Thousands without power

Caledonia copes with news repairs may take days

Matt Kruchak
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 24, 2006)

[SISIS note: The following mainstream news article is provided for reference only, as an example of how mainstream media treats indigenous resistance to genocide. Mainstream media often presents biased and distorted information, lacking pertinent facts and/or context. Inclusion of this article on our site should not be considered an endorsement by SISIS.]

It could take two more days before all residents of Caledonia have their power restored.

About 9,000 customers of Haldimand County Hydro were without power Monday after a transformer station behind the native barricade was set ablaze by vandals.

OPP Constable Steve Starr said, "Haldimand County OPP are investigating the situation."

As of last night, 2,000 homes and businesses were still without power. Residents of the north-west side of Caledonia and several customers on the northeast side of the city had their power restored. There were also 1,600 Hydro One customers without power in the area.

Mayor Marie Trainer said the power outage means the schools in Caledonia will remain closed today.

Hydro One began work yesterday on the damaged transmission station.

"If we can utilize part of the station, then we should be able to restore power to all the customers of Caledonia," said Lloyd Payne, president of Haldimand County Hydro.

A flashing roadside billboard on the way into Caledonia was advertising that stores are still open but the majority of businesses had a closed sign hanging in their windows.

Sitting outside the locked McDonald's restaurant, Jamie Shaver sat with four friends.

"There's nothing open and I'm hungry," the 18-year-old complained.

For Stewart Bartlett, finding food wasn't his problem, saving it was. He was buying a generator from Lee Kuhn Jr. to rescue $400 worth of food in his freezer.

"Who's going to pay for all my meat that's starting to defrost?" he asked.

Kuhn, a generator distributor, set up a small trailer packed with generators ranging from $199 to $799 on the side of the road. He said the prices were cut because he cared.

"We saw people were in need. Nobody has power and the other guys are ripping people off. We had to come out."

Down the street with two rented generators, workers at Caledonia Convenience were also on a mission to save merchandise, to keep ice cream from melting and milk from turning sour.

"We'll lose a lot of money," said Teresa Speller, an employee at the store.

Jack Wilson was in luck because the ice hadn't begun to melt. He was buying two bags to fill a cooler to keep his girlfriend's food from going bad.

The convenience store was open until 9 p.m. Monday night and customers shopped by candlelight.

"It was quite romantic," Speller said, adding that they were planning to stay open until dark last night.

Catherine McGill was creating a hand drawn sign outside St. Paul's Anglican Church advertising a barbecue.

"Burgers and dogs will be free for everyone who wants."

They were asking people to bring their barbecues to help feed 500 people. The meat was donated by a local store owner.

mkruchak@thespec.com
905-526-3484