Resolution at Caledonia is federal government's responsibility

By George Sorger, HamiltonThe Hamilton Spectator(Aug 3, 2006)
Re: 'Onus on judge to rule' (The Spectator, July 25)

Many demanding "law and order" in Caledonia, along with this article about Justice Marshall's deliberations concerning the Six Nations occupation of their land at Caledonia, seem to ignore the fact that the disputed land is part of a formal treaty between the Crown, now the responsibility of the federal government, and the Six Nations.

The fact the land was sold to a developer, and then bought from the developer by the province of Ontario, does not change the fact that it is treaty land and cannot be sold or bought by anyone without Six Nations consent, which neither of the above sales had.

If the OPP are sent in once again to "clear" the Six Nations occupants from the site, we will be back where we started months ago, when the barricades went up and there were violent confrontations.

The courts and the OPP should not be expected to settle aboriginal land claims. This land claim must be settled by negotiations between the federal government and the Six Nations Confederacy. They are the authorities which inherited the responsibility for the treaties, describing who owns the above land and what the relationship between the two nations is to be.
Justice Marshall and the lawyers opposing the Six Nations describe the occupation of native land as an act of contempt of court, which carries a stiff penalty. I think there should be something called contempt of treaties, which should carry an equally stiff penalty, so that the formal treaties governing relations between Canada and the First Nations will be obeyed and the law prevails.