SEND IN THE CLOWN

Today is the day that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce that former Liberal Ontario Premier, David Peterson, will be the lead person on Southern Ontario’s 2015 Pan Am games bid.

Most will remember Peterson for his early election call which led to an NDP majority government headed by then NDP, now Liberal MP Bob Rae. Some will remember Peterson’s role in the native land claim blockades set up in Caledonia in the spring/summer of 2006. Both incidences bring back some disturbing memories, and call into question the character of Peterson.

While Premier, Peterson called an election one full year before his mandate was to finish. At the time, most people found this early election call to be strange, until Peterson’s Finance Minister Bob Nixon announced during the campaign that Ontario’s economic fortunes were not as good as the government had previously indicated. This sudden shift in economic fortune led to the Rae majority. Many people thought at the time that Peterson made the early election call to dodge any responsibility for the economic mess he created in Ontario, and was intentionally trying to throw the election. It worked like a charm. Rae took power, and promptly had to abandon his agenda, as Ontario was thrown into an economic recession. Peterson and Nixon walked away, and were never held accountable for the mess they created. Peterson failed to stick around to finish what he started.

In 2006, Premier McGuinty tapped Peterson on the shoulder to represent the Province in a Six Nations land claim dispute in the Southern Ontario town of Caledonia. The protest turned violent when the Ontario Provincial Police botched an attempt to remove the protestors through a court order. Peterson was best remembered for his opportunistic photo ops, and during a very intense standoff during the May long weekend of that year, made promises to the protestors that he couldn’t deliver on, in order to have one of the road blockades taken down. Peterson promised the protestors land that the Province couldn’t deliver. Shortly after, Peterson was removed from the negotiations.

Now, Peterson appears poised to take on the role of lead on the Pan Am Games bid. We can only imagine the chicanery that Peterson can bring to the table. As residents of Southern Ontario have learned time and time again, bids for these international competitions involves back room deals, promises that aren’t necessarily kept, and lots of cash payoffs. Peterson appears to be the perfect person for this role.

However, Peterson never finished what he started in Caledonia. In fact, no government has made any progress on these land claims in the three years that this dispute has been going on. Development in Haldimand and Brant County’s are at a standstill, with constant threats that this freeze on development will continue up the Grand River Valley to cities like Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph. The Province continues to claim that their land title system is valid, however when developers need the Province to stand behind that statement, they’re no where to be found. These land claims are holding the economic development of this Province hostage, and the McGuinty government’s only solution is to do nothing.

Which brings us to the point of today’s rant. These land claims have not progressed anywhere in the last three years. In fact, negotiations have probably created a bigger divide between the negotiating parties than there was three years ago. Premier McGuinty is making plans for a party, and he doesn’t even know if he owns any of the land that he wants to hold this party on. Not only is this irresponsible, it is an insult to the residents and businesses of Caledonia and Brantford. But, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Dalton McGuinty, he can ignore a problem like no other politician we’ve ever met. Our goal is to make sure that there is not a successful Pan Am games bid coming out of Ontario until all land claims in Ontario have been resolved, and we know who actually owns land in Ontario – the Crown, or Six Nations.