Land Claims Deserve Cool Heads: One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

While the events taking place in Caledonia, Ontario are several thousand kilometers away from this province,never the less, the feelings of many residents of both regions are very similar.

Anyone who suggests the land claims are going very smoothly in this province is wearing blinders. There are many residents  who do not support the government's position perhaps their feelings are a result of the land claims issue referendum  that was held years ago.

The results are very obvious, you have a group, including government, which would like to have the matter of land claims settled for once and for all, while on the other side of the coin there is a group of citizens who say they are among the majority who voted for a different approach to the settlement.

The stand off in Caledonia got very ugly when the native bands in the area decided to blockade the highway for nearby residents.  The residents (out numbering the natives) put up their own road block with a view to preventing the natives from entering the area. Tempers are heating up and the fact that a couple of hundred Ontario police officers are standing between the two feuding groups (who are leterally arms length apart) suggest that the issue is boiling just below the surface.

We have escaped this kind of stand off in our negotiations to this point and those people from the native groups who might wish to make their points known by a blockade would do well to look at what has been taking place in Ontario.

Similarly, the people on the opposing side would also do well to remember that the land claims remain for the most part not settled in this province and until the matter is complete, cool heads must prevail.

I’m Meisner and that is one man's opinion.

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