Caught in the Middle

Caught in the Middle

Reconciliation:The CANACE Path

City of BrantfordSept 29, 2008

A. About CANACE

Three Founding Nations – One Constitution

Canadian ‘outsiders’ with United Nations Emergency Force, Middle East, 1978

(Mark is 3rd from right)

Why I came

15 yr old ‘Pam’ from 6th Line, Oct 08/07

“This is going to be Caledonia Part 2. They don’t understand

what they’re in for.”

They [Brantford] just have a little rinky-dink force. I don’t know how they’re going to stop us.”

Steve Powless, July 14/08

CANACE goals

SHORT TERM…

• End Race-based policing

• Preserve Rule of Law

• Preserve Ontario economy

CANACE goals

LONG TERM…

• Legislation to ensure innocents can never again be abandoned.

(Natives are victims, too.)

• Reconciliation between natives and non-natives based on truth, justice, respect for rights of all human beings.

CANACE methods = Accountability

• Peaceful protests (Lessons from Dr. King)• Documentation of evidence – websites• Media scrutiny • Lawsuits vs. OPP, OPPA, Ont govt.• OHRC complaints (Fantino mediation)• Minister of Community Safety• OCCPS complaints• Private Prosecutions under CC• CANACE reports

CANACE reports

CANACE reports, cont.:

The Ipperwash Papers project

Reconciliation Through Equality

CANACE cited in media

False Allegations by Julian Fantino linking us to acts of violence

Sworn testimony, OPP Detective, Dec 14/07:

• We are not violent;

• Our protests are not violent;

• No one has been injured at our protests;

• We promote lessons of Martin Luther King

Transcript of Detective John Murray [5]

False Allegations by Julian Fantino linking us to acts of violence, cont.

Sworn testimony, Mayor Trainer, Dec 24/07:

• Sees Gary McHale as non-violent, trying to be advocate for people of Caledonia

Transcript of Mayor Marie Trainer [6]

False Allegations by Julian Fantino linking us to acts of violence, cont.

Mayor Trainer on Gary McHale’s candidacy for Haldimand-Norfolk:

“With McHale in the race, Trainer says Haldimand's quest for peace, law and order, stability and justice will feature prominently in the coming campaign.”

Brantford Expositor/Simcoe Reformer, Sept 04/08

B. Key Influences on OPP, Ontario

Government, Native Protesters

1. Reliance on Ipperwash Inquiry

Protesters, OPP, Ont gov’t ignore parts they don’t like, but quote other sections they know are based on flawed methodology.

DON’T LIKE: Police Discretion, Colour of Right

LIKE: 100 Recommendations

a. Police Discretion: • No one is above law.

• Rule of law & public order are not subservient to Aboriginal interests.

• No different standards for Aboriginals.

• Police “must be certain” to pursue protesters for serious offences.

Ipperwash Inquiry report, Volume 2

b. Colour of Right:

“74. There is no jurisprudence, even as it has evolved to date [June 2006], that supports the view that the concept of “colour of right” entitled the Aazhoodena to act as they did in occupying Ipperwash Provincial Park in September, 1995.”

Ministry of Attorney General legal opinion, June 28/06

Submitted to Ipperwash Inquiry

Legalized MYTHS of Illegal Occupations, p4) [7]

c. Violence Against Residents• 100 recommendations, not one re violence vs.

residents; issue never allowed to be studied• 139 witnesses, not one resident allowed to testify• Inquiry lasted 3 years; residents allowed just 90

minutes to speak to Commissioner in June 2006.• All evidence of native crimes excluded• CAO victim impact stmt: George’s death result of

failure to enforce law PRIOR to his death; warned gov’ts for 2 yrs!

McGuinty’s Ipperwash Cover-up [9]The Human Costs of Illegal Occupations, p42 [8]

d. Peacekeeping vs. Law EnforcementLaw Enforcement:

• Police officers in First World democracy preserve rule of law and protect citizens from criminals.

