Caledonia: Furnishing The Barricades

But before we get to that, sit back and enjoy as the Black Rod lays waste the journalistic pretense known as Colleen Simard;

if anyone adheres to the credo of "for the people" it's Free Press columnist Colleen Simard.

Simard writes a weekly column for the newspaper. She purports to be a journalist. Well, actually she admits she's an "aboriginal journalist" which, apparently, is not the same thing.

In a column headlined "That's right; I'm an aboriginal journalist" she wrote:

I'll keep calling myself an aboriginal journalist until I'm not an anomaly anymore, but have become part of a larger crowd of mainstream journalists who just happen to be aboriginal. So there.

Simard saw a story brewing and hopped over to the native blockade at Caledonia. A journalist would realize she had a rare opportunity. She could use her native status to get to where there were no reporters, to tell the story from inside.

Well, that's what a journalist would do. Not Simard. No sirree Bob. Her report was clear about that:

I'm facing this angry crowd because I came to support my people. I'm here as an Indian, not a journalist. The lines are drawn, but sometimes anger blinds you so much you don't see who the real enemy is. Are we really on opposite ends here?

We are if you're talking journalism.

Back at the barricades, Simard's People[tm] are taking affirmative action into their own hands - along with a few photocopiers;

Henco Industries is building homes on 40 hectares of contested land which Six Nations members have occupied since Feb. 28, arguing the land belongs to them.

Henco’s lawyer, Michael Bruder, says files, computers, furniture and construction equipment worth an estimated $200,000 were looted from an office and model home on the site on April 20.

Bruder says several requests to the Six Nations Confederacy to have the property returned have gone unanswered.

He also says someone who identifies himself as an intermediary for the protesters has indicated he would arrange for the return of some office records if the price was right. But Bruder says no dollar figure was mentioned in the demand.

Time to review:
[x] Arson
[x] Looting
[x] Extortion
[ ] Arrests

So, here's a question. At what point does Dalton McGuinty's experiment in mob rule get rebranded as an "insurgency"?

Posted by Kate at May 6, 2006 10:57 AM