Judge not biased not unfit: Fantino must face him in court Arbiter's reaction to lawyer no proof of bias against Fantino, court hears 7 hours ago TORONTO — An adjudicator had every reason to feel he was being threatened by an experienced lawyer acting for Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, and his reaction did not show he was biased, a court heard Thursday. Lawyer Julian Falconer, who represents two officers charged by Fantino with professional misconduct, told Divisional Court the adjudicator's reaction to being told he would be appealed if he didn't step down was perfectly understandable. "It is not in the least surprising," Falconer told the three-judge panel. "It was an extraordinary submission to make to an adjudicator. It was unnecessary. It was offensive." At issue is whether Leonard Montgomery is unfit to continue hearing the disciplinary case against the two senior officers, as Fantino contends. At the disciplinary hearing in October, Fantino's lawyer Brian Gover asked Montgomery to step down and said he would take the matter to court if the retired justice did not do so. Gover also insisted he had the full support of the province's attorney general - something the ministry immediately disavowed. An angry Montgomery refused to step down. Gover's comments, Montgomery said, amounted to a "highly improper" attempt to intimidate a judicial officer. He also complained about apparent political interference and conflicts of interest related to the Ministry of the Attorney General's involvement. In his submissions, Fantino's new lawyer Tom Curry told Divisional Court that Gover's comments were in response to pointed questions from the defence. It was an "unjustifiable attack" for Montgomery to accuse Gover, who was only being "candid," of intimidation, Curry said. At several points, Justice James Carnwath challenged Curry's assertion that Montgomery had shown bias rather than a normal reaction to Gover's announcement that he would go to court if not satisfied. "This kind of statement leads to some pretty harsh responses from the bench," Carnwath noted. "(Montgomery) was pretty constrained." Curry insisted the adjudicator had, on several occasions, shown hostility to the prosecution. He also complained Montgomery had unfairly called Fantino's credibility into question when the commissioner changed his testimony during the disciplinary hearing. Among other things, Montgomery had said he was "upset" by what had happened. Curry said the comments show the adjudicator had closed his mind to any "innocent explanation" for Fantino's change. "It is crystal clear the adjudicator has gone beyond permissible criticism, commentary and rulings," Curry said. Falconer said the recusal motion appeared designed to derail Fantino's cross-examination, and he urged the judges to let the disciplinary proceedings continue. The labyrinthine disciplinary hearing involves two former members of the provincial police internal standards bureau. They are accused under the Police Services Act in relation to an investigation they did into how officers responded to a domestic violence complaint involving an officer and his estranged wife more than four years ago. But the case has ensnared Fantino, with the defence accusing him of petty vindictiveness and witness tampering. The attorney general has also been forced to disavow Gover's assertion that it backed his request for Montgomery to recuse himself. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hNPH9O8hF6Id6IlEibLsJNRhj3fg This is friggen hilarious!

Gover also insisted he had the full support of the province's attorney general - something the ministry immediately disavowed.

Of course the Ministry would have to disavow. duh. What's wrong with Fantino's head? Fantino made his lawyer try to 'strong arm' the judge, using the name of the Attorney-General no less, and in court! I'm sure he is accustomed to doing in private with great success. That's how Fantino operates ... away from the light of justice. But Fantino's tactics don't work in court. hahahaha! Going down a peg or two, he is. Fantino implicated the Attorney General in 'fixing' a court. Prediction for 2009: Fantino is toast! NObody can keep Fantino in power if he hangs himself! ... like by ratting out the Attorney General on the public record. hahahahahahaha!

Ipperwash, official racism and the future of Ontario http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2040

Fantino also urged Brant to “pull the plug” on the blockades or “suffer grave consequences." At a news conference, Rosenthal said Fantino threatened Brant "with premature death at the hands of [an OPP] sniper."

Rosenthal warned, “If somebody does read that transcript, who’s aware of Ipperwash, they would recognize that there's danger in allowing Fantino to be head of OPP and the danger we talk about is life and death.”

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Fantino and Ontario's duty in Indigenous protests

AMNESTY CALLS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY: FANTINO AND TYENDINAGA (see below)

GRANNY AGAIN CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF JULIAN FANTINO

Many have called for the resignation of OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, due to his personal vendetta and aggression against the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga, using OPP tactical officers under his personal orders. Premier Dalton McGuinty defers, and hides from any discussion of Fantino's misuse of power.

WHY?

Dalton McGuinty says the OPP Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents will be followed in Ontario... but then...

