Caledonia The town That Law Forgot

[scribblet]

Christie Blatchford has written a book about the Caledonia situation, if the library gets it in I'll read it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/caledonia-the-town-that-law-forgot/article1769901/

But basically it's this: The people of that lovely small town just an hour and change from Toronto were abandoned by their governments, and ultimately by their police force, and left to fend for themselves. The book is about the failure of government to govern, and of leaders to lead.

From the get-go, the federal and provincial governments had adopted a hands-off policy to the occupation. Ottawa didn't even recognize the tenuous land claim that residents of the Six Nations reserve were belatedly making, and deferred to Queen's Park; the Ontario government nonetheless treated the occupation as purely a land claim and somehow, overtly or in the subtle ways that are the hallmark of practised politicians, made its wishes known; the Ontario Provincial Police, first under then-commissioner Gwen Boniface and later under her successor Julian Fantino, now a star candidate for the Stephen Harper Conservatives, obligingly carried that message to the force's rank and file.

The end result was a form of policing that would be simply unrecognizable to Canadians living anywhere else in the country: cops who watched or turned away as the law was broken, sometimes brazenly; cops who appeared to take sides and would take action against only one group of people and not the other; cops who refused to make arrests, conduct investigations or protect the public.

[Wild Bill]

Christie Blatchford has written a book about the Caledonia situation, if the library gets it in I'll read it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/caledonia-the-town-that-law-forgot/article1769901/

The book hits the stores on Monday, Scrib! I saw an article about it in the newspaper last week and placed an advance order with amazon.ca

They promise to ship on Monday and I look forward to the read! It should generate some good discussion, especially from those posters who will never actually read it but feel free to condemn it.

[Jack Weber]

The book hits the stores on Monday, Scrib! I saw an article about it in the newspaper last week and placed an advance order with amazon.ca

They promise to ship on Monday and I look forward to the read! It should generate some good discussion, especially from those posters who will never actually read it but feel free to condemn it.

The cops have dropped the ball...The Fed's have dropped the ball...The province has dropped the ball...

And the residents of Caledonia are all caught in the middle...

And this is from someone who goes to the reserve more than a few times in the summer...And NOT for cheap smokes!!!

[Shwa]

They promise to ship on Monday and I look forward to the read! It should generate some good discussion, especially from those posters who will never actually read it but feel free to condemn it.

And also from those readers who will read it and then suddenly become experts because, you know, Christie Blatchford wrote it, so it must be true.

[Shwa]

And this is from someone who goes to the reserve more than a few times in the summer...And NOT for cheap smokes!!!

Hockey, lacrosse or pow wows?

[charter.rights]

Yes. I read about it last week and even read some excerpts. Of course since Blatchford wrote it they are marketing in a whole new way. It comes in a roll and each page breaks off in individual sheets.

Blatchford is about as good and as honest about her stories as the National Enquirer is about their stories on alien abductions. Be sure to pick up your copy in the fiction section of Chapters.... or Aisle 16 at Metro beside the feminine hygiene products.

Edited October 24, 2010 by charter.rights

[Sir Bandelot]

Hockey, lacrosse or pow wows?

My guess, Squaws

[charter.rights]

My guess, Squaws

What is "squaw"?

[bush_cheney2004]

What is "squaw"?

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2542/is-squaw-an-obscene-insult

[scribblet]

Gosh, insults allready before anyone has even read it, I'm sure with such open minds you won't need to read it to form an 'opinion'.

[charter.rights]

Gosh, insults allready before anyone has even read it, I'm sure with such open minds you won't need to read it to form an 'opinion'.

Anything with Christie Blatchford's name attached to it will be full of half-truths, poorly researched statements and sensational bias. I'd be willing to bet she wrote the whole thing in a weekend and most of here references came off of the internet.

I have already read some excerpts and have confirm that she has written things that didn't occur.....maybe did occur....but only in the minds of a few Caledonia wackos...

[charter.rights]

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2542/is-squaw-an-obscene-insult

I was wondering whether Bandelot was smart enough to know what it meant?

[Wild Bill]

I was wondering whether Bandelot was smart enough to know what it meant?

Same old, same old. Ad hominem, ad hominem.

You're as predictable as a sunrise. Your arguments on this matter always boil down to:

"I'm right, you're wrong and everyone who disagrees with me must be crazy!"

You dismiss what others have personally experienced as imaginary and yet expect mainstream Canadians to accept aboriginal oral history as gospel.

