On the first anniversary of the land occupation by Six Nations Confederacy protesters in Caledonia, Ont., the provincial police commissioner took aim at the federal government, saying Ottawa has been "missing in action."
Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino said Wednesday that police officers in his force have been taking the blame while keeping the peace at the site.
"Some of our people have been targeted, I've been targeted. It seems like we have become really the true meat in the sandwich in all of this," Fantino said Wednesday in Toronto.
He added that the OPP has been keeping things peaceful and will continue to do that in the future. But Fantino complained that officers have become "the lightning rod" for people on both sides of the dispute in an effort to further their cause.
"I call them interlopers and troublemakers, which is what they are," Fantino said.
"They don't live in the community. They parachute into the community to stir things up. They create a big fuss, they atack the police and then they're gone again," he told reporters at Queen's Park.
Earlier in the day Six Nations protesters staged a brief march through Caledonia.
About two dozen protesters waved flags and marched on Hwy. 6 for about 10 minutes near the place where the dispute began. They were escorted by OPP cruiser along the community's main roadway.
During a morning press conference, Six Nations chiefs and negotiators they have proof that the disputed land was taken from them illegally in 1844.
"The Confederacy believes that we are now beyond the point of waiting for proof that doesn't exist that would support the Department of Justice's legal opinion," negotiator Allen MacNaughton said Wednesday.
The group called on the federal government to resolve the dispute and give them what they need to provide for their people's needs.
Tense moments
Several altercations have erupted during the past year in Caledonia. At the height of tensions, protesters barricaded the roadway through Caledonia, effectively cutting off the community's link to the outside world.
The provincial government purchased the disputed land from a developer, who was building homes on the property, to be held in trust until a negotiated settlement could be reached between the Six Nations, the federal and provincial governments.
Tensions eased as a result, but a barricade at the entrance to the disputed property has remained in place.
Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has said negotiations still have a long way to go, suggesting that a resolution may be a long way off.
With files from The Canadian Press
