The blockade of Argyle Street in Caledonia remains up and Haudenosaunee protesters say they will stay until their demands are met.
Most of the dozen or so protesters are women and they set up a barricade across Argyle Street near the old Douglas Creek Estates site about 8:30 Thursday morning.
There are three major demands:
- Ontario and Canada return to the negotiating table with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
- Ontario uphold a 2006 agreement and returns the Burtch lands under the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784.
- Six Nations Band Council withdraw their injunction against Kris Hill and the people of Six Nations.
Kris Hill, a Mohawk, has been farming the Burtch lands near Brantford since 2014 under a lease with the Confederacy.
The band council wants the land to become part of the reserve and a two day court case over the land is set for next week.
Argyle Street North is closed at Highway 6, and southbound Argyle Street traffic is closed at Braemar Avenue.
OPP say it’s unclear when the road will reopen and are recommending drivers headed south on Argyle divert to Haldimand Road 66.
“As with any road closure or blockade, the objective of the OPP is to work to restore the orderly flow of traffic is the safest manner possible,” the OPP said in a statement Thursday.
LISTEN: Ken Hewitt, mayor of Haldimand County, joins the Bill Kelly Show
Ken Hewitt, mayor of Haldimand County, said he hopes the situation gets resolved “immediately” and noted that the dispute isn’t connected to the location of the blockade.
“It has nothing to do with, in our opinion, certainly the people of Caledonia and Haldimand,” he said.
It’s been 11 years since a dispute over a section of land boiled over into fires, physical altercations and a months-long blockade of a section of Highway 6 around Caledonia.
For weeks, residents of a Caledonia neighbourhood faced lengthy detours around the blockade.
Since 2006, any altercations between Caledonia and Six Nations residents have been relatively minor.
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