Issues at Douglas Creek Estates resurface

Ongoing issues at the former Douglas Creek Estates, are surfacing again.

We have information tonight on provincial expenditures on the seven-and-a-half year old dispute.

Members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) have now completed construction of a fence and gate, surrounding the former Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia.

Native spokesmen say it was erected to prevent trespassing on the disputed piece of land for safety and security reasons. But the province of Ontario is still spending tax money on the maintenance and management of the property.

Since 2007, the Ontario government has spent more than one-point-six million dollars, in connection with Douglas Creek Estates.

The bulk of that money, has gone to the county of Haldimand, in lieu of property taxes that cannot be collected, on the vacant subdivision.

Those costs have been escalating from a low of 84-thousand in 2007 to more than 123-thousand, last year according to documents obtained by CHCH News, under freedom of information (FOI) legislation.

The FOI submission also revealed that the province spent more than 30-thousand dollars last year on maintenance and management fees — mostly to prevent soil erosion, and cut grass.

CHCH asked for a detailed explanation of the fees in April — but so far there is no clear breakdown of the numbers from either the Aboriginal Affairs Minister, or the Minister of Infrastructure. Nor is there an explanation as to why property tax rates are being assessed as though a completed subdivision exists at Douglas Creek Estates rather than vacant land.

However, Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid says the benefit of the annual expenditures is greater than the cost: “Yeah there’s a cost in that. It’s not a huge cost overall, but there is a cost. But the alternative would have been to allow the battle to continue many years ago and lives may well have been lost too. I think it’s a small price to pay for public safety and to try to continue to build harmony in the community. Unfortunately, it’s because the federal government has been dragging its feet on the land claim and that’s created a continued tension in the community.

In 2006, the province used 16 million dollars provided by Ottawa, to purchase the disputed land in a bid to stop the escalating demonstrations and tension surrounding the land claim in Caledonia. Since then, Ontario has paid for up-keep and expenses on the land, including roughly 90-thousand dollars so far, this year.