Confederacy chiefs declare moratorium on development
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The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council on Tuesday announced a moratorium on development in the Haldimand Tract — an area along both sides of the Grand River.
“No development can proceed along the Haldimand Tract without the consent of the Haudenosaunee,” said Chief Roger Silversmith, reading a statement to a dozen reporters on Tuesday morning outside the Onondaga Longhouse on Six Nations of the Grand River.
It’s unclear what the moratorium involves and how it will be enforced.
The Cayuga Nation, Snipe clan chief said that, in 2006, the council of chiefs affirmed their land rights granted to them – six miles on each side of the Grand from mouth to source for a length of 186 miles — under the Haldimand Proclamation in 1784 for the role Six Nations played as allies to the British during the American Revolution.
“In making this statement the council of chiefs made it clear that we would hold certain land ethics and principles that must be respected in any agreements on land use or occupation.”
Silversmith said the chiefs council seeks justice on longstanding land rights issues, and an accurate accounting of the use and investment of funds held by the Crown on their behalf.
“For nearly 200 years our chiefs have been asking for such an accounting and justice,” he said. “It is time to end the injustice.”
He said he trusts that mutually agreeable solutions can be found that will reflect longstanding friendships.
“We want the Crown to keep its obligation to the treaties to ensure that all Crown governments, federal, provincial and municipal, are partners in those obligations,” he said. “We want an honourable relationship with the Crown, and a peaceful resolution to these longstanding issues.”
Skyler Williams, spokesperson for a group from Six Nations that has occupied the McKenzie Meadows residential development – dubbed 1492 Landback Lane — in Caledonia since July 2020, said developers need to come to the table in a process that sees the needs met of all sides.
Williams was asked by a reporter what the response might be if a developer doesn’t go through the negotiation process with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute.
“There’s 27,000 people at Six Nations, and there’s many more that are anxious and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that our land rights are upheld,” Williams said.
Matt Green, MP for Hamilton Centre, was in attendance at the news conference. He said that under Canadian law, the Supreme Court has determined ways in which Haudenosaunee chiefs and clans have hereditary title to these lands.
“The presumption that land developments ought to continue through municipal or provincial permits is absolutely the inappropriate place for longstanding land claims,” Green said. “If there’s a matter before the courts, it’s incumbent upon the parties not to proceed with developments that are contrary to the claims of this nation.”
Silversmith stressed that the chiefs council is not interested in selling the land, but wants to ensure it remains healthy enough to provide for future generations.
“Land is meant to be shared among, and by, the people,” said the chief. “It is not for permanent empire building.”
Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt and Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis were said to be reviewing the moratorium and its implications, but were not available for comment.
The developers of the McKenzie subdivision have claimed $200 million in damages against the attorney general of Canada, the Ontario government and the OPP, among others.
The statement of claim was issued last week by Foxgate Developments Inc., a joint venture between Ballantry Homes and Losani Homes. It relates to “the past and current illegal occupation of the construction site at 1535 McKenzie Rd.”
Foxgate Developments plans to build 218 detached homes and townhouses on the site, which had previously been farmland. This would be the first phase of a much bigger housing development that would extend to the border of Six Nations.
A group from Six Nations says the land was unceded Haudenosaunee territory.
Foxgate’s claim is asking the federal and provincial governments to confirm there is no claim against its “lawful title to the lands.”
The claim cites government and police “negligence, malfeasance and failure to act in a reasonable manner” that “could have prevented the illegal or continued occupation.”
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
bethompson@postmedia.com
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