Arrest warrant issued for spokesperson for land defenders at Caledonia construction site

The spokesperson for a group of Six Nations land defenders at a Caledonia residential development site says he has no plans to leave, despite OPP issuing a warrant for his arrest.

The group has been at the McKenzie Road site since mid-July, renaming it 1492 Land Back Lane and saying it’s unceded Haudenosaunee territory.

Skyler Williams was among nine people arrested during a police raid on Aug. 5 as enforcement of a court injunction that was granted to Foxgate Developments shortly after the occupation began in mid-July.

A spokesperson for OPP has confirmed that Williams and several others are wanted on outstanding charges and have been asked to turn themselves in.

Williams, who returned to the site shortly after his August arrest, said he will not be doing that.

“The police and the courts (are) using heavy-handed and violent police tactics in order to solve land claims,” Williams told Global News. “As long as there are people that are willing to stand up for our future generations, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we are here to fight for those future generations.”

Williams is also condemning a report from the Haldimand Police Services Board released last week.

In the report, the board had urged the OPP to review and revise its framework for responding to “Indigenous Critical Incidents” and expressed concern about recent developments in Caledonia — particularly the blockades on major roadways that followed the Aug. 5 raid.

Part of the report mentioned Williams specifically, which he said causes him concern.

“As well as a land defender, I’m still a father, and I’m still a husband and a son,” said Williams. “So, to hear these people talk about that we need to see a response that is a step up from Ipperwash and Oka … where Indigenous people lost their lives … that brought tears to my daughter’s eyes. She’s old enough to know and understand what that means.”

In a series of tweets posted last week, the group as a whole condemned the report and called on the members of Haldimand’s police services board to resign.

On Wednesday, the board’s vice-chair Brian Haggith told Global News that the report was not meant to direct police to respond to the occupation in any particular way, but rather to say that the OPP’s policy for responding to such incidents isn’t working to keep the peace in Caledonia.

“Part of our mandate is to hold our policing services accountable for the equitable, unbiased application of the law,” said the board in a statement posted to its website. “Under no circumstances is the Board racially motivated in how they want the police service (OPP) to enforce the law in Haldimand county.”

The board’s statement also sought to explain why it referred to the land defenders as “terrorists” at one point in the report.

“This report was not a racial commentary or editorialization made by the Board. It was simply a
statement made upon reviewing the definition of terrorism in the Criminal Code and comparing the
illegal actions of the people involved when the court order requiring them to leave the construction site
was given.”

Since the injunction was granted at the end of July, police have arrested 24 people — some of them more than once, which brings the total number of arrests to 27.

The most recent arrests were on Tuesday, with a 19-year-old from Bancroft and a 26-year-old from Orillia facing charges, including disobeying a court order and mischief.

The injunction will be back in court on Oct. 9.