Law and order advocate Gary McHale hopes to ride the protest vote in Haldimand-Norfolk to a seat in the House of Commons.
McHale, 46, of Binbrook, has made a name for himself over the past two years as leader of the protest movement, Caledonia Wake Up. Wake Up is concerned that the ongoing native standoff in Caledonia is establishing the principle of race-based, two-tiered justice in Canada.
McHale announced on Wednesday he will stand as an independent candidate in Haldimand-Norfolk in the next federal election. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to dissolve
Parliament this week. If he does so, the election will be in mid-October.
"I honestly believe a large percentage of Canadians are fed up, " McHale said on Wednesday. "That's why less than 50 per cent of people vote in some ridings. These people think politicians are all the same. They lie to get your vote, then they do nothing for you. This happens time and time again."
Since the native land dispute erupted in Caledonia in February, 2006, McHale has led several high-profile demonstrations there against the McGuinty government's go-slow approach to the crisis. This strategy includes a hands-off approach by the OPP to native lawlessness.
McHale's demonstrations have erupted into violence on several occasions. McHale himself has been assaulted and bloodied. The OPP charged him in December for "counselling mischief that didn't occur" in connection with an incident in Caledonia. As a condition of his bail, McHale is prohibited from visiting the beleaguered community.
Despite the OPP's and the McGuinty government's attempts to cast McHale as a troublemaker, Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer thinks his candidacy is positive. With McHale in the race, Trainer says Haldimand's quest for peace, law and order, stability and justice will feature prominently in the coming campaign. She says McHale will force the other candidates to state their position on the issue of two-tiered justice.
"I definitely think he'll get some votes," Trainer said. "No doubt in my mind. We'll have to wait and see what happens on election night. People will change their minds right up to when they step in the polling booth. He will keep the land claims issue in the forefront."
Cayuga Coun. Buck Sloat feels McHale's candidacy is a wild card. Sloat noted that natives and non-natives alike held angry protests in Caledonia Monday that featured another blockade of the Highway 6 bypass west of Caledonia. With the Argyle Street bridge in Caledonia closed for repairs, motorists wishing to enter the town from the south had to do so by way of York, north of Cayuga.
"That should reaffirm that the situation is very volatile and can change at any minute," Sloat said.
Yesterday, there were further reports that lumber was thrown off the bridge onto the Highway 6 bypass at Sixth Line and set on fire, blocking the road once more.
"Fundamentally, for Haldimand, the issue is that -- when you lose justice, you lose democracy," said McHale, a self-employed computer technician. "I'm saying enough is enough. There's something wrong with our democracy. We don't have democracy in Canada. We have four years of dictatorship interrupted by six weeks of democracy at election time. That has to change, and I can only do that one riding at a time."
McHale, formerly of Richmond Hill, has made several attempts to move to Haldimand. He has been unsuccessful because no one will rent to him. McHale blames this on an OPP campaign to discredit him.