Peacekeeping:• Soldiers trained to kill used as deterrent to

prevent war between aggressors or killing of civilians in failed states where rule of law does not exist. CANNOT protect citizens from crime.

B. KEY INFLUENCES, cont.

2. Myths re Duty to ConsultHaida Nation v. British Columbia, 2004

• “…third parties are under no duty to consult or accommodate Aboriginal concerns…”

• “Third parties cannot be held liable for failing to discharge the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate.

• “The Crown is not under a duty to reach an agreement;”

• “As for Aboriginal claimants, they must not frustrate the Crown’s reasonable good faith attempts,”

• “This process does not give Aboriginal groups a veto…”

Province has duty to consult, NOT municipalities

• Province is allowed to delegate procedural aspects of consultation, but NOT the duty and liability.

• If McGuinty wants to give money to violent native groups for unproven claims, let him do it from the provincial treasury where he is accountable, and let him bear the legal, economic and political consequences.

B. KEY INFLUENCES, cont.

3. Big Money

Bill for land claim negotiations $1.7M

Brantford Expositor, Sept 20/08

Funds given to Six Nations by Ottawa

B. KEY INFLUENCES, cont.

4. Suppression of non-native rights & views

• Rights of non-natives of little importance to OPP, McGuinty gov’t

OPP: Land Title Deeds do NOT prove ownership [11]

Sgt Michaud at blockaded Cayuga construction site, May 12/08 explains why OPP won’t arrest protesters.

“…there are good reasons for pause before lumping indigenous

insurgents together with terrorists. This…is supported by international

legal doctrine suggesting that indigenous peoples carry some special international legal status

importing special treatment.” Michael Bryant, Master of Law thesis, 1994

“Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said the human

rights complaint doesn't help resolve a complex situation dating back

hundreds of years.”  

Toronto Star/Canadian Press, April 07/08: Fantino asked to attend rights mediation

Michael Bryant on Mark Vandermaas’ OHRC complaint re Dec 16/06 arrest

Julian Fantino believes he has the right to arrest potential non-native victims instead

of protecting their rights.

“It was the Respondents’ honestly held belief that the placement of the flag could provoke others to breach the

peace and put Mr. Vandermaas and others in harms way.” .”

OPP response to OHRC request that Commissioner Fantino attend mediation with Mark Vandermaas, July

22/08

OPP & McGuinty government believe race is the determining factor in law enforcement during land claims.

Policing that permits crime and civil rights violations against non-natives does NOT promote reconciliation.

C. Reconciliation: The CANACE Path

diagram

D. Suggestions for starting down the path to

reconciliation

• Decide: Reconciliation requires mutual respect for rights of all people and for rule of law. No place at the table for those who victimize others.

• Understand: Native extremists do not speak for all native people. [10, 12]

3. Create: Haldimand/Brantford bi-community committee to review evidence, hold Ontario & federal govt’s accountable, report to media.

-----------------------------------------------------• Communities must take lead in preserving rule

of law, educating public.• Open lines of communication w/moderate native

& non-native groups. • Lobby for governments to take a stand against

native extremism and insist on use of courts.• Lobby McGuinty govt to respect rights and

views of non-natives.

• Endorse Toby Barrett’s ‘Haldimand Proclamation for Peace, Order and Good Government’ [13]

• Lobby to take settlement of land claims out of the hands of politicians and hold reserves accountable for lawlessness. (Resolving Native Land Claims Responsibly) [14]

• Continue to pursue justice and preserve rule of law through court actions.

• Use media, courts, public education to make land claim lawlessness as politically-incorrect as drunk driving.

F. More Info

CD ROM• Presentation notes

• CANACE founders’ resume

• Lessons from Dr. King

• Report: The Human Costs of Illegal Occupations

• Report: Legalized MYTHS of Illegal Occupations

• Article: McGuinty’s Ipperwash Cover-up

CANACE When Freedom demands action

www.canace.ca

CANACE – Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality