Indigenous man to reveal new info about land claim dispute over Pinery Provincial Park

The man who staged a land claim protest at Pinery Provincial Park is expected to release more information Monday that he says proves the claim.

An aboriginal family, led by Maynard T. George, staged protests at the entrance of the park in late 2017, and again in March of this year, in an effort to draw attention to the land claim.

“The Ontario government also works with the criminal code. Theft is a theft and there is no time limit on it,” George said.

“We’re going to release the names and dates that these agreements were signed, who put them together, and the confidentiality agreements behind [them].”

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George argued the British confirmed the right to the land following the War of 1812, that the family’s grandfather leased it for 99 years, and that his son inherited the land when he died.

“We want people to understand that what we’re doing is legal in nature. Anybody having land or having property or entitlement to an area goes after their benefits because they’re beneficiaries to wills,” George said.

He is hoping the new provincial government will help with the claim.

“Doug Ford is now the premier. I figured he was kind of liberal because of his brother, so I figured this man might be open to hearing a conversation or understanding our predicament and plight,” he said.

“That hasn’t occurred yet, but we’re hopeful that he’s going to hear what we have to say Monday.”

George and his family protested for about two weeks at the entrance of Pinery Provincial Park, until an agreement was reached between George and the Pinery that allowed for discussions to continue without any impact to park operations.

The press conference will take place at the gates of Pinery Provincial Park at 10 a.m.

Pinery Park is near Camp Ipperwash, where a land claim demonstration turned deadly in 1995 when police killed Dudley George, no relation to Maynard George, during a raid on the protesters’ camp.

The Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation approved the deal with the federal government in 2015 to settle that claim.

— With files from Jake Jeffrey and Jacquelyn LeBel