OTTAWA - David Crombie, former federal cabinet minister and one-time Toronto mayor, has been named as a go-between for the non-aboriginal community in the ongoing native land dispute around Caledonia, in southern Ontario.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said Crombie will act as liaison between federal negotiators and the non-aboriginal community and offer an official channel though which non-aboriginals can voice concerns and get updates on the process of negotiations.
"Mr. Crombie brings years of first-hand knowledge of aboriginal and third party issues and possesses the qualifications needed to ensure that concerns are appropriately addressed," the minister said in a news release.
He said Crombie will handle the complaints of the non-aboriginal communities while federal negotiators deal with the native groups.
"Mr. Crombie will be available to meet with interested third-parties groups as required to assist the negotiators in determining the best way to address any local issues or concerns of third parties."
Ken Hewitt, a spokesman for the Caledonia Citizens Alliance, wasn't impressed by the appointment.
"It's another layer of bureaucracy and it's a layer of red tape," he said. "How effective it will be will be determined in the future. At this point it doesn't leave us with anything to get too excited about down here."
"I think people are looking for everybody to be treated the same," he added. "They're looking to see the Six Nations confederacy to be treated as legitimately as any other entity and be held as responsible and accountable as any other entity for their actions."
Crombie's appointment comes as tensions between natives and non-natives heated up after a developer in the area ended up in the hospital after a beating by native youths.
Strahl called that incident deplorable and said the government believes "that unlawful tactics are disruptive to negotiations while placing the public safety of all parties at risk."
The issue has spilled into the Ontario election campaign, where Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty ran into complaints about the province's handling of the dispute with Six Nations protesters.
Crombie was health minister in Joe Clark's short-lived government in 1979-89 and was minister of Indian Affairs and later a secretary of state in the Mulroney government.
He's the third former politician to step into the complicated and volatile Caledonia dispute, which initially flared up in February 2006 when natives occupied a subdivision under construction which they said was on native land.
Former Ontario premier David Peterson served a brief period as provincial point man on the case. In May 2006, Jane Stewart, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, was named by the province as special representative for negotiations.
Last May, she was replaced by a career bureaucrat.
The province initially tried to defuse the situation by purchasing the disputed land on behalf of the natives, but the barricades and tempers have remained high.
McGuinty says the dispute is between the natives and the federal government, not the province.
Strahl said the federal government is committed to resolving the complex land claims in the area in a way that is fair to everyone.
"The only solution in the Six Nations-Caledonia file is a negotiated one and Canada has been working closely with Six Nations and the government of Ontario to achieve such a solution," he said. "This process must also recognize the unique circumstances created as a result of the occupation."
"Our government knows that a key element in reaching a negotiated solution is to ensure that fair consideration is given to local concerns."
