This letter is in regards to the story “Brantford injunction settlement may have sparked libel suit” in a local newspaper April 16, 2014. The story goes on to say that a libel suit may be pending against the Two Row Times, its owners and writer Jim Windle. This possible libel suit falls on the heels of Jim Windle’s story in the Two Row Times (April 9, 2014) “Brantford accepts $125,000 injunction deal.”
In speaking only for myself and not the rest of Council, what sticks in my craw are all these people who go around claiming to be sovereign. “We are a sovereign people,” they shout. They preach against what they call “foreign governments” meaning the Elected Council, Provincial and Federal governments; yet when they see opportunity to launch a libel suit against someone the Provincial government’s court system becomes their sidekick.
According to the above story HDI Director Hazel Hill says “We are considering a libel suit”. Who she means by “We” isn’t clear. From what we’ve been reading the past few weeks the Confederacy Council (CC) supported and approved a proposed deal with Brantford City Council to pay a $175,000 fine and legal costs as opposed to the $375,000 the city council was asking. Originally the fine and legal costs was $1.2 million.
The explanation given by HDI Director Hill is that the CC approved the settlement offer to protect the Six Nations people charged under the injunction including Hill herself and the CC’s legal advisor Aaron Detlor. People were afraid of losing their homes, of losing their pensions, Hill explains.
Most people know I’m not a lawyer, but if Detlor was doing his job as the CC’s legal advisor he would have told the protesters and the CC that the courts can’t touch peoples’ houses on reserve or any of their on-reserve assets. The only one of the protesters who lives off reserve is Detlor.
So the only butt the CC is protecting by this settlement is Detlor’s butt. What concerns me is that by agreeing to a $175,000 settlement the CC compromises Six Nations sovereignty and the traditional system’s beliefs, values and principles.
Even though I don’t follow the traditional ways or attend longhouse and ceremonies, I’ve always respected the Confederacy Chiefs’ and their belief in sovereignty. Of course as people know from my writings, the traditional system has changed over the past several years and not for the good since the HDI took over the helm.
The Clan Mothers and the CC still haven’t held clan meetings or community meetings to update the community on the development deals and agreements they authorized HDI Director Hill to sign. In the story Hill claims the CC is using “administration” money to cover the $175,000 not “the community’s money”. We have to take her word for it. At this point in time the HDI/CC still hasn’t accounted to the community for any money generated from the development deals or the fees charged to developers. Neither has there been any accountability as to where the “administration” money comes from. People often ask: “Who is funding the HDI?”
The CC/HDI has a pretty close relationship with Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario and Minister David Zimmer, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, so the possibility exists that the CC/HDI may be still getting funded administratively by the Province which in itself questions the legitimacy of sovereignty.
Councillor Helen Miller
