Talks to settle the Caledonia, Ont. land dispute came to a halt Wednesday after government negotiators left the bargaining table in protest of another native occupation.
Ontario's Minister of Aboriginal Affairs David Ramsay said the bargainers were displeased after Six Nations protesters gathered in Hagersville on Wednesday morning, where construction of a senior's condominium complex was underway.
"This kind of behaviour is not acceptable,'' said Ramsay. "We should have peace and we should not have any further escalation."
Developer Dan Valentine agreed to temporarily halt building and remove equipment from the contentious site on Highway 6, about 15 kilometres south of the long-disputed land in Caledonia.
"I can't blame the natives. They have the claim, clearly something exists," Valentine said. "They've been trying to reach out to the government to settle this, and it hasn't been settled."
Ramsay said federal and provincial negotiators will return to the bargaining table for their next scheduled meeting with the Six Nations on May 31. The minister, however, wants the Six Nations to respond to last fall's government proposal on how to regulate building in the contested area.
"We need some sort of protocol that we would agree together on how to consult so development could move forward,'' Ramsay said.
"We haven't made that much progress to date, and we feel that this needs to be bumped up to the main table discussions scheduled for next Thursday.''
Hagersville lies along an area of land known as the Haldimand tract, which runs about 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River.
The Six Nations say they received the land from the government in 1784 for their helping the British Crown during the American Revolution.
During Wednesday's peaceful protest in Hagersville, about 20 natives waved flags and banged ceremonial drums under the watchful eye of police.
"We're not against development but we should be consulted, especially when we say we're negotiating on the very lands that are being developed," said native spokesperson Clyde Powless. "That's a slap right in the face."
The developer and a spokesperson for the native group said emergency negotiations would be planned to resolve the issue, and the property will be left alone until that time.
Despite the peaceful nature of the gathering, some local residents feared violence could have erupted.
"If this is going to go on for any length of time, it will be just like Caledonia," said resident Darcy Harris.
Aboriginal leaders have said that several protests will be staged this summer to draw attention to their positions on multiple land claims.
The Assembly of First Nations held a special meeting of chiefs on Tuesday to discuss how to raise awareness about aboriginal poverty.
The group is planning a day of action for June 29.
With a report from CTV's John Musselman and files from The Canadian Press
