Caledonia Resources

NOTE: the work of assembling the mountain of stories, photos, court records & other documentary evidence available is ongoing, and this list is far from complete. If you are a bonafide journalist, NGO or government organization with a specific question, please contact Mark Vandermaas.

A. Caledonia Lawsuits & Court Actions [LINK]

B. Caledonia Players [LINK]

C. Political interference with Caledonia policing [LINK]

D. General Resources 

E. Key Caledonia Reports, Books, Papers, Editorials & Presentations

Books

  • Book – HELPLESS: Caledonia’s nightmare of fear and anarchy, and how the law failed us all, by Christie Blatchford, 272 pages [LINK].
  • HelplessByBlatchford Rule of Law Project: Post-Helpless Reading List [LINK] (for policy researchers & journalists who have read Helpless and now seek to understand core issues, myths, lessons, solutions, historical background, etc.)

Reports

Presentations

  • ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares’ event, Ottawa, March 22/11: Mark Vandermaas presentation, Part 1 – Caledonia’s Victims [VIDEO #1, 15:05] [PDF, 36p w/citations]
  • ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares’ event, Ottawa, March 22/11: Mark Vandermaas presentation, Part 2 – Caledonia Myths & Policy Issues: ‘Vexatious Land Claims‘ and Caledonia: a National Security Issue [VIDEO #2, 14:50] [PDF, 36p w/citations] (includes info re support for native militants by radical unionists, anarchists, anti-capitalists, anti-Israel groups and terror group supporters)
  • ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares’ event, Ottawa, March 22/11, Mark Vandermaas presentation, Part 2 cont. – Caledonia Myths & Policy Issues: An Illegal Peacekeeping Mission on Canadian Soil [VIDEO #3, 9:39] [PDF, 36p incl. citations, begins p12]
  • 2010 New Directions in Aboriginal Policy forum, Mount Royal University, May 05/10, Mark Vandermaas presentation: Listening to Victims: A Fresh Approach to Healing and Reconciliation [PDF, 21p]
  • 2010 New Directions in Aboriginal Policy forum, Mount Royal University, May 05/10, Gary McHale presentation: The Face of Aboriginal Sovereignty versus the Rule of Law in Caledonia [PDF, 8p]
  • Caledonia Victims Project, May 04/10: 2010 ‘New Directions in Aboriginal Policy’ forum hears Caledonia’s pain…and hope
  • Excerpt from Mark Vandermaas presentation, Delhi Belgian Club, April 14/11: Caledonia: Was the Conservative Party of Canada friend or foe to victims? [LINK] [PDF, 11p, begins p8]; [PowerPoint, 22.5MB]

Editorials

Documents

  • MPP Toby Barrett, Feb 11/08: HALDIMAND PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE, ORDER AND GOOD GOVERNMENT [PDF]
  • CVP feature: Political Interference With Caledonia Policing
  • Key Negotiation Documents, 2006: [PDF, 43p, 29.5MB] Includes May 02/06 Six Nations website screen capture showing demands that gov’t intervene to drop criminal charges & promise not to call in Cdn Forces. On May 03/06 former Minister of Community Safety & Correctional Services Monte Kwinter sent a letter to Six Nations informing them he had notified his federal counterpart that he was NOT calling in the military to protect Caledonia from native militants. Also includes documents related to land transfers and other offers to 6N during the attempts to stop the occupation. Etc.
  • Monte Kwinter (Minister, Comunity Safety & Correctional Services) letter to Six Nations, May 03/06: Cdn Forces will not be called in to protect Caledonia from native protesters [PDF]
  • Haldimand Council, May 23/10: Minutes of in-camera meeting (re military protection, attack on power station, etc.) [PDF]

F. Other Reports, Books, Papers

G. OPP Racial Policing

Racial Policing – Sworn Testimony & Official Statements by OPP

Racial Policing – Sworn Testimony by non-OPP officers

  • Transcript: Dave Hartless (Hamilton Police Service/Caledonia resident), DATE: xxx

