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I dont really understand how all this stuff works Hugz - who sold off land in the first place which wasnt theirs to sell? - and mores to the point, who was idiot enough to buy it from somebody who didnt have the rights to sell it?

The government sold it off and I suppose the developer wasn't aware it was under landclaim...so the government is at fault for selling it in the first place.....

so what the heck are the police doing getting involved at this stage - have your people got lawyers - how long is it since university education became available? surely this is a false sale and the loser should be the person/s who initiated it or were fool enough to buy into it - not the people with the original claims on the land - something stinks here if you ask me.......

I really do not believe this kind of behaviour goes on in what I had hitherto thought of as a really nice country to live in

Well supposedly the police went there to arrest Shawn Brant who is known for leading many of these protests; however I have my doubts that it was a legal arrest and not some trumped up charges. Mainly because they lied about arresting him in a traffic stop and actually arrested him while doing a tv. interview with Aboriginal People's Television Network who have his arrest on film and say he was arrested while they were interviewing him.

This important because that says to me that they most likely didn't have a warrant to arrest him which means the only way they could approach him was if they had cause to believe he was committing a criminal offence, which obviously he wasn't. This would then make the search they did of his person and his vehicle also illegal and the charges resulting from that search and unlawful arrest would have to be thrown out. My guess is that they just wanted Mr. Brant off the street and that they have an injunction to remove the people from the quarry at the insistence of the Premiere of Ontario Dalton McGuinty, because the O.P.P. read something to the protesters and an injunction has to be read out loud first before it can be acted upon. The Premiere was the one who insisted the roadblock be broken up at the boundry of Dseronto protesting the developer going in and beginning development on the lands in question, so I have no doubt he has also insisted that these people be removed even though the land belongs to the Mohawks.

The police claim they are there to maintain law and order but they are the only ones who have been out of order and the so called "long gun" they saw was a stick, proven by them when they blew up a picture of the person with the so called gun and saw a stick in his hands. The fact that they have prtrayed them as being armed gives them an exscuse to be there other wise...farrrrrrrr too many questions start to be asked and that is why I think they haven't and won't retract the statement that these protesters are armed. They have no business being there and all they have done is aggravate a peaceful situation by their actions.

I am tired and worn out from all this...Trying to fight lies...racsim and stero-types is like trying to pull teeth sometimes. This has brought out all the hidden racism around of course and people don't seem to understand the issues nor the fact that what the O.P.P. did is wrong..It's like bangining ones head on the wall continuously because they only see what they want to see.

Anyway the roadblocks are down and things are quiet for now...BUT could escalate again depending on any further police action. Meanwhile my letter has been sent world wide by a journalist with great contacts and now it's time to deal with the aftermath of all this and get these questions answered. There is also a letter writing campaign calling for the Police Commissioners resignation and a retraction of the press statement that the protesters were armed.

Good luck with the letter Hugs, glad the roadblocks are down - so what next? have the police moved out?

Most of them but they are still patrolling.....The next thing is to take on the issues that are in my letter and the fact that their action was NOT ok...I'm not sure what the protesters next steps are if any...BUT their is a big push on to expose all the lies and get the statement about the protesters having a gun retracted because that's how they are justifying all this. The police know it's not true because it came directly from one of their officers that they blew up the picture of the person they believed to be holding a gun...which is why all of them drew their weapons and it was a stick. Yet they haven't retracted it and have done nothing but fuel stereo-types and racism in the media!!!!!!!

What are the precedents for this, how long do people usually occupy places before being overcome? I still think its really bad that the government arent being taken to task legally for allowing a sale to go through - surely they know the reactions it is going to meet with............

The government has been taken to task on the illegal sale and negotiations are under way to determine compensation, yet this developer still had plans to go ahead and develop the land he bought when he should be dealing with the government that sold him land that is not theirs!!!!!!!


There is really no precedent, there is one land occupation that has been going on in an area near Brantford called Caledonia for the same reason...the land that is theirs was being developed and it has been occupied for close to 2 years I believe. Basicly they are there until the claim itself has been settled to ensure there is no development of the lands in question.

