Please join us in gathering outside of the Caledonia Lions Hall at 100 Haddington St, Caledonia, Ontario, starting at 11:30 am
On February 27th, 2011, at the fifth anniversary of the Six Nations land reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates, Gary McHale, anti-Native activist and executive director of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE), has announced his intention to hold a “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” in Caledonia, Ontario.
In 2006 people of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory reclaimed land in “dispute” for more than 150 years in order to stop development of a Caledonia subdivision on stolen land.
In reaction to the reclamation, Gary McHale and his followers set about a political movement to end what they call “native lawlessness,” “land claim terrorism,” and “race-based policing”. CANACE has bolstered continued support for their propaganda against “reverse racism” and “two-tiered justice” that, according to them, victimizes the mainly white residents of Caledonia and Canadians more broadly.
Following the patters of white backlash movements since the gains of the 1960s civil rights movement, CANACE misappropriates the language of civil and human rights, and readily proclaims its work to be part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.
In 2009 leaders of CANACE played leading roles in trying to establish the “Caledonia Militia” and on March 21st, 2010 they called an “anti-racist” rally on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to bring attention to the “race-based policing” that discriminates against white people. See: http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/join-merlyn-kinrades-anti-racism-rally-in-caledonia-on-march-2110/
Anti-racist and Six Nations solidarity activists organized to denounce the escalation of racism and colonial violence on both occasions.
See: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/mchale-flees-dialogue-happens/
And: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/anti-racists-2-gary-mchale-canace-0/
Now Gary McHale and his followers are attempting to appropriate the language of “Truth and Reconciliation.” CANACE is demanding that an official apology be issued to the people of Caledonia from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Ontario government, and Six Nations peoples. CANACE has also announced it intends to erect an “apology monument” on Kanonhstaton (Six Nations reclaimed land). In their press release for the event they demand a similar apology from the government as that given to the First People of this land in relation to the unconscionable atrocities of the residential school system.
For Press Release see:
http://caledoniavictimsproject.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/joint-news-release-truth-reconciliation-rally-in-caledonia-feb-27th/
We must stand united against this outrageous attempt to compare the hardships experienced by Caledonia residents to various genocidal and racist projects of assimilation, expulsion and extermination. We must uphold the political, historical and emotional significance of apologies issued by the Canadian Government to people wronged by the state and society.
Background on Gary McHale’s Settle Militia here:
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