Silence may be golden, but apparently only for developers and municipalities.
This became startlingly clear in the Ron Hubert versus Haldimand Council and the OMB. In that case, Hubert complained, among other things, that a very large housing development planned for the Northeast of Caledonia was being pushed through without consultation with Six Nations.
The land in question is part of the Plank Road land claim, which has been accepted by the federal government as non-frivolous and worthy of a second look.
If nothing else came of Kanonhstaton, one would think that it would be that developers in Caledonia would realize that it is in their best interests to consult and come to some accommodation with Six Nations, and make an extra effort to keep lines of communication open.
But that hasn’t happened, and it seems that both local politicians and developers have learned little from recent history.
Maybe everyone in the area is still shell-shocked over the calamity created at the former Douglas Creek Estates Development in 2006, but the land earmarked for a huge development is well within the six miles of the Grand River and parts of it are directly in conflict with the Plank Road claim.
We might have thought a lesson might have been learned through those hard times but apparently not. The government knows how to do this kind of stuff. They have a lot of experience in doing so. Deny, delay and distract attention, then go back in quietly and do what you were going to do in the first place. It’s in their playbook.
By the way, it will be nine years ago, February 28th, when Six Nations people tried and succeeded in stopping the construction on Kanonhstaton. Has everyone forgotten why?
If this goes ahead as planned, we’ll see if Caledonia was just a flash in the pan. I live near Tyendinaga now and if my people of Six stand up to this violation of our lands under claim, I’ll drag my 72 year old body into my car, make the 3 hour drive and stand with them. If not, I won’t waste my time.