Caledonia: Fantino wrote reference for accused McHale attacker

[tango]

Fantino wrote reference for accused McHale attacker

Native protester Clyde Powless was charged

April 22, 2009

Barbara Brown

The Hamilton Spectator

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino stood his ground when a political activist charged with inciting civil disobedience in Caledonia accused the province’s top cop of unfairly targeting him for arrest.

Read copy of the letter

Fantino was recalled to the witness box in a Hamilton courtroom today by Gary McHale, who is representing himself on a charge of counselling mischief not committed.

McHale was with protesters who gathered by a native smoke shop near the former Douglas Creek Estates subdivision on Dec. 1, 2007. They were protesting what they described as an illegal native-run smoke shop on Argyle Street South and Highway 6.

A confrontation took place between protesters from the town and a group of natives. Both sides took turns blocking the road with vehicles and debris, including part of a hydro tower that was dragged onto Argyle Street. The prosecution contends McHale encouraged the organizer to have more vehicles parked across the road.

more ...

What an entertaining confrontation! All the kafuffle in Caledonia comes down to this: An outside agitator encouraging local Caledonia people to be disruptive and confrontational with police.

[Wild Bill]

Fantino wrote reference for accused McHale attacker

Native protester Clyde Powless was charged

April 22, 2009

Barbara Brown

The Hamilton Spectator

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino stood his ground when a political activist charged with inciting civil disobedience in Caledonia accused the province’s top cop of unfairly targeting him for arrest.

Read copy of the letter

Fantino was recalled to the witness box in a Hamilton courtroom today by Gary McHale, who is representing himself on a charge of counselling mischief not committed.

McHale was with protesters who gathered by a native smoke shop near the former Douglas Creek Estates subdivision on Dec. 1, 2007. They were protesting what they described as an illegal native-run smoke shop on Argyle Street South and Highway 6.

A confrontation took place between protesters from the town and a group of natives. Both sides took turns blocking the road with vehicles and debris, including part of a hydro tower that was dragged onto Argyle Street. The prosecution contends McHale encouraged the organizer to have more vehicles parked across the road.

more ...

What an entertaining confrontation! All the kafuffle in Caledonia comes down to this: An outside agitator encouraging local Caledonia people to be disruptive and confrontational with police.

There's some revisionist history going on here. The citizens of Caledonia were upset and had lost confidence in the OPP before McHale ever arrived on the scene!

Your post implies that everything in Caledonia is "peace, love, dove" except for McHale rabble rousing.

Fantino seems to feel that the problem is not that the town of Caledonia got kicked in the stomach but rather that they are too loud when they cry out in pain!

Sure would make a cop's job easier if victims never complained.

[Molly]

C'mon, Bill! You have to admit that someone actually from the area would have a LOT more credibility!

I'm reminded of a night many moons ago when a railroad work gang stuck in our sleepy tiny town for a several months hoped for access to the only party in town... a wedding dance. Had there only been a dozen or so, it wouldn't have been an issue, but they nearly matched the guests in number, so it really couldn't be. Reason was in the process of prevailing over the minor confrontation until a complete bozo who had little to do with either group decided to 'express his opinion'.

Thanks to him, minor frustrated disgruntlement very nearly erupted into a huge brawl, but in the end he was the only person pummelled, and no one at all was successfully arrested. Sometimes, life IS fair.

[Wild Bill]

C'mon, Bill! You have to admit that someone actually from the area would have a LOT more credibility!

I'm reminded of a night many moons ago when a railroad work gang stuck in our sleepy tiny town for a several months hoped for access to the only party in town... a wedding dance. Had there only been a dozen or so, it wouldn't have been an issue, but they nearly matched the guests in number, so it really couldn't be. Reason was in the process of prevailing over the minor confrontation until a complete bozo who had little to do with either group decided to 'express his opinion'.

Thanks to him, minor frustrated disgruntlement very nearly erupted into a huge brawl, but in the end he was the only person pummelled, and no one at all was successfully arrested. Sometimes, life IS fair.

Gary's family comes from Caledonia. 3 of his brothers were born there. If you do a google his local history is plain.

Are YOU from Caledonia? I don't think you realize what the townsfolk are going through. How would you feel if you woke up to riots, streets blocked off and your electricity cut off for nearly a week due to a mysterious transformer explosion that while it cannot be proven it was destroyed by native protesters it happened behind their lines where even a ninja couldn't have gotten to it.

How would you like to be an elderly couple that got confused and drove down the wrong street to end up by the protest lines? They got their car rocked and the old man wound up in the hospital with heart problems.

People who live alongside the disputed lands have had ATVs roar through their backyards all night, with headlights shone into their bedroom windows. Some have been told by the OPP not to phone if they are being threatened as the OPP will not answer their calls!

TV cameramen who were filming native violence were beat up and their cameras stolen!

The list of incidents goes on and on and on. Meanwhile, townsfolk watch as natives sell illegal cigarettes from kiosks right on public highways while the police ignore them. City businesses have been slowly going bankrupt and dying since the tourist trade immediately dried up due to the "troubles". People cannot sell their homes except at a huge loss to get away from the situation.

