Letter: Honourable Kathleen Wynne from K. Dorey
Premier: Take whatever measures needed
Posted in the Lakeshore Advance – Opinon Letters
To the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, M.L.A, Premier of the Province of Ontario
With Respect
I am the daughter of a land owner and a personal lifetime summer resident of Centre Ipperwash, in the Municipality of Lambton Shores. I read the letter your office dispatched to Henry Godinho, who then forwarded it to my father, Eugene Dorey, Chair of the Centre Ipperwash Community Association, dated January 2, 2015.
I realize your office is operating under the well formed and efficient method of delegation of issues within your governing body. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to look into the matter of the actions of the Native Canadians of Kettle Point personally, as the matter has been of legal concern for several decades.
Canada, as a nation, and under the Federal Government, has been attempting to right the wrongs of the past in terms of our Native Canadians. These movements are, for better or worse, moving in the direction of admitting past injustices done to the Native Canadians and working to rectify them.
Native Affairs is, under the Canadian Government, a Federal matter, with all decisions and solutions coming out of Ottawa and Parliament Hill. While this is commendable as a Nation, it is effectively tying the hands of the Provincial and Municipal Governments when illegal issues arise concerning the Native Canadians.
Since 1827, when the Huron Lake Shore property of Centre Ipperwash was ceded to the Crown for use or sale, the Crown, in turn, sold most of the area to private citizens, which brings us to our current crisis of law.
Since the re-occupation of the Ipperwash Army Base, located on Highway 21 North in 1995, the Native Canadians of the area, with help from outside Native forces, have continuously and deliberately taken the law into their own hands with regards to, in particular, the Centre Ipperwash area. Residents have lost their Ontario Provincial Police protection where Native Canadians are involved, have had properties damaged and have, recently, had to watch as the Native Canadians of Kettle Point, once again, break Municipal and Provincial Law by removing barriers protecting Provincial and private property from unlawful trespass, land destruction and environmental harm.
The Federal Government, while in the position of authority in all Native Canadian matters, has decided, in its questionable wisdom, to not intervene in this matter.
The Provincial Government, therefore, has a responsibility to all its citizens, including land owners, Native Canadians and the general public, to uphold the laws of Ontario and the Municipality of Lambton Shores . It is your Government’s responsibility to allow the Ontario Provincial Police to enforce the law, as it is written, for all concerned, for Native and Non-Native alike.
I plead with you, as the Premier, a citizen of Ontario and a person of authority, to take whatever measures are necessary to put yourself in a position of authority with regards to illegal actions within the Centre Ipperwash community.
I fear, as do many residents, that should these illegal actions continue to be allowed to occur without consequences or repercussions, there will be more uprisings, more injustices and more land wars in our very near future.
Respectfully Yours
Kathryn Dorey