A Brantford developer's frustration over native land claims came to a boil during a confrontation Wednesday with Premier Dalton McGuinty.So it seems as though this businessman just gets hung out to dry by the Fiberal government. I guess Dalton figures his rope-a-dope of the last year and a half... on Caledonia, Deseronto and now Brantford is the best way to handle the situation.
Mike Quattrociocchi, owner of Mayberry Homes, intercepted the premier as he left a campaign stop at a Hamilton banquet hall, where McGuinty had just delivered a speech to Liberal supporters.
"What are you going to do about the natives on my site?" Quattrociocchi shouted while standing in front of the premier.
"As much as I can," McGuinty said, before his answer was drowned out by Liberal supporters cheering: "Dalton, Dalton, Dalton."
Quattrociocchi said he went to Hamilton on Wednesday looking for answers from the premier. During a scrum with about a dