ORAL QUESTIONS
NATIVE LAND DISPUTE
Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): My question is to the Premier. Premier, could you provide us with a detailed update as to the status of the six warrants for arrest issued in Caledonia last weekend? One individual, as I'm sure you know, is charged with the attempted murder of an OPP officer, and I would just like to clarify, for the benefit of the public and this House, what the status is of those outstanding warrants.

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): I have no specific information in that regard. I know the leader of the official opposition will understand that this is the subject of an ongoing police investigation. I do know that there is co-operation between the Ontario Provincial Police and the Six Nations Police, but beyond that, I'm not aware of any of the details.

Mr. Tory: Premier, just two days ago, after more than 100 days of this standoff, we finally heard you stand up and speak to the situation at Caledonia, and for once you seemed to be very clear about two specific conditions that had to be satisfied before you would return to the negotiating table, and those conditions were (1) "the barricades must come down, and they must stay down," and (2) "we are asking" the First Nations "leadership to co-operate in any way with the Ontario Provincial Police so that they might apprehend the individuals involved."

You have made reference today and yesterday to the Six Nations Police co-operating, but we see very opposite signals coming from some of the leadership of the Six Nations in terms of apprehending these people.
What kind of signal does it send when you don't stand firmly on your own second condition, which referred to co-operation generally, not to co-operation from the Six Nations Police alone? What kind of signal does that send?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: Maybe the leader of the official opposition just can't stand good news. Let's review what has happened just recently: The Highway 6 barricades are down, MTO has inspected the road, and it's been reopened to traffic; the railway barricade is down, railway staff have inspected it, and trains are back up and running today; hydro crews are again working on transmission line improvements; the OPP are working together with the Six Nations to effect the execution of those outstanding warrants.

Clearly, the leader of the official opposition remains unhappy with this turn of events, but I think we're making progress and we will continue to work as hard as we can to make still more progress.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Final supplementary.
Mr. Tory: If you ask if I'm unhappy with one part of the turn of events, yes, I am. There are some positive developments that have taken place, but I think there is an issue of real concern, not just to the people who live down there but to the people of Ontario, with respect to your condition with respect to co-operation by the leadership with respect to the apprehension of these individuals.

The Hamilton Spectator reported this morning on their front page that the Six Nations are refusing to hand over the individuals involved and are no longer returning phone calls. We were inspired, finally, by your "one rule of law for all" comments just days ago, and we thought that meant we were getting on the right track to restoring confidence and to dealing with a situation that is very acute, and we hoped that you would actually live up to your own conditions, which you set on Monday.

Why is the Ontario government returning to the negotiating table when there are people who continue to hide and protect those who are sought for alleged violations of the law? Why won't you stand firm on your own conditions, which you set on Monday, demanding co-operation from the leadership as a whole before you go back to the table?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I would encourage the leader of the official opposition to read the article he referenced, because he will see that it says, "But Six Nations Band Council leader David General said the suspects should be dealt with by the OPP and the Six Nations Police have a duty to uphold Canadian law.... the Canadian law is the form of law that should be upheld and therefore the arrest warrants are a `police matter,' General said. `I am confident the Six Nations police will do what they have to do,' he said."

Again, we have the barricades down, we have in place a community liaison table, we have in place a permanent table to discuss the land claims issue, we're working as quickly as we can to get the land out of the scenario by looking to compensate the developer in question, and we are working as hard as we can to resolve this peacefully in a determined way. I think there is some good news. I think the community should take heart in this, and we will continue to make progress.

The Speaker: New question.

Mr. Tory: My question again is to the Premier on the same matter. I think most people down there would confirm that there is some good news, but I think we have to be careful not to downplay a very, very grave situation that still exists for a lot of these people. Many of them are feeling as vulnerable as ever today, notwithstanding the good news we've seen so far.

Arrest warrants have indeed been issued for everything from attempted murder to assault and theft, and yet, I would argue, instead of standing firm on your own conditions -- and we can all read different quotes from different people -- you've chosen to return to the bargaining table while the rule of law is still seriously in question.
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The residents are frightened. They are strung out by endless nights of ATV vehicles going across their property, harassment on their own property. TV media reports suggest that some people have been threatened and continue to be threatened when they're on their own property, and told they're going to be evicted from their own homes at some point in time. Premier, what do you have to say to these people, some of whom will not even sleep in their own homes, don't feel secure enough to sleep in their own homes because the rule of law is not prevalent there?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I think what the leader of the official opposition is doing right now is making it clear that he is unhappy with the way the police have approached this situation. I would suggest to him that if he has advice that he would like to tender to the police, he offer that here and now so that we can all understand where his party is coming from in this particular regard.

Mr. Tory: Premier, some of these people in Caledonia are now so fearful and angry that they've brought a lawsuit against you and your government for failure to protect their personal interests and their personal safety. The Hamilton Spectator reports that residents have now resorted to organize and form defensive vigilante groups and have contingency plans to protect themselves. They have lost total faith in the rule of law on your watch. As one resident was quoted as saying in the newspaper, "It is terror there, not just anger." The homeowners in the neighbourhood told an information meeting of the Caledonia Citizens Alliance yesterday that they are terrified by gunshots in the ravine behind their properties and attempts to burn wooden fences behind their homes.

Monday, you set out conditions. Tuesday, you seemed willing to set those aside. What are you prepared to do? I would suggest a good start would be to say that you are in fact not going to go back to the table until the rule of law has been re-established there, and that does count on the leadership you said you'd be counting on co-operation from to co-operate and to do it.

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I understand the particular representation the leader of the official opposition is making about my commitment, but I'm satisfied that it has in fact been met. The barricades are down. We have received word from both the OPP and the Six Nations police that they are co-operating in dealing with those who committed those misdeeds last Friday. But again, what the leader of the official opposition is saying is that he's unhappy with the police in terms of how they're handling this particular matter. If he has advice he would like to offer to the police, then I would love to be able to get that on the floor right now so we would all better understand where he's coming from.

Mr. Tory: Just in terms of the selective quotes, there's a quote from the Hamilton Spectator today -- I presume it's even the same article the Premier is quoting -- "Six Nations representatives said they are refusing to turn over the six wanted people to the OPP, who are being investigated by the traditional government. They also argue the Six Nations police have allegiance to their people first." We can read whichever quotes we want.

Premier, this situation appears to have spread or has moved from the roads to people's own personal property. We've received first-hand reports of people walking into a community member's backyard and simply lighting a bonfire. Now, we all know that if somebody walked into your backyard and lit a bonfire on your property, there would be police officers there within seconds. I don't accept the fact, nor do I think you should, that any resident of Ontario is meant to live in a situation where the rule of law is in question like this and where people can come on to their property, light a fire in their backyard and nobody does anything about it.

I just want to know what you say to these people who are experiencing this, and what you're going to do to uphold the rule --
The Speaker: The question has been asked.

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: Again, the leader of the official opposition and his colleagues obviously are very unhappy with the way the police continue to manage the situation. I continue to have confidence in the Ontario Provincial Police. I also would encourage them, again, if they have advice of any kind with respect to how it is the OPP should conduct themselves in this or any other matter, then they should make that public. Obviously he's very concerned that there are certain kinds of actions that are taking place which are not being visited with consequences. If that is his concern and he has advice to the Ontario Provincial Police, again I suggest he make that advice public.