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said during cross-examination in a provincial court that the Framework is "not a firm and fixed mandated way of doing business."

WHICH IS IT MCGUINTY??

Is it OK for Fantino to call an OPP tactical force in to Tyendinaga, under his direct orders ... to assist a developer? ... to create an incident? Is it acceptable for Julian Fantino to order OPP officers ... to hold Indigenous families at gunpoint for a day? Is it OK for tactical OPP officers to put a gun to a woman's head and scream in her ear because she is on the phone contacting Elders? Is it OK for tactical OPP officers to threaten to shoot anyone coming off the quarry site, including escorted Grandmothers just wanting to go home?

IS THAT OK MCGUINTY?

Fantino is directly challenging the power of Dalton McGuinty, the Liberal Party and the government in Ontario. IS ONTARIO UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE OPP INSTEAD OF THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT? The government wants to keep the peace in Ontario. Fantino wants to fight Shawn Brant, one of his chosen personal enemies, and he doesn't much care how many women and children and Elders are terrorized in the process. SHAWN BRANT WAS NOT EVEN THERE when Fantino's personal officers were holding people hostage! Fantino thinks the power of the Commissioner of the OPP is absolute, and includes his personal vendetta. Fantino thinks he can't be touched because he has support 'in high places'. Fantino thinks he can order Premier Dalton McGuinty to do his bidding ... to support Fantino's personal aggression ... IS THAT TRUE MCGUINTY?

DOES MCGUINTY ANSWER TO FANTINO? IS FANTINO MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU?

Time to MAN UP McGuinty!

Tell your party pockets they will have to take a back seat to the 'public good' because in Ontario, the public good is best served if FANTINO IS GONE!! IMO granny