Racial Policing – Sworn Testimony & Official Statements by Politicians (see below for non-sworn stmts)

  • Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer, Nov 25/08 , and OPP Officer Paul McDonald: Testimony at Gary McHale preliminary hearing [PDF, 101P (incl OPP Offcr McDonald + 1 other witness)]

Racial Policing – Media Editorials & Articles

H. Natives Victimizing Residents

I. Natives Attacking Journalists

J. Natives Attacking Police Officers

K. Natives Victimizing Natives – Caledonia/Ipperwash

L. Natives Victimizing Natives – Reserve Corruption

M. Caledonia Myths

Justifying Racial Policing – ‘OPP are peacekeepers’

  • Caledonia: No More Nightmares presentation, Ottawa, March 22/11: Mark Vandermaas presentation: ‘An Illegal Peacekeeping Mission on Canadian Soil‘ [VIDEO, 9:39] [PDF, 36p incl. citations, begins p12]
  • CVP feature: Political Interference With Caledonia Policing, Section 7: Racial ‘Peacekeeping’ Policies
  • CityTV, May 02/07: Caledonia convoy coverage w/stmt by Premier Dalton McGuinty [VIDEO, 7:38] (2:40 – McGuinty: “Some days I feel like issuing the OPP blue helmets. They are ‘peacekeepers’ caught up in a difficult, protracted dispute which predates Confederation. […]”)
  • Vandermaas/Kinrade letter to Premier, May 08/07: Peacekeeping vs. Law Enforcement [PDF, 2p]
  • Hamilton Spectator, Nov 09/07: Full text of the Spec’s interview with OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino [PDF, 6p] (Q#8: What is the OPP’s role? A: ‘Peacekeeping.’)
  • Ipperwash Inquiry: Recommendations from Vol 2 (Policy Analysis) [PDF, 14p] [PDF-CVP download] (see ‘peacekeeping’ recommendations in #38, 45, 47, 49)

Justifying Racial Policing – ‘following Ipperwash Inquiry Recommendations’

  • Regional News series, Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale, Mary-Lou LaPratte, Feb 18-25/09: McGuinty’s Ipperwash Cover-up: the Caledonia Legacy [PDF, 10p] (Ipperwash Inquiry did not study native violence vs. non-natives or make recommendations to prevent it. Inquiry only studied issue of preventing violence against native protesters.)
  • ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares’ event, Ottawa, March 22/11: Mark Vandermaas presentation: ‘An Illegal Peacekeeping Mission on Canadian Soil‘ [VIDEO, 9:39] [PDF, 36p incl. citations, begins p12]
  • ‘Ipperwash Inquiry’ justification: CVP – Ipperwash Resources

Non-Native activists are racists/white supremacists

Legalized Myths

Racism is why Aboriginals are over-represented in prisons

Six Nations was cheated out of land and the Caledonia occupation is about that claim

In 1795, the Grand River chiefs empowered Joseph Brant to sell large blocks of land in the northern section, which the Aboriginals were not using. They set terms of no money down because they wanted to take their payment entirely in future years as annual interest.

The original tract of land stretched from the mouth of the Grand River on the shores of Lake Erie to the river’s head, and for 10 km (6 mi) from either bank. Between 1795 and 1797, Joseph Brant sold 381,480 acres (1,543.8 km2) to land speculators; the property comprising the northern half of the reserve was sold for £85,332. This was the highest price paid to Aboriginals up to this time for undeveloped land.

All natives were traumatized by Residential Schools

Natives lived in peace and harmony before arrival of whites

  • Minutes from ‘The General Council of the Six Nations and Delegates from different Bands in Western and Eastern Canada,’ June 10/1870, 27p (see page 7). (VoiceofCanada download: PDF); (Archive.org download: filmed from copy of original document held by Public Archives of Canada Library; various formats available). This Six Nations account of how various tribes tried to “exterminate” one another debunks myth that natives lived in peace and harmony before whites arrived. From page 7:

[…] It is said that the founders of the great Confederation of Six Nations, before the white man cam, found there was nothing but murder and butchery between the different tribes, until the great founder, when he looked around the far West, seeing the smoke arising, he set to work and established peace. The Mohawks and the 1st and 2nd Oneidas on his right hand combined their different tribes and put an end to the warfare. While that raid was going on, one tribe trying to exterminate the other, it happened in one of the leading tribes that had its young men nearly destroyed, when the leader found his young men and his strength gone he was melancholy and in despair; he, went until he found the Mohawks and Oneidas, and they consulted together and agreed to promote peace and quietness throughout the land.