People outside of Caledonia just don't seem to get it. They confuse the issue with native land claims. That was never the problem. Caledonia was a community where generations of natives and non-natives had been good neighbours and often inter-married. It was the TACTICS of the protest that blew that all away! Much of the townsfolk community had supported native claims. Not so anymore.

There are dark rumours that the initial protesters were not even from Six Nations themselves but rather agitators from American native protest groups. Eventually they will leave, leaving Six Nations to have to live with all the hard feelings left in the town.

The protest may have been about native claims but the TACTICS were all directed at the townspeople! Nobody put up a barricade in front of a politician's house. No one hurled a punch at Premier McGuinty. Nobody drove their ATV through his back yard in the dead of night.

McHale ran as an independent last election. Before the vote he was dismissed as a "nobody" with no supporters in the town. He received nearly 5000 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast. For an independent to get 10% of the votes is amazing, especially in a small town. How anyone can dismiss him as having no support amongst the townsfolk strikes me as just blindly partisan.

This seems to be one of the biggest differences between Canadians and Americans. In America some New York cabbie might read a newspaper article about someone in California having their rights violated and immediately get upset.

In Canada we hear about someone else being attacked in a similar fashion and we say "Oh well, it's probably exaggerated and besides, he probably deserved it!".

Sometimes, Life is NOT fair!

[Molly]

I'm not from there, but my daughter lives very nearby. We have to pass the illegal kiosk to visit.

Your point is well taken, but rarely is any situation improved by the addition of one more ranting hothead trying to stir up even more confrontation.

Whatever else McHale was/is, he's Trouble.

[charter.rights]

I'm not from there, but my daughter lives very nearby. We have to pass the illegal kiosk to visit.

Your point is well taken, but rarely is any situation improved by the addition of one more ranting hothead trying to stir up even more confrontation.

Whatever else McHale was/is, he's Trouble.

Yes...and when he incites people to commit mischief - whether or not it actually takes place...he belongs in jail.

Gary McHale has only one point. He's trying to use the the protests and the people of Caledonia and Brantford to bring conflict s he can support himself through donations. He doesn't have a real job...nor would anyone likely hire him anyway...so he begs for donations that I think are supposed to be going to a charity or non-profit agency and uses them for his own personal use.

Not only that from what I had heard about 2 years ago, he has been kicked out of a number of Church congregations for trying to tell the ministers what to do.

So what should we do with heretics and mischief makers? I think we should throw them in jail the minute they try to stir up crap......and Gary McHale is long over due....

[Wild Bill]

I'm not from there, but my daughter lives very nearby. We have to pass the illegal kiosk to visit.

Your point is well taken, but rarely is any situation improved by the addition of one more ranting hothead trying to stir up even more confrontation.

Whatever else McHale was/is, he's Trouble.

Trouble? They already HAVE lots of trouble! What do the people of Caledonia have to lose? Nobody else is doing anything for them. Not the feds and certainly not McGuinty.

They are totally on their own. Worse yet, they have learned that while the natives can do almost anything the townsfolk are limited by an OPP double standard as to enforcement. Not officially, of course. Just absolutely in practice.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more than a few townsfolk going "postal". If you kick a dog long enough of course it's going to bite. Then again, they are Canadians and we tend to do what we're told, even if it means jumping off a cliff.

I predict that if a townsperson DOES go postal, no matter what the provocation and no matter that the OPP did nothing to protect him, Fantino will come down on him like a ton of bricks! It will be all the victim's fault for not suffering in silence to prevent embarrassing the OPP.

[tango]

Correct me if I'm wrong Bill, but I believe a man living nearby did go a bit postal, yelling at people last weekend.

And then there's the two firebombings ... a semi trailer and a cabin both set on fire on the site, presumably someone 'just passing by'.

The cops have real work top do, and we should not be paying $500,000 for them to police McHale's silly 'rallies'.

[Wild Bill]

Correct me if I'm wrong Bill, but I believe a man living nearby did go a bit postal, yelling at people last weekend.

And then there's the two firebombings ... a semi trailer and a cabin both set on fire on the site, presumably someone 'just passing by'.

The cops have real work top do, and we should not be paying $500,000 for them to police McHale's silly 'rallies'.

Well, as for the two firebombings, if you're correct that it was "presumably someone 'just passing by' "then we have no way of telling if it was a townsperson or a native, a protester or just some vandal.

That is EXACTLY the native defense about the loss of the electrical transformer! You can't have it both ways just because one side is your 'hero'.

That leaves the man who went postal, yelling at people. This just proves my point! Keep kicking folks and there will be others. To let an intolerable situation go on for years is asking for it!

Is this not the justification the native protesters used? The years of waiting to resolve land claims?

Sauce for the goose leads to sauce for the gander. As things escalate who's right and who's wrong gets lost in the "noise". Caledonia could end up in a Palestinian/Israeli or Irish sectarianism situation, with people holding grudges for generations and demanding revenge.

Again, my quarrel is ONLY with the native protest tactics. I think they've made some big mistakes that will generate very negative repercussions in the future.