The main issues raised in the events at Tyendinaga this week though are the response by the O.P.P. with 200 men in breaking up a peaceful demonstration which towns people approached to cause trouble and led to arrests of 10 protesters without one arrest of the towns people who caused the trouble to begin with. How those arrests occurred...with 150 armed O.P.P. at the scene and how those arrests and O.P.P. presence escalated things. Also the lies and stereo-types have been perpetuated in the media by police and the commissioner himself and how they have not followed or implemented the recommendations on how to handle these types of issues with First Nations people after the scathing Ipperwash final report that led to the murder of Dudley George. Also the racism that is obviously still present within that police organization leading to these stero-typical statements and excessive shows of force when it comes to Native protests.

well, the world is watching now so how they gonna handle it - Im happy your letter is out there

Yes the world is and has been watching and in fact the only reason the O.P.P. withdrew in the first place is because the Chief at Six Nations Reserve met with them and told them if they didn't he would personally call all 134 First Nations and have them suport Tyendinaga as well by taking the same types of actions as they did which was close down the highway and railway!!!!!!!!

BUT the fact still remains...what they did was wrong and they have to be held accountable for it!!!!!!!


Thanks for the support darlin....

aww, you got it without saying.......... whats happening is just wrong and wouldnt hold up in a court over here

Still sounds like a big Mucking Fess!
How many mohawks do you have there?

Strange,, I thought this was the crap that the USA pulls. I would not have expected it in Canada.

That's because it is one...BUT the will be held accountable for their actions.

On my rez there are only 2500, on the other Mohawk nations supporting us they have 22,000 + and we had other First Nations supporting us as well all across Canada.

No the U.S. and Canada have the same track record when it comes to Native people, you just don't hear about it as much!!!!!!!!!!

An interesting video on the Mohawk Warriors....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D7nHqBFhjA

Canada slammed at U.N. over indigenous rights

By Claudia Parsons

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Canada, until recently seen as a champion of aboriginal rights, came under fire at the United Nations on Thursday for blocking implementation of a U.N. declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.

The General Assembly passed the non-binding declaration last September despite opposition from several developed states that said it provided excessive property and legal powers. Canada was one of four countries that voted against it.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which met at the United Nations over the past 10 days, said Canada was now trying to block the use of the U.N. declaration as the basis of negotiation for an agreement at the Organization of American States (OAS).

She told a news conference Canada used to have a good image on indigenous rights and played a leadership role in drafting the declaration, including controversial sections on land.

"The change of government, however, changed the situation in a totally different direction," she said, referring to the January 2006 election of a Conservative government.

Now she said Canada's reputation was "very bad."

Ottawa sent its Minister of Indian Affairs, Chuck Strahl, to U.N. headquarters to promote what he said was Canada's strong commitment to the rights of indigenous peoples.

Strahl told a news conference Canada had taken concrete steps in education, access to clean water and accelerating claims for past mistreatment. He said Prime Minister Stephen Harper was also planning to make an apology for past wrongs.

Continued...

RIGHTS STANDARD......

"There's no doubting our resolve on these issues," Strahl said. He added that Canada had opposed the U.N. declaration because indigenous rights were already enshrined in its constitution and regulated by a complex series of treaties.

"In Canada of course we recognize Aboriginal rights and title in the constitution," he said, describing the U.N. declaration as "aspirational" in contrast to the concrete rights laid out in Canada's constitution.

The minister was asked why the leaders of some Canadian tribes had been excluded from the news conference. He replied that it was limited to accredited journalists.

A coalition of Canadian indigenous peoples released a letter signed by more than 100 legal experts challenging Ottawa's assertion that the U.N. declaration was incompatible with its constitution.

The coalition urged Canada to support the declaration which it said was "an essential, universal human rights standard" urgently needed to tackle marginalization and discrimination.

Under negotiation for 20 years, the U.N. document says that indigenous people, whose number has been put at 270 million worldwide, "have the right to self-determination."

One article states "indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired."

Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand voted against the declaration, though a new government in Australia has since taken a more conciliatory line on indigenous rights.

Continued...

Tauli-Corpuz noted that Canada was still a strong supporter of the permanent forum on indigenous issues and said she was optimistic Ottawa would restore its reputation soon.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

You want to talk about racism....Read this....This supports exactly what I said and felt about this man from the way he handled the last takeover...He's a racist...biggoted liar and Premiere Dalton McGuinty...Premiere of Ontario supports him....I guess this is acceptable behavior by a Police Commissioner!!!!!!




OPP threatened to 'move' on 2007 native blockade: Transcripts

Chris Wattie and Jordana Huber , Canwest News Service

Published: Friday, July 18, 2008

Newly released court documents show the head of the Ontario Provincial Police pleading, cajoling and threatening the leader of a native protest that closed down a stretch of the busiest highway in Canada during last summer's Aboriginal Day of Action.