** please circulate widely ** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OPEN LETTER: Ontario's duty to ensure rights are upheld in police response to Indigenous protests November 12, 2008 Ontario's duty to ensure rights are upheld in police response to Indigenous protests Open letter to the Honourable Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Dear Minister: Amnesty International Canada is reiterating its call for the Province of Ontario to immediately: • Publicly affirm its support for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents and commit to ensuring that officers are held accountable for any breaches of this Framework. • Work with Indigenous peoples' organizations to establish a timetable and process for an independent evaluation of the OPP Framework and appropriate codification of the Framework in provincial laws and policies. In light of very serious concerns that have been raised over the OPP response to land rights protests at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on June 28-29, 2007 and April 21-28, 2008, Amnesty International is also urging the Province of Ontario to establish an independent, impartial probe into OPP actions on those dates and to make the findings of such an investigation public. During the Ipperwash Inquiry, the Ontario Provincial Police described its Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents ("Framework") as the "centrepiece" of its commitment to respect the underlying rights at issue in Indigenous land protests and to minimize the potential for escalation and violence. However, three months after the Framework was strongly endorsed in the report of the Ipperwash Inquiry, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said during cross-examination in a provincial court that the Framework is "not a firm and fixed mandated way of doing business." Commissioner Fantino was being questioned about the large number of police deployed and the aggressive tactics used in response to a June 28-29, 2007 protest by activists from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The Commissioner's response raises serious questions about the amount of discretion being exercised by the OPP with respect to the Framework and whether the OPP is being appropriately held to account for full and consistent implementation of the Framework. Over the last 20 months, protestors from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory have engaged in a series of actions intended either to directly protect their interests in the Culbertson Land Tract or to attract public attention and put pressure on the federal government to resolve this long- standing land claim. Some of these actions have involved rail and road closures. This has resulted in public inconvenience and created a complex policing challenge. At the same time, there is no indication that these protests presented any threat to public safety. Although a spokesperson at one protest publicly alluded to the possibility that the protestors had access to weapons, Amnesty International is not aware of any evidence to suggest that this was in fact the case. As such, it appears to us that these protests give rise to precisely the kind of situation the OPP Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents was intended to address, and with which the Ipperwash Inquiry dealt exhaustively. The Ontario Police Services Act states that: "Police services shall be provided throughout Ontario in accordance with...the importance of safeguarding the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Code." Among the rights protected in law in Canada are rights to peaceful assembly and protest and the specific Treaty and Aboriginal Rights of Indigenous peoples. The OPP Framework is a critical tool for ensuring that officers respond to Indigenous land protests in a manner consistent with and supportive of these rights. As we said in a letter to you in August 2008, Amnesty International believes that any policing policy intended to uphold and protect human rights must be treated with extreme seriousness and consistency. Where such a policy is breached, it is important to determine why it was breached and whether the breach was in fact warranted and acceptable. In this light, we are deeply troubled that your government has not demonstrated real and serious concern over Commissioner Fantino's remarks about adherence to the Framework. According to testimony in the case of Regina v. Shawn Brant, OPP actions during Tyendinaga Mohawk protests on June 28 and 29, 2007 included placing a sniper unit on stand-by and preparations to deploy overwhelming force against the protestors, even as a negotiated end to the protest was proceeding. Concerns were also raised in court over the fact that Commissioner Fantino interfered with the work of trained OPP negotiators by contacting protestor Shawn Brant directly and that during his conversations with Mr. Brant he made aggressive and inappropriate comments including a threat that "your whole world's going to come crashing down" and that Mr. Brant would suffer "grave consequences" if he did not order an end to the blockade. Although the June 28-29th protest ended peacefully, it was followed by other incidents from April 21-28, 2008 during which there was again a massive deployment of OPP officers and equipment, including the Public Order Unit and the Tactics and Rescue Unit. In interviews with members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community, including protesters and bystanders, Amnesty International has heard consistent and credible reports of police actions during the April 21-28 incidents that clearly require investigation, including reports that OPP officers pointed firearms at unarmed protesters and members of their families. Given the seriousness of these concerns, Amnesty International considers that your government's only public response to date – a statement by Premier McGuinty that he has "full confidence" in Commissioner Fantino and that the Commissioner's response to the Tyendinaga Mohawk protests showed "tremendous discipline" – is utterly inappropriate and inadequate. In August 2008, Amnesty International wrote to you urging the Government of Ontario to: • Publicly confirm that it supports the Ontario Provincial Police Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents and will ensure that officers are held to account for its breach. • Work with Indigenous peoples' organizations to establish a timetable and process for independent evaluation of the OPP Framework and appropriate codification of the Framework in provincial laws and policies. We were disappointed by your reply. In your September 12 letter, you inaccurately refer to our concerns as being about remarks "allegedly" made by Commissioner Fantino. In fact, there is no doubt about what the Commissioner stated as his remarks are a matter of public court record. Your letter makes no further comment on the Commissioner's remarks, offers no clarification of the province's position on police accountability for upholding the Framework, and does not address the specific recommendations we presented to you. Your letter states only that: "The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the recommendations from the Ipperwash report, one of which is an evaluation of the OPP Framework for Police Preparedness for Aboriginal Critical Incidents." In the 2007 final report of the Ipperwash Inquiry, Commissioner Justice Linden called for the province to adopt, "as soon as it is practical to do so," a provincial peacekeeping policy based largely on the OPP Framework, in order to "codify the lessons learned at Ipperwash and reassure both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Ontarians that peacekeeping is the goal of both police and government in this province, that treaty and Aboriginal rights will be respected, that negotiations will be attempted at every reasonable opportunity, and that the use of force must be the last resort." Such a policy, the report stated, "will compel provincial or police officials who wished to pursue a more aggressive policing response in the future to explain publicly why peacekeeping is inappropriate. It will also be considerably more difficult for a provincial official to demand that protesters leave a site within a limited time period or to downplay the importance of negotiations. Police leaders, incident commanders, and individual officers will also have additional assurance that peacekeeping is the appropriate and justified strategy, irrespective of any real or perceived governmental pressure otherwise.' Commissioner Justice Linden also called for an independent evaluation of the implementation of the Framework with "significant and meaningful participation by Aboriginal representatives in the design, oversight and analysis of the evaluation." Minister Bartolucci, we are concerned by the fact that 1 1⁄2 years later your Ministry is still at the stage of merely reviewing the Inquiry's recommendations and has not yet moved with appropriate urgency to implement measures deemed vital to upholding rights and saving lives. Accordingly, we are reiterating our call for your government to immediately: • Issue a public confirmation that your government supports the OPP Framework and will ensure that officers are held accountable for any breaches of the Framework. • Work with Indigenous peoples' organizations to establish a timetable and process for an independent evaluation of the OPP Framework and appropriate codification of the Framework in provincial laws and policies. Concerns over OPP actions in June of 2007 and April of 2008 are extremely serious. Therefore, Amnesty International is also urging you to establish an independent, impartial probe into OPP actions on June 28 and 29, 2007 and April 21-28, 2008 with respect to Mohawk protests and occupations near Tyendinaga and to make the findings of such an investigation public. Yours sincerely, Alex Neve Secretary General Amnesty International Canada

Six Nations, Caledonia, arrest Update

Natives say man's arrest breaks deal

September 20, 2008

John Burman and Rachel De Lazzer The Hamilton Spectator CALEDONIA (Sep 20, 2008)

OPP officers have arrested a native man on Douglas Creek Estates, the first arrest on the site since an ill-fated raid more than two years ago fuelled a protracted land claims dispute.

