the property. The land is part of an area that was given back to the Six Nations in 1784, after they allied with the British in the American Revolution. According to members of the reclamation camp, a squatter sold the land where Foxgate plans to build to a settler in 1853.
After Harper granted the injunction, members of the camp expanded their control of the area, blockading highway access points to the two entrances to the site.
The blockades have been the site of confrontations between protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). On October 22, demonstrators confronted OPP vehicles. In response, police used a taser and fired at least one rubber bullet against protesters.
The government of Haldimand County, where Caledonia is located, issued a response to the events of October 22, stating, “While Haldimand County has consistently supported the need for senior levels of government to address outstanding indigenous land claims in our area, the actions of a few that flaunt our basic institutions and the rule of law must be condemned. No matter how important an issue may be, deliberately taking illegal actions that create chaos for others cannot be tolerated. The end does not justify the means in a civil society regardless of historic injustices.”
Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, commented, “The way you get things settled is by sitting around the table, talking about solutions. You don’t go after our police, you don’t start burning telephone poles, you don’t start digging up roads, that’s unacceptable.”
Skyler Williams, the camp spokesperson, called the skirmish between protesters and police “just another example of the OPP coming in here with violent acts of aggression against people that are just occupying their traditional territory,” according to a statement to CBC News.
The trial over the disputed territory is not scheduled to begin until 2022.