When you're that predictable you become boring, CR.

[Molly]

Bill, do not-

seriously DO NOT-

- dismiss or defend Bandelot or anyone else tossing around the word 'squaw'.

[Sir Bandelot]

I don't care, it's just a word, and a joke directed solely at Jacky. But that IS the way some white boys still talk to this day, like it or not. Don't like it? Oh well. Welcome to reality. I saw it on a TV show, with some cowboys and horses and stuff. Yeah, John Wayne, he shot that dirty Indian bastard right in the brain. And the networks made a lot of money showing it, too.

For the record I support native rights. My first thoughts on reading the opening post were this- "The people of that lovely small town just an hour and change from Toronto..." enjoy building their lovely small community on native land. So the natives want to protect what's left of whats theirs. You can only push people so far, and they will start to push back. To my mind Canada has never properly atoned for the crimes it committed upon natives. And that includes the church as well. And in some ways even the 2010 Olympics, but that's another digression, isn't it.

Now back to "oh how bad he is for saying that dirty word..."

[Sir Bandelot]

Squaw is an English language loan-word, used as a noun or adjective, whose present meaning is an indigenous woman of North America. It is derived from the eastern Algonquian morpheme meaning "woman" that appears in numerous Algonquian dialects variously spelled squa, skwa, esqua, sqeh, skwe, que, kwa, ikwe, etc. At present, the term is often held to be offensive, though controversy surrounds the historical evidence claimed for such a view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaw

You sanctimonious queers can like me arse. Quick go and correct the entry...

[Topaz]

These things take a long time for there to be a solution but hot tempers just make things worse. The residents of Chatham-kent had their own problems with a First Nation land claim and after 10+ years it have been settled. Patience is what is needed in these kind od situations and knwoing that it could take years. http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/01/18/12520196.html

[Argus]

Blatchford is about as good and as honest about her stories as the National Enquirer is about their stories on alien abductions.

Interesting, then, that even if true that puts her about thirty or forty rungs up on the believability ladder than anything you've ever posted about natives.

[Argus]

Hopefully this will have an impact on the byelection Harper has just called in Vaughan, where Fantino is running as a Tory.

I'm going to be contributing money to the Liberal in that one. First time I've ever contributed money to a politician voluntarily!

[Michael Hardner]

The cops have dropped the ball...The Fed's have dropped the ball...The province has dropped the ball...

My understanding is that the province is negotiating, but not releasing details of the negotiations.

There may be reasons for doing that, however they need to at least maintain peace and communicate the status of what is happening to the public.

[Jack Weber]

Hockey, lacrosse or pow wows?

Auto racing...Ohsweken Speedway...

One of the best short track facilities in the NorthEast...

Been to a pow wow at Cape Croker,though...Best French fries I have ever eaten!!!!

Edited October 24, 2010 by Jack Weber

[Jack Weber]

My guess, Squaws

One would think,but...No...Just cars going really fast....

Edited October 24, 2010 by Jack Weber

[Wild Bill]

I don't care, it's just a word, and a joke directed solely at Jacky. But that IS the way some white boys still talk to this day, like it or not. Don't like it? Oh well. Welcome to reality. I saw it on a TV show, with some cowboys and horses and stuff. Yeah, John Wayne, he shot that dirty Indian bastard right in the brain. And the networks made a lot of money showing it, too.

For the record I support native rights. My first thoughts on reading the opening post were this- "The people of that lovely small town just an hour and change from Toronto..." enjoy building their lovely small community on native land. So the natives want to protect what's left of whats theirs. You can only push people so far, and they will start to push back. To my mind Canada has never properly atoned for the crimes it committed upon natives. And that includes the church as well. And in some ways even the 2010 Olympics, but that's another digression, isn't it.

Now back to "oh how bad he is for saying that dirty word..."

I support native rights too! I also agree with many of their issues with bands across the country. However, I have no respect for the TACTICS used by the Six Nations protesters in Caledonia!

Those protesters did not target the developer, the municipal council or the provincial and federal governments. Instead, they targeted the townsfolk! They blocked bridges, tore down electrical towers, blew up a transformer that blacked out the entire region for days, blocked private citizens' access to their homes, tore through people's back yards on ATV's at night, shining lights into their windows and much, much more!

The townsfolk have been their neighbours for several hundred years. There are long standing family ties. The townspeople as individuals were not the cause of the Douglas Creek development and they had zero power or ability to deliver a political solution. Yet virtually all of the protest hurt them! They were treated as cannon fodder. I guess when an aboriginal protester is angry, any white face will do.

