Get Out and Get Involved

Lisa Parent
Caledonia Resident
Feb. 12, 2007

I attended the Town Hall meeting on Friday February 9, 2007 along with 200 of your friends and neighbors.

The one thing the occupation of Douglas Creek Estates has done for the town of Caledonia is bring to forefront just how divided this town has become. I heard comments on Friday about those who are against Gary McHale, those who are for Gary McHale, those that won’t come out to meetings because they don’t care; those that won’t join their friends in protest since DCE is not their problem as they live on the other side of town. I’m not sure most people in this town have noticed but to get from west to east and north to south in this town it takes about 5 minutes.

Everything that happens in the town of Caledonia affects everyone in the town. Not one of us is immune to what is going on at DCE. When the Councillor calls a Town Hall meeting to discuss the situation surrounding DCE it would be my expectation that everyone gets off the couch and makes the 5 minute trip to the meeting. If you don’t wake up soon you will find the Federal and Provincial Governments have gambled away your town out from under your very noses.

·        About 3,000 new homes will not be built in this town because of the occupation. That’s taxes we all will have to bear unless we can get financial relief. The Province of Saskatchewan did receive Federal relief for lost realty and school tax base.

·        The OPP contract is quite vague in the area of downloading costs to the County even though the Council claims it has an iron clad letter. If council is wrong we could face a bill of at least $20 Million. That’s what happened to Ipperwash.

·        The OPP apply different policing rules in Caledonia than they do in the rest of Haldimand because of DCE - ask the Haldimand OPP Commander.

·        Businesses are beginning to close in your community? That’s what happened in Ipperwash. If you had been at the meeting on February 9, 2007 you would have been able to sign a Toby Barrett petition against closing the MTO office in Caledonia.

·        Your neighbors bordering DCE have been subjected to enormous stress for 9 months some of whom don’t have any policing. What are you doing to help them?

·        Others have been subjected to Two Tier Justice and yet others have been physically assaulted. I have never seen one locally organized demonstration against the OPP for this travesty of justice.

·        You lost your electricity in May for 3 days and your roads were blocked for weeks and most of you sat and did nothing. Don’t complain if you don’t get involved.

·        Dana house was broken into and nothing has been done by the OPP. When I was there that Sunday only a handful of you bothered to show up to support her.

·        Chris Syrie had a native enter his property and remove his Canadian flags in front of the OPP. The OPP let the native leave without charges. There was a gathering on Chris Syrie’s property on January 20 and only a handful of you were there to support him.

I for one am ashamed that an outsider, a fellow Canadian, has put his own life on hold for months now to try and bring attention to the fact that your police force is not providing you with balanced policing while the majority of the people in this town hide in their homes. Two Tier Justice does exist in this town. Your council has said it, Toby Barrett has said it, John Tory has said it, some OPP officers have said it. All 10,000 of you need to say NO to this injustice. Everyone in this town needs to demand that the Aboriginal Response Team (ART) and Major Events Liaison Team (MELT) are removed from this town immediately.

I heard on Friday that this is a Caledonia issue and it should be Caledonians that stand up for their town. What Caledonians? Who has called for a rally lately? Who stands up for the town? The Council made the statement that it should be Caledonians that stand up for their town yet they didn’t offer to have a rally. There are only about 300 people in a town of about 10,000 that have taken the time to stand up for their town. Without the help of fellow Canadians this town would already be another Ipperwash. How many of you have taken the time to understand Ipperwash, a veritable ghost town as a result of Federal and Provincial inaction?

Most of you don’t deserve the help that other Canadians have tried to give you. You deserve everything you get from the natives, the Province and the Federal government if you don’t get up and get involved.

If you’re waiting for those of your community that have joined the secret society of the Provincial and Federal Governments through non-disclosure agreements to stand up for you then you may wait a very long time. Every person in this town should refuse to succumb to the Provincial pressure for non-disclosure. Every resident of this town should refuse to join the secret society to the detriment of those that are left out.

You may be insulted by this letter but someone needs to say it, someone needs to slap you to wake you up. Your town needs you; your friends’ need you so stop hiding in your comfortable homes. They need you to do something positive to help your town deal with this stressful and shameful situation.

We need peaceful public displays of dissatisfaction aimed at everyone who holds us all hostages. Those include the native occupiers, the Province, the Federal Government, and the OPP and yes your own Haldimand County Council through their inaction. Toby Barrett suggested on Friday that we get organized, invite the media and start protesting as a community at his office and Diane Finley’s office in Simcoe, at offices of other Provincial politicians in surrounding communities such as Hamilton, Niagara, etc.

Get out and get involved. Your future depends on it.