Canadian briefs

Associated Press
The Ledger
Published Friday, June 16, 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.]

CAYUGA, Ontario -- The Ontario government is buying out a developer whose unfinished subdivision sits on disputed land in Caledonia, Ontario, but aboriginal protesters say they'll continue to occupy the site until the property is in their hands.

Six Nations protesters say the deal being finalized between the province and Henco Industries Ltd. shifts ownership of the land they say belongs to their ancestors, but doesn't solve the ongoing crisis.

The province intends to hold the land in trust while talks aimed at ending the occupation continue between representatives of the Six Nations, the province and Ottawa.

"That title and jurisdiction isn't placed back with Six Nations, is it? And that's what the issue is," said Six Nations spokeswoman Janie Jamieson.

She said the next step was to "keep on hoping" that government officials would take steps to resolve the land issue.

"They haven't begun to resolve anything with us, but as a far as corporate Canada - they've done everything to appease them," Jamieson said.

"Of course they would pay several million dollars to appease the developers and the business people. They would spend that amount of money before they would even begin to resolve the land issue, which is the meat of the story anyway."

The Ontario minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, David Ramsay, wouldn't disclose the value of the deal, citing Henco's concerns about proprietary information. Jamieson said she suspects it's worth several million dollars.