The documents include transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations between OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and Shawn Brant, the leader of a Mohawk protest in eastern Ontario that prompted the closure of Highway 401.

They were released late Friday after being freed from a publication ban.
'There comes a time when the balance of the greater public good shifts, and the feeling was that under the circumstances, this situation could no longer continue, and we were, in fact, preparing to move on the blockades,' OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino says.
'There comes a time when the balance of the greater public good shifts, and the feeling was that under the circumstances, this situation could no longer continue, and we were, in fact, preparing to move on the blockades,' OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino says.


"Why don't we just call it quits and you, you can't get any more exposure than what you've got," Fantino says in one call to Brant's cellphone. "You've put these issues across, you've done a great job of the sound bites and . . . you gotta believe that . . . your day has come, you know? Enough now, let's all go home. Come on."

"Are you going to let me do my job?" Brant replies.

"Yeah, hurry up though," the commissioner says.

Brant is charged with nine counts, including mischief, stemming from the First Nations blockades on Highway 401, Highway 2 and a CN Rail line near the eastern Ontario town of Deseronto on June 29, 2007, which prompted provincial police to close the highway and CN to suspend all rail service on the Montreal-Toronto corridor.

Fantino came to Napanee, Ont., at the time of the standoff and negotiated personally with Brant in an attempt to end the blockades.

In the early morning phone calls, the head of the OPP appears to grow increasingly frustrated with the protest leader, who was vague about when he would move to end the blockades. Brant also raised the possibility of immunity from prosecution for himself and claimed to have limited control over the protesters.

"Enough is enough now. You've worn our patience down. The tolerance of the public is saturated. There's no more charity and no more putting up with this," Fantino said at the end of the three calls, which spanned four hours. "I'm now warning you to pull the plug on this because at the end of the day you're going to be the big loser."

"I certainly appreciate . . . your concerns and I share them as well and we'll have an answer back and a solution to the issue, I'm confident, in a very short length of time," Brant responds. "We're simply about to start burning tobacco and that'll allow us . . . to have some clarity on the issue."

"Shawn, we're not negotiating anymore," Fantino says. "We've done it all night I'm now telling you for the sake of all that's decent and holy, and the things you're trying to achieve and to ensure that the reputation and the credibility of First Nations people, which I think is being very severely damaged. I'm now telling you, pull the plug or you will suffer grave consequences."

"OK," says Brant.

"OK," replies Fantino and ends the call.



(Cont'd).....

The police ultimately did not raid the blockades and protesters removed them later in the day. But the closures snarled traffic and brought commercial rail traffic to a standstill for several hours on a day that otherwise featured peaceful protests across the country.

Also among the documents released Friday were transcripts from Fantino's testimony in August 2007 at Brant's preliminary hearing in a Napanee, Ont., court.

In those transcripts, Peter Rosenthal, Brant's defence lawyer, raised a provincial police document entitled "A Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents" - created after the Ipperwash affair. It calls for a "trusting relationship" with "mutual respect" between natives and police.

He suggested that Fantino's at-times heated comments flew in the face of the force's own conduct guidelines.

"Doesn't, though, that document and many other documents speak to the way you should do that in situations involving aboriginal protesters?" Rosenthal asked.

"There's nothing in the spirit, the intent, or the written word in this document that justifies criminal conduct or that exonerates people from accountability from criminal conduct, or that it absents me as a law enforcement officer from exercising discretion or using the authority bestowed upon me to effect a lawful purpose," the commissioner answered.

"These are guidelines and they're principles, they're not a firm and fixed mandated way of doing business."

Rosenthal has called on the province to launch a review of the statements and actions of Fantino.

In Canada, proceedings from preliminary hearings are usually protected by publication bans in order to protect the accused person's right to a fair trial, especially when the case might later go before a jury.

However Brant, whose trial is scheduled to begin in January, waived his right to a publication ban in this case, saying he wanted the testimony from the preliminary hearing to be made public.

The judge imposed a ban anyway, after the Crown requested one, but a different judge lifted it Friday in Napanee after a CBC News legal team argued for the right to publish the material.

On Friday afternoon, the Crown won a stay on the order lifting the publication ban, reinstating the publication ban.

But Friday evening, after a legal challenge by CBC News, the publication ban was lifted again.


© National Post 2008