Bob Aaron in Legal
Injunction granted after protesters stall construction at Hagersville home-building site
Last month, the Ontario Superior Court in Hamilton granted an injunction against two aboriginal groups preventing them from entering the property of a local homebuilder and interfering with the development of its land.
In 2001, John Voortman & Associates Ltd. purchased a property on Main St. N., in Hagersville. It consists of 2.4 hectares (six acres) of raw land upon which Voortman intends to build a subdivision of 46 townhouses. Title to the property can be traced back to Crown grants in 1849 and 1850.
Last June, Chief William Contour of the Six Nations Council wrote to the senior planner in Haldimand County advising him that the Voortman property was subject to a Six Nations aboriginal land claim, and that no development should take place until its claim is settled with the provincial and federal governments.
In October, Voortman hired a contractor to clear and level the site. A group of aboriginal people came to the site to protest the work. Voortman was told that the property was aboriginal land and that the group would return daily until construction stopped.
The Ontario Provincial Police came to the site but refused to take any action to remove the protesters without a court order.
Construction was halted until Dec. 7. When it resumed, the protesters again arrived and shut down all work. One of the protesters informed the developer that he represented the Haudenosaunee Men's Fire of Grand River (HMF), an aboriginal group independent of the Six Nations Council.