— Chief J. Smoke Johnson

Six Nations militants represent Six Nations

  • ‘The Strength of a Woman’: Six Nations Councillor Helen Miller (says the individuals and ad hoc groups like the HDI, Warriors, HMF and Steve ‘Boots’ Powless do NOT speak for the people of Six Nations who are “fed up” with their protests and smokeshacks.)
  • Six Nations letter, xxxxx: Delegation of negotiation responsibility to Confederacy (Six Nations originally supported occupation)

Six Nations people are ‘indigenous’ to the Haldimand Tract

After the colonists’ victory in the American Revolutionary War, the British government worked to resettle Loyalists in Canada and provide some compensation for properties lost in the new United States. It also hoped to use new settlers to develop more towns and agriculture in areas west of Quebec. The Haldimand Proclamation of October 1784, the government granted a reserve of land to the Mohawk Nation and Six Nations Indians in appreciation of their support for The Crown during the revolution. […]

N. Caledonia Costs

  • $Cost of Caledonia (partial itemized list as of Jan 07/10) [LINK]
  • Regional News, Gary McHale column, July 14/10: Native protesters on government payroll (how the McGuinty government is paying natives who victimized Caledonia) [PDF]
  • Turtle Island News, Sept 17/08:  Land rights negotiations cost $1.1M [PDF] (entered into evidence in court by Gary McHale)
  • Ministry of Finance, Public Accounts of Ontario, 2006-2007: Ontario Secretariat for Aboriginal Affairs [p7 only-PDF; full report-PDF, 234P] (pymts of $131,240to Brian Jesse Porter; $171,783 to Jane Stewart)
  • MPP Toby Barrett, Feb 22/10: How much are these land disputes costing us? ($4.1B)
  • CFRB 1010, Sept 01/06: FPO Leader Paul McKeever re Caledonia [14:27, AUDIO] (McKeever is on during 1st 7 mins discussing the legal support for a Premier’s right to direct policing submitted to the Ipperwash Inquiry, then Marissa Nelson of Hamilton Spectator re fees paid to Caledonia ‘negotiators.’ Jane Stewart’s contract = $1,300/day w/max $300K for 11mos + $30K for expenses)

O. Politicians on Caledonia

P. Targeting Non-Native Victims & Activists

Q. Native Supremacist Movement

R. Government funding for native extremists

S. Commentary

T. Caledonia Art & Humour

U. Caledonia Solutions

V. Fantino record & nomination by Conservative Party of Canada

W. ‘Helpless’ by Christie Blatchford

X. Caledonia Politics

Y. Caledonia – NGOs & Churches

Caledonia Victims Project, June 29/10: Canadian Civil Liberties Association hypocrisy astounding re G20 vs. Caledonia

