McHale Misrepresents “Truth and Reconciliation”

February 28th, 2011
Kate Milley

Thanks to biased media coverage, by the likes of Christie Blatchford, most Ontarians know Gary McHale as a “civil rights activists” or the guy who pressed charges against Fantino in relation to the Six Nations land reclamation or “Caledonia Crisis”. For five years now McHale and company have been escalating tensions in Caledonia, trying to erect various things on Six Nations land and to march on it. Following the patterns of white backlash movements since the 1960s, they misappropriate the language of the civil rights movement and make the unfounded claim that white people are the victims of racism and race based policing. McHale goes so far as to compare his work to that of Dr. Martin Luther King’s, even while in 2009 he helped to form the defunct “Caledonia Militia.” On Feb 27th McHale and Mark Vandermaas held a “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” to ERECT an apology monument on Six Nations reclaimed land (psychoanalysts would have a field day with this). Outrageously they wanted the Six Nations to issue an apology to Caledonia, akin to the one given by the Canadian government for residential schools. The violence inherent in such a move and this sickening comparison is obvious. It is no wonder, then, that right-wing extremists and white supremacists have long been supporters of Gary McHale.

Paul Fromm, one of the leading white supremacists in Canada, and best known for his support of holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, has advertised McHale-led events on the neo-Nazi website Stormfront. In fact Fromm has also attended several of McHale’s rallies. While McHale and Vandermaas steadfastly deny any connections to explicit white supremacist movements, the public should be aware that these men are forging ties to extreme right-wing groups even as they have the support of several elected Ontario politicians including PC leader Tim Hudak, MPP Toby Barrett, and MPP Randy Hillier. Vandermaas has made connections to members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a group identified in a FBI report as a “right-wing terrorist group”. Recently McHale and Vandermaas linked up with the International Free Press Society (IFPS). Several articles and announcements by them can be found on IFPS’s website, , and the VP of IFPS Canada was supposed to speak at McHale’s rally on Feb 27th . The IFPS was founded by Lars Hedegaard, a Danish man recently charged with anti Muslim/Islamophobic hate crimes. In 2011 McHale and Vandermaas authored a letter in support of Hedegaard as well as Danish MP Jesper Langballe also charged with hate crimes. On Vandermas’ blog you can find a speech given by Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Dutch Freedom Party. The speech is noteworthy as it bears an uncanny resemblance to Nazi propaganda grounded in anti-Semitic fears of a vast “Jewish conspiracy” to take over the entire world, for Wilder however this fear is of an “Islamic conspiracy.” Wilder has been brought up on 5 charges of inciting hate and discrimination against Muslims. While McHale and Vandermaas claim they are ‘anti-racist’ ‘non-violent’ activists inspired by Dr. King, their language, actions and connections reveal a much different story.

As Ontarians we should be gravely concerned by the formation of these kinds of political movements and the racist ideas they promote. Certainly we can all recognize this is not the path to Truth or Reconciliation.

Kate Milley is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, her research looks at historical and contemporary anti-Native movements in Canada.

TO THE PEOPLE OF CALEDONIA

From the Six Nations Solidarity Network
(Leaflet handed out at Feb 27th “Truth and Reconciliation Rally”)

We are here today in a spirit of reconciliation and truth. Tomorrow
marks the 5th year since the reclamation began. As non-natives, many
of us today have been actively involved in various ways with people here
over the years. We have:

• Talked with residents on their doorsteps about their concerns, when
the barricades around the reclamation site were still up;

• Attempted to defuse potentially violent conflicts as tensions flared
on Argyle Street in the early days of the reclamation;

• Worked extensively with community members from Six Nations,
around a wide range of youth, women’s, environmental and social
justice issues;

• Organized speaking events, potlucks, and forums where people from
both Six Nations and Caledonia have given their take on the conflict,
and tried to find ways to build dialogue and understanding between
communities.

Our consistent aim has been one of encouraging dialogue, peace, and understanding between all the various communities involved in this conflict. It is our perspective that the primary reason for the existence and continuation of this conflict lies in the failure of our provincial and federal governments to undertake serious negotiations with the people of Six Nations. The root of this conflict is one of colonial oppression: Six Nations have had their resources, traditional forms of government, and their culture taken away by the actions of the Canadian government. The legacies of land being sold off in illegal deals without community consultation, Confederacy Chiefs being deposed by the RCMP at bayonet point, and children being forced into residential schools, forbidden to speak their language or practice their culture, are evident today.

A genuine attempt at reconciliation and peace thus needs to recognize that this conflict did not begin five years ago. It is rooted in the European colonization of the Americas which began some 500 years ago, and continues today. Because of this, what has happened in Caledonia and Six Nations over the past 5 years is not a simple policing issue, or an issue of the “rule of law.” Rather, it is a political conflict, involving different kinds of societies, with different legal systems, cultures, and understandings of how we should live with our environment.

Today, people across Canada are recognizing that indigenous peoples have been treated unfairly by different federal and provincial governments over the past 200 years. Yet, while successive governments have not kept their promises, many of us have not cared to remember these promises either, that were made in our name, by our elected representatives. Because of this, a solution will not come from encouraging the police to crack down on native protesters who are protecting their lands from property developers, or who are trying to ensure a better future for their children. If anything, such an approach will make things worse and heighten the level of confrontation and disruption in towns like Caledonia.