I've said a number of times before, if the protesters had wanted to barricade the street that their MP, Diane Finley or better yet, drive ATVs around Queens Park or through Dalton McGuinty's back yard I would have cheered them on! Hell, I would have chipped in for gas!

Protest should never be targeted at innocents. It should always be specifically aimed if not at those individuals directly responsible at least at those with the specific ability to satisfy your demands.

I see no difference between many of the tactics used by native protesters in Caledonia and that of some of the KKK's history! When you target someone simply and only because of their race, that's wrong! It's as wrong for a red man to do it to a white as it is for any other.

Even the protesters at OKA targeted the local municipal government and the police FIRST! Following it up by blocking a main traffic artery and forcing city folks into a long, time consuming detour cost them virtually all of their white neighbours' support, however. IMHO, that was a mistake.

In effect, at both locations, the native argument seemed to be "Oh, sorry I punched you in the head but hey, it's not my fault! Your government made me do it! You should support my protest against that government!"

The very idea is ridiculous. Human nature just doesn't work like that. If someone punches you in the head your reaction is quite simple and targeted at the person who hit you!

So when you say we should atone for past wrongs, I say to you "which ones?" There are hundreds of bands across the country. Many have legitimate cases. Many don't! Most target their protests at those with the power, rather than just the closest group of white folks.

[charter.rights]

Interesting, then, that even if true that puts her about thirty or forty rungs up on the believability ladder than anything you've ever posted about natives.

I post about facts. You on the other hand, like Blatchford try to pass off your opinion as fact. Nice try though. You lose.

[charter.rights]

I support native rights too! I also agree with many of their issues with bands across the country. However, I have no respect for the TACTICS used by the Six Nations protesters in Caledonia!

Those protesters did not target the developer, the municipal council or the provincial and federal governments. Instead, they targeted the townsfolk! They blocked bridges, tore down electrical towers, blew up a transformer that blacked out the entire region for days, blocked private citizens' access to their homes, tore through people's back yards on ATV's at night, shining lights into their windows and much, much more!

The townsfolk have been their neighbours for several hundred years. There are long standing family ties. The townspeople as individuals were not the cause of the Douglas Creek development and they had zero power or ability to deliver a political solution. Yet virtually all of the protest hurt them! They were treated as cannon fodder. I guess when an aboriginal protester is angry, any white face will do.

I've said a number of times before, if the protesters had wanted to barricade the street that their MP, Diane Finley or better yet, drive ATVs around Queens Park or through Dalton McGuinty's back yard I would have cheered them on! Hell, I would have chipped in for gas!

Protest should never be targeted at innocents. It should always be specifically aimed if not at those individuals directly responsible at least at those with the specific ability to satisfy your demands.

I see no difference between many of the tactics used by native protesters in Caledonia and that of some of the KKK's history! When you target someone simply and only because of their race, that's wrong! It's as wrong for a red man to do it to a white as it is for any other.

Even the protesters at OKA targeted the local municipal government and the police FIRST! Following it up by blocking a main traffic artery and forcing city folks into a long, time consuming detour cost them virtually all of their white neighbours' support, however. IMHO, that was a mistake.

In effect, at both locations, the native argument seemed to be "Oh, sorry I punched you in the head but hey, it's not my fault! Your government made me do it! You should support my protest against that government!"

The very idea is ridiculous. Human nature just doesn't work like that. If someone punches you in the head your reaction is quite simple and targeted at the person who hit you!

So when you say we should atone for past wrongs, I say to you "which ones?" There are hundreds of bands across the country. Many have legitimate cases. Many don't! Most target their protests at those with the power, rather than just the closest group of white folks.

You are full of Sh** Bill.

The barricades they made were erected to protect the women and children and old people that the OPP tried to club, taser and point high powered weapons at.

No one knows who blew up the transformer. It could easily have been the OPP provocateurs. They have done such things before.

There was no tearing down of an electrical tower. That is a lie. Six Nations mover the tower onto the road that had been waiting on a transmission line that was crossing their territory.

No one was blocked from their homes. The people that lived on the Sixth Line could come and go as they pleased and the only change was that the OPP agreed that Six Nations Police would police their home.

There were no ATVs tearing up peoples backyard either. What did occur is that Six Nations security patrolled the buffer zone between DCE and the residents and did shine lights into back yards where we all know eggs, golf balls and rocks were being thrown from.

So quit you lying.