Z. Caledonia Protests

AA. Caledonia Presentations

BB. Caledonia News Conferences in Queen’s Park Legislature Media Room

CC. Caledonia Milestones (not complete)

  • JAN 27/12: Gary McHale arrested for 5th time (no charge) [LINK]
  • FEB 03/12: Charges dropped against Caledonia Eight, but OPP undeterred
  • DEC 03/11: ‘Caledonia Eight’ arrested for ‘trespassing’ on county-owned road through Douglas Creek Estates occupation site [LINK]
  • JULY 13/11: National Post editorial board: The shame of Caledonia continues
  • JULY 13/11: National Post: The Caledonia farce continues
  • JULY 12/11: Inquiry needed into Caledonia occupation (Senator Bob Runciman becomes 1st politician in Canada, more than 4 years after we first released the Ipperwash Papers, to denounce the Ipperwash Inquiry)
  • JULY 08/11: $20M Caledonia Class Action settlement
  • JUNE 19/11: Caledonia milestone: DCE occupiers & OPP respect rights of non-natives during Truth & Reconciliation Rally
  • MARCH 27/11:  OPP watch as natives destroy Reconciliation/Apology monument, then burn Canadian flag
  • xxx, 2011: Gary McHale arrested during Healing/Reconciliation march (charge later withdrawn)
  • MARCH 22/11: International Free Press Society & Free Thinking Film Society present, ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares‘ by Gary McHale and Mark Vandermaas. Caledonia residents Merlyn Kinrade, Doug Fleming & former Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer also speak. Release of ‘The Caledonia Act’ policy & legislative recommendations by CANACE & Caledonia Victims Project.
  • Oct 12/10: Julian Fantino announces candidacy for Conservative Party of Canada and is elected in federal by-election by 1,000 vote margin after Conservatives Against Fantino campaign. Caledonia activists are invited to appear on Hamilton-based CHCH TV ‘Square Off’ [LINK].
  • Oct 11/10: CANACE & Caledonia Victims Project launch ‘HELPLESS by Blatchford’ website as joint educational project to promote HELPLESS as learning tool about rule of law issues. [LINK]
  • Oct 10/10: Advance copy of Christie Blatchford’s book HELPLESS: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear And Anarchy, And How The Law Failed All of Us released. From the introductory ‘Author’s Notes’: “…the front line officers of the OPP were sold down the river by…Gwen Boniface and Julian Fantino…”
  • Oct 10/10: ‘Conservatives Against Fantino’ website launched in response to expected Conservative Party of Canada nomination of former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino in riding of Vaughan.
  • Sept 13/10: Three of the most visible activists in Caledonia – Gary McHale, Merlyn Kinrade and Doug Fleming – launch a co-op campaign to become councillors in Wards, 2, 3 and 4 in Haldimand County during municipal election. None are elected.
  • July 14-21/10: Six Nations newspaper Tekawennake publishes op-ed series ‘Healing Two Communities‘ by Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, Merlyn Kinrade & Doug Fleming. Each article is preceded with a clarification stating that, contrary to the impression readers may have have been given by past articles, the paper has NO evidence any of the four men have connections to white supremacist organizations.
  • July 07/10: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty appoints Chris Lewis to take Julian Fantino’s place as commissioner of OPP. Lewis is one of the two senior officers charged with Obstructing Justice in Gary McHale case. [LINK]
  • xxx/10: Gary McHale wins Court of Appeal decision against Crown appeal of McHale v. R., 2009.
  • May 05/10: CANACE co-founders Gary McHale & Mark Vandermaas present to 2010 ‘New Directions in Aboriginal Policy’ forum, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta. McHale’s presentation is ‘The Face of Aboriginal Sovereignty vs. The Rule of Law in Caledonia;’ Vandermaas’s is ‘Listening to Victims: A Fresh Approach to Healing and Reconciliation.’
  • April 21/10: Charge of Counselling Mischief against Gary McHale is stayed by Crown shortly after two senior OPP officers are charged with Obstructing Justice, and just days before McHale was scheduled to ask Superior Court to order Crown to turn over emails between Fantino and Deputy Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. [LINK, LINK, LINK]