As such, we have come here today because we want to make it clear Gary McHale (and his cronies) do not speak for all non-natives – whether in Caledonia or elsewhere in Canada. McHale’s agenda is one that is self-serving and egotistical. We believe that it is based on trying to cause conflict and trouble between communities. Why do we say this?

Today, Gary McHale will try to erect his own monument directly in front of Douglas Creek Estates. Here he wants to inscribe apologies from Six Nations and the OPP to the people of Haldimand County. This question of apologies is interesting. Not once has McHale…

– Considered that the OPP (and those in elected office responsible
ultimately for their orders) should apologize for the armed raid at DCE on April 20th, 2006.

– Suggested that the Canadian government should apologize for historically failing to live up to the treaty obligations that our nation undertook with Six Nations;

– Understood that, as any adult knows, to begin a process of true
reconciliation, one must begin with making an apology for one’s own
failings.

This is the truth about McHale and his gang: nowhere does McHale offer an apology for his bullying and harassing behavior over the years. He has never apologized for:

– Silencing and intimidating Caledonia residents who do not toe his line.

– Having organized events in Caledonia that have been regularly attended by neo-Nazis and white supremacists;

– Calling native people “terrorists” and “thugs”;

– Planning protests and rallies to inflame an already tense situation.

McHale’s rally today is an attempt to produce more confrontation and conflict. Whenever things quieten down, and people attempt to move on with their lives, reconciling and dialoguing with one another in their daily activities, McHale rolls in town to fan the flames of conflict and aggression. Putting up his so-called monument in front of DCE is nothing more than an attempt to antagonize the OPP into arresting him so that he can continue to claim martyrdom, and/or attempting to provoke the people of Six Nations into some act of violence, that he can then use to paint them as “terrorists”.

We are here today to say that there is a better way. Reconciliation can come about. However, we believe that this will only be through us all recognizing the errors of our past actions, and understanding the history of the land we live upon. Reconciliation and truth needs to begin with compassion and
humility, and it has to recognize the grave injustices that indigenous people in Canada have faced for so long – and continue to face. If we are serious about resolving these issues, grassroots people from both Six Nations, and the surrounding communities across Ontario need to come together and demand that
our governments act in good faith to resolve these issues.

In friendship and solidarity,
The Six Nations Solidarity Network
For more info: http://www.6nsolidarity.wordpress.com or email 6nsn@gmail.com

Gary McHale’s Anti-Native “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” in Caledonia

On February 27th, 2011, at the fifth anniversary of the Six Nations land
reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates, Gary McHale, anti-Native activist and
executive director of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE),
announced his intention to hold a “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” in Caledonia,
Ontario.

In 2006 people of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory reclaimed land in
“dispute” for more than 150 years in order to stop development of a Caledonia
subdivision on stolen land. In reaction to the reclamation, Gary McHale and his
followers set about a political movement to end what they call “native
lawlessness,” “land claim terrorism,” and “race-based policing”. CANACE has
bolstered continued support for their propaganda against “reverse racism” and
“two-tiered justice” that, according to them, victimizes the mainly white
residents of Caledonia and Canadians more broadly. Following the patters of
white backlash movements since the gains of the 1960s civil rights movement,
CANACE misappropriates the language of civil and human rights, and readily
proclaims its work to be part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.

In 2009 leaders of CANACE played leading roles in trying to establish the
“Caledonia Militia” and on March 21st, 2010 they called an “anti-racist” rally
on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to bring
attention to the “race-based policing” that discriminates against white people.
See:

Join Merlyn Kinrade’s anti-racism rally in Caledonia on March 21/10

Anti-racist and Six Nations solidarity activists organized to denounce the
escalation of racism and colonial violence on both occasions.

See: https://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/mchale-flees-dialogue-happens/
And:

Anti-Racists 2, Gary McHale & CANACE 0

And:

A call for a peaceful protest against the formation of an anti-native “militia” in Caledonia

Now Gary McHale and his followers are attempting to appropriate the language of “Truth and Reconciliation.” CANACE is demanding that an official apology be issued to the people of Caledonia from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Ontario government, and Six Nations peoples. CANACE intended to erect an “apology monument” on Kanonhstaton (Six Nations reclaimed land). In their press release for the event they demanded a similar apology from the government as that given to the First People of this land in relation to the unconscionable atrocities of the residential school system.

For Press Release see:

JOINT NEWS RELEASE: ‘Truth & Reconciliation’ Rally in Caledonia Feb 27th

We must stand united against this outrageous attempt to compare the hardships
experienced by Caledonia residents to various genocidal and racist projects of
assimilation, expulsion and extermination. We must uphold the political,
historical and emotional significance of apologies issued by the Canadian
Government to people wronged by the state and society. The First Nations
Solidarity Working Group as a part of the Six Nations Solidarity Network calls
on all anti-racist activists and supporters of Indigenous struggles to send a
clear message to anti-Native activists: attempts to erase the ongoing theft of
Indigenous land and continuing crimes of the Canadian government against
Indigenous people and nations of this land through the spectre of white
victimization will not be tolerated!