Calls for a public inquiry into a southern Ontario aboriginal occupation were quashed by Premier Dalton McGuinty yesterday as the contentious land dispute neared its third anniversary with no end in sight.
Even though Ontario taxpayers are footing much of the bill to police the dispute in Caledonia, it’s up to Ottawa to resolve the outstanding land claims at the heart of the conflict, McGuinty said.
“What we will continue to do — to the very best of our ability — is to bring the two sides together, try to keep them together and try to create conditions which lead to the resolution of this matter,” he said.
Talks aimed at ending the occupation of the former housing project have resumed, said Aboriginal Affairs Minister Brad Duguid, who wouldn’t speculate on when a resolution might come.
The negotiations — involving both levels of government and sparked by the Caledonia occupation — touch on dozens of claims in Haldimand County.