  • March 16/10: Deputy Commissioner Chris Lewis and Superintendent Ron Gentle ordered charged with Obstructing Justice in connection with Gary McHale case. [LINK, LINK]
  • Feb 08/10: Superior Court of Ontario Justice Crane certifies Caledonia Class Action lawsuit. [PDF, 21p, INFO, LINK, INFO]
  • Feb 03/10: Crown Attorney withdraws criminal charge against Julian Fantino. PC Party of Ontario condemns appearance of impropriety. [INFO]
  • Feb 02/10: CBC National News investigative reporter John Nicol publishes two stories – one about CANACE founders Gary McHale & Mark Vandermaas, the other about OPP emails which reveal Mr. McHale was targeted for arrest in order to appease native radicals even though they had no evidence against him. [INFO]
  • Jan 08/10: Justice of the Peace Brown issues summons [PDF, REPRINT] for Fantino to appear at the Cayuga Courthouse at 1000 on Feb 03/10 to answer charge of Influencing Muncipal Official . See also: LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK.
  • Jan 08/10: Globe & Mail’s Christie Blatchford becomes first journalist (outside Caledonia) to effectively clear CANACE co-founder Gary McHale’s name of Fantino’s attempts to smear him as an inciter of violence and target him for arrest. In ‘Activist a nagging thorn in Fantino’s side‘ [PDF, REPRINT] she says: “As for Mr. McHale, despite Mr. Fantino’s clear efforts, as documented in emails and court transcripts, to “take him out” – that is, have him charged with something, anything – the only crime the OPP with is the novel “counselling mischief not committed. A date for the resumption of the preliminary hearing on that charge has yet to be set. Mr. McHale, as he almost always does, will represent himself – a portly, bespectacled fellow who is nonetheless proving a spirited and sharp combatant.“The effect was immediate and satisfying in that reporters suddenly began treating McHale and CANACE with new respect and listening to what he/we had to say. Blatchford, in one fell swoop, single-handedly smashed down the wall of suspicion in the minds of the Canadian media that Fantino had erected in his unsuccessful attempt to silence us. Her article is also the first to report on the political influence brought to bear on Caledonia resident and Hamilton Police Service officer Dave Hartless by Ontario Senior Negotiator John Nolan when he used the OPP to try to silence him.
  • Jan 06/10: Nearly 4 years after the Caledonia occupation began Hamilton Spectator (the largest daily newspaper closest to Caledonia) issues its first-ever editorial [PDF, REPRINT] condemning the OPP and the McGuinty government for the “double standard in policing the Caledonia land dispute, and the reality that”neither the police nor the province are prepared to address that sad reality.”
  • Jan 05/10: Christie Blatchford of Globe & Mail becomes first journalist (outside Caledonia) to tell part of the tragic story of Chris and Myron Dudych [PDF, REPRINT] who live on the Sixth Line in Caledonia without OPP policing. They also happen to be parents of Pam Dudych – otherwise known as ‘Dancer,’ the courageous  14 year old girl who spoke out for the children on her road at a time when most in Caledonia were too frightened to do so.
  • Dec 31/09: McHale v. Attorney General of Ontario, 2009 – Superior Court grants Gary McHale application for Mandamus ordering that a justice of the peace issue process for a charge under s.132(2) of Criminal Code (Influencing or Attempting to Influence Municipal Official) vs. OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino in connection with an email he sent to Haldimand Council on April 07/07.  See also: LINK.
  • Dec 31/09: Brown-Chatwell Caledonia lawsuit settled mid-trial. See also: LINK.
  • Nov 15/09: CUPE 3903 First Nations Solidarity Working Group admits anarchist groups are involved in assisting union efforts to support the Haudenosaunee Men’s Fire, a criminal organization that a Superior Court judges says is involved in extortion, intimidation and mischief. Also admits it took money from anarchist organization ‘Freedonia.’
  • Nov 09/09: $7M Brown/Chatwell trial begins. Admissions from senior OPP officers that they failed to enforce the law against native protesters and knew it was wrong. Heartwrenching testimony from victims Dave Brown and Dana Chatwell.  Click here for key testimony excerpts from media coverage.