Reading from a prepared statement yesterday at the site, native spokesperson Dawn Smith said the OPP broke an agreement made on April 20, 2006 not to enter the property.

That was the day dozens of OPP officers entered in a pre-dawn raid, arresting 16 protesters at the Argyle Street South subdivision they had by then occupied for eight weeks. It sparked native blockades and violent clashes.

Smith compared yesterday's arrest of Kenneth Greene with the police tactics in Ipperwash that led to the death of native activist Dudley George in 1995.

"Today rings of Ipperwash all over again," said Smith, surrounded by native supporters. "In our eyes, it was a direct act of aggression and hostility against all Haudenosaunee. The OPP were ready to shoot."

Haldimand OPP Constable Paula Wright could not confirm that police pointed guns at anyone.

Greene, 43, of no fixed address, is charged with disguise with intent, four counts of assault with a weapon, three charges of uttering death or bodily harm threats, two counts of intimidation and four counts of mischief.

The charges are in connection with events on Labour Day, when the arrest of a prominent Six Nations spokesperson and two others in Brantford triggered a chain reaction that led to parts of Caledonia being barricaded.

The arrest follows a separate incident on Thursday when Dana Chatwell, who lives in a home at the edge of the property, alleged Greene threatened her husband Dave Brown with a gun.

jburman@thespec.com

905-526-2469

rdelazzer@thespec.com

905-526-3404

................... We can now tell you that a Six Nations man arrested at the reclamation site this morning was 43-year-old Kenneth Greene. It’s alleged that the man, also known as “Sleeper”, took part in the activities of September 1st in Caledonia, not demonstrations in Brantford as was reported earlier. The arrest, which took place without the permission of Six Nations, caused several residents from the territory to gather at the site and in turn, got the attention of Caledonia residents who were left wondering what was happening. Greene is facing several charges, among them, four counts of assault with a weapon. Several Six Nations and Caledonia residents took part in demonstrations of September 1st that also saw a return to barricades being erected. They were only up for a matter of hours however. (CKRZ) ... Caledonia tense after native arrested

September 19, 2008

John Burman The Hamilton Spectator

CALEDONIA –Tensions are running high around the disputed Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia today following the arrest of a native man on the site.

The arrest was made in connection with events that occurred on Labour Day.

Few details are currently available. However, representatives from Six Nations are planning a 3:30 p.m. press conference at the site regarding the arrest.

Police this morning arrested Kenneth Greene, 43, of no fixed addres, and charged him with disguise with intent, four counts of assault with a weapon, three charges of uttering death or bodily harm threats, two counts of intimidation and four counts of mischief.

The charges do not involve a gun.

Greene remains in custody for a bail hearing.

OPP Haldimand detachment commander acting Inspector Mike Rigby is appealing for the public’s help. Anyone with information about the Labour Day unrest can call 905-3322 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

On Labour Day, the arrest of a prominent Six Nations spokesperson and two others in Brantford triggered a chain reaction that led to parts of Caledonia being shut down for hours.

The blockades started Sept. 1 around 9 a.m. when Six Nations protesters set up barricades on Argyle Street South and blocked the Highway 6 bypass.

Stephen Powless, 43, and two teens were arrested in Brantford for allegedly being on the construction site at the Hampton Inn on Fen Ridge Court, next to the Kingspan Insulated Panels development site from which they are barred.

After the barricades on Argyle and the bypass had been were removed, angry Caledonia residents refused to let traffic resume on Argyle Street South. The bypass was open sometime during the afternoon, but Argyle was not fully open to traffic until nearly 6 p.m., after a brief standoff between residents and about 50 OPP officers.

Stephen Powless, 43, and two teens were arrested in Brantford for allegedly being on the construction site at the Hampton Inn on Fen Ridge Court, next to the Kingspan Insulated Panels development site from which they are barred.

In a separate incident, residents in the area said they are concerned that an OPP cruiser was stationed at a home on the Sixth Line throughout the night and was still there this morning.

The home has been the target of a number of actions involving native protesters since the dispute began.

There are unconfirmed reports of an altercation at the home between its occupant and at least one native man. No injuries have been reported.

A spokesman for the OPP said both incidents are under investigation and more information will be provided later.

jburman@thespec.com

905-526-2469