|
HAMILTON -
Hamilton is being warned not to meddle in the "complicated
native politics" surrounding the Red Hill Valley agreements the
city has reached with representatives of traditional chiefs of the
Six Nations Confederacy.
At a council
committee meeting dealing with the 10 agreements yesterday, Ward 1
Councillor Brian McHattie questioned whether the city should be
ratifying the deal in light of the splits in the native community
over the agreements.
But he was told by
both Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Paul Williams, a lawyer and one of two
negotiators for the chiefs, that Six Nations should be left to
resolve their differences about the agreements which include a joint
valley stewardship body and the promise of jobs and contracts.
"It's not our
business how your politics work and not your business how our
politics work," said Williams.
Yesterday's
meeting was, at times, a noisy affair and had to be moved from a
committee room to the council chambers when about 40 spectators,
mostly opponents of the agreements, showed up .
There were calls
of "traitor" directed at Williams and taunts that native
co-operation was being bought for a "string of beads."
A Six Nations
community woman who said she represented aboriginal Clan Mothers read
out a proclamation that the agreement negotiations were "null
and void."
Carrying a basket
with the rolled up and ribbon-tied proclamations, Jan
"Kaheht:io" Longboat handed them out to councillors.
She read out that
the Clan Mothers were the decision-making group in the
"matriarchal" system at Six Nations.
She called on the
Chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy and Paul Williams to "cease
and desist" any further actions so that Six Nations women and
Clan Mothers could consider Red Hill issues.
The agreements
between Hamilton and the traditional Confederacy Chiefs are due to
come before the city's public works committee next month.
The elected
13-member band council headed by Chief Roberta Jamieson at Ohsweken
has not dealt with the agreements but asked the traditional chiefs
for clarification on a number of issues.
At the meeting,
Councillor McHattie, who opposes the Red Hill Creek Expressway being
built in the valley, questioned whether the city should be awarding
upcoming construction contracts worth about $45 million considering
the division among natives.
There was no
intent to "meddle in each other's politics" but the city
was already facing a lawsuit by a Mohawk native over the expressway
and risked more legal challenges by approving the agreements, said McHattie.
Williams said
groups that opposed the expressway by occupying the valley and
confronting authorities this past fall hadn't stopped the expressway.
The Confederacy
Chiefs remained opposed to the expressway but accepted that it was
too late to stop it and they had embarked on "pragmatic"
negotiations to "mitigate" its consequences and get respect
for aboriginal treaty rights in the valley.
Canada's courts
haven't been rushing to recognize native treaties in the past and Six
Nations risked injury to its treaty rights with a court challenge, he said.
Both Williams and
Chris Murray, the city project director for the expressway, stressed
the agreements were not treaties but resolved issues of aboriginal
burials and archeological sites, environmental protection of the
valley, heritage education and hunting, fishing and gathering rights.
Williams said the
economic partnerships with aboriginals called for in the agreements
offered long-term opportunities for Six Nations to get involved in
stream rehabilitations and plant and tree regeneration businesses.
After questioning
Williams and Murray, Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla said he was
satisfied the economic opportunities deal was an "open,
transparent and competitive" process.
Williams told the
committee no contracts were guaranteed but native contractors had to
demonstrate they could do the work in a timely, efficient and
competitive way.
Murray told the
Spectator the city has been informed by the federal minister of
Indian and Northern Affairs that there are no concerns about the
agreements and that they are a matter between the city, the province
and Six Nations.
Torstar News Service |