  • July 14/09: Six Nations Councillor Helen Miller says majority of Six Nations people “are fed up with the protests, fed up with these groups of people [warriors, HMF, HDI] and individuals [Steve ‘Boot’s Powless] claiming to speak for them, and fed up with the smoke shops on Highway 6. So people who fear another Caledonia can put their fears to rest.”
  • July 12/09: THE END OF THE BEGINNING! After 4 arrests and a 31 month campaign, the battle to force the OPP to stop violating the right of non-natives to place Canadian flags on hydro poles near a Caledonia occupation site ends in victory.
  • July 09/09: First arrest of illegal smokeshack operator in Caledonia – after CANACE sends warning to OPP.
  • July 02/09: : McHale v. R., 2009  – Court overules Crown’s decision to stop private prosecution of government officials by preventing evidence from being heard by Justice of the Peace. Together w/Parkinson v. R., 2009 CANACE founders have now defined the limits of Crown authority during private prosecutions. Justice Marshall highlighted importance of issues raised by quoting from Alexander Hamilton, a father of the U.S. Constitution. Currently under appeal by Crown as of Dec 05/09.
  • June 13/09: CANACE news release: OPP take first steps toward ending Race Based Policing  [PDF]
  • June 08/09: Proof positive native extremists have lost PR battle
  • May 24/09: OPP line up to stop Canadian flag raising [LINK] (Arrest of Randy Fleming during separate protest)
  • May 02/09: OPP officer confirms existence of racial policing under oath
  • Jan 12/09: Parkinson v. R., 2009 – Ontario Superior Court orders charges certified in private prosecution of OPP officers for Mischief re aiding native protesters during illegal occupation. Crown drops charges. See also: LINK
  • April 20/08: ‘2nd Anniversary of Anarchy’ rally at Queen’s Park [LINK]
  • Oct 15/08: CANACE Executive Director Gary McHale wins 10% of the votes in federal election in riding of Haldimand-Norfolk. 1822 votes of the 4,821 votes came from Caledonia, with a total population of approximately 10,000.
  • Aug 23/08: ‘Protect Our Families’ Rally at Cayuga OPP station to demand end to objects being thrown onto #6 by-pass. [LINK, LINK, LINK]
  • June 10/08: Ontario Superior Court ruling: OPP refusal to aid Cayuga land owner an ‘abuse of power & police discretion’ [LINK]
  • DEC 2007: Release of CANACE report, ‘The Human Costs of Illegal Occupations’ [PDF, 101p]
  • Dec 04/07: Illegal Smokeshacks (Doug Fleming’s campaign vs. Illegal smokes and violence by 6N vs. non-natives, Dec 01/07)
  • March 14/07: The Ipperwash Papers (release of 400 pages of docs proving Inquiry did not study violence vs. Ipperwash residents)
  • April 17/07: FantinoGate (OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino threatens Haldimand Council via email)
  • June 10/07: ‘Canada at the Crossroads’ presentation by Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, Jeff Parkinson [LINK]
  • March 02/08: Protest at home of OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino [LINK, LINK, LINK]
  • Jan 20/07: OPP call in London riot squad and helicopter to prevent non-natives from raising Canadian flag. [LINK]
  • Dec 16/06: Arrest of Gary McHale & Mark Vandermaas at flag raising protest in support of Bo Chausse. [LINK]
  • Dec 02/06: Arrest of Caledonia resident Bo Chausse while attempting to place a Canadian flag on a utility pole across from the occupied Douglas Creek Estates. [LINK, LINK]
  • Oct 15/06: Gary McHale’s Inaugural ‘March for Freedom’ attracts 2,000 who peacefully march through Caledonia’s streets against ‘Two Tier Justice.’ [LINK]
  • June 2006: Gary McHale begins investigating Caledonia because of inconsistencies between mainstream media stories and actual events as reported by residents, creates www.CaledoniaWakeUpCall.com.

EVIDENCE TO DO

  • OPP News Releases
  • Haldimand County News Releases
  • Court docs:
    • Sworn Testimony: OPP, Natives, Residents, Politicians
    • Lawsuits: defamation
    • Lawsuits: false arrest
    • Legal actions: criminal
  • Police Service Act complaints
  • Important Media Stories
  • Important Media Editorials
  • Articles by date: VoiceofCanada
  • Articles by date: JeffParkinson.ca
  • Legal Actions (transfer from VoC ‘Caledonia Lawsuits’)
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Speeches
    • Gary McHale
    • Mark Vandermaas
    • Merlyn Kinrade