If they had demonstrated on McGuinty's front lawn I would have cheered them on! Or Harper's, for that matter. I've never believed in taking revenge on someone who just happens to be the same colour as whoever had wronged me. I restrict my revenge to those who specifically wronged me!

To do it from a group or a "tribal" basis seems to me to simply be racism.

[tango]

Well, as for the two firebombings, if you're correct that it was "presumably someone 'just passing by' "then we have no way of telling if it was a townsperson or a native, a protester or just some vandal.

That is EXACTLY the native defense about the loss of the electrical transformer! You can't have it both ways just because one side is your 'hero'.

That leaves the man who went postal, yelling at people. This just proves my point! Keep kicking folks and there will be others. To let an intolerable situation go on for years is asking for it!

Is this not the justification the native protesters used? The years of waiting to resolve land claims?

Sauce for the goose leads to sauce for the gander. As things escalate who's right and who's wrong gets lost in the "noise". Caledonia could end up in a Palestinian/Israeli or Irish sectarianism situation, with people holding grudges for generations and demanding revenge.

Again, my quarrel is ONLY with the native protest tactics. I think they've made some big mistakes that will generate very negative repercussions in the future.

If they had demonstrated on McGuinty's front lawn I would have cheered them on! Or Harper's, for that matter. I've never believed in taking revenge on someone who just happens to be the same colour as whoever had wronged me. I restrict my revenge to those who specifically wronged me!

To do it from a group or a "tribal" basis seems to me to simply be racism.

So whadya think ... is Fantino right about that character McHale?

Is he just stirring things up, creating mischief?

Does he have any really good reason to cost the taxpayers $500,000 for policing McHale's rallies in Caledonia?

Half a million smackers ... and we all pay through the nose!

How is that helping anybody?

But of course, he's banned from Caledonia now anyway, so it's moot.

[Argus]

The protest may have been about native claims but the TACTICS were all directed at the townspeople! Nobody put up a barricade in front of a politician's house. No one hurled a punch at Premier McGuinty. Nobody drove their ATV through his back yard in the dead of night.

So why don't the people of that region kick the OPP out and bring in their own local or regional police force?

McHale ran as an independent last election. Before the vote he was dismissed as a "nobody" with no supporters in the town. He received nearly 5000 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast. For an independent to get 10% of the votes is amazing, especially in a small town.

I don't know what level of election you're speaking of, but if local resentment was that strong you'd think he'd have won the election, not get 10% of the vote.

[Wild Bill]

So whadya think ... is Fantino right about that character McHale?

Is he just stirring things up, creating mischief?

Does he have any really good reason to cost the taxpayers $500,000 for policing McHale's rallies in Caledonia?

Half a million smackers ... and we all pay through the nose!

How is that helping anybody?

But of course, he's banned from Caledonia now anyway, so it's moot.

$500,000? I'd like to see that itemized! Reminds me of how the cops might find $100,000 worth of marijuana but cost it as if it were sold only one "doobie" at a time to arrive at a ridiculously high figure. Sorta like body counts in Viet Nam.

If that figure were true then I guess the native protesters must be costing us BILLIONS!

Can't have it both ways, Tango! Something is true for everyone or it's true for no one, ESPECIALLY justice!

I suspect part of what makes us different is that I still support many native land claims. From where I sit, Canadian governments have been immoral in how they've treated many aboriginals and the protesters from Six Nations have also been immoral with their protest tactics. To me, evil is as evil does. No one has the right to target innocents for their cause. That is the definition of terrorism.

McHale may have flaws but he is so far the ONLY champion who has made noticeable waves for the Caledonia townsfolk!

It's obvious Fantino doesn't give a damn about them as long as they keep quiet!

[charter.rights]

$500,000? I'd like to see that itemized! Reminds me of how the cops might find $100,000 worth of marijuana but cost it as if it were sold only one "doobie" at a time to arrive at a ridiculously high figure. Sorta like body counts in Viet Nam.

If that figure were true then I guess the native protesters must be costing us BILLIONS!

Can't have it both ways, Tango! Something is true for everyone or it's true for no one, ESPECIALLY justice!

I suspect part of what makes us different is that I still support many native land claims. From where I sit, Canadian governments have been immoral in how they've treated many aboriginals and the protesters from Six Nations have also been immoral with their protest tactics. To me, evil is as evil does. No one has the right to target innocents for their cause. That is the definition of terrorism.

McHale may have flaws but he is so far the ONLY champion who has made noticeable waves for the Caledonia townsfolk!

It's obvious Fantino doesn't give a damn about them as long as they keep quiet!

McHale doesn't give a damn about Caledonians either. He is only interested in his own agenda - to earn a living off of conflict.

Your exaggerations are hilarious however, and if not for a few boneheads starting Friday night rallies from Caledonia it is unlikely that you would have even known there was a land reclamation that took place. And in actual fact, the reclamation has nothing to do with residents of Calendonia. It isn't your land, it was not your houses and it is not your roads.

[g_bambino]

And in actual fact, the reclamation has nothing to do with residents of Calendonia. It isn't your land, it was not your houses and it is not your roads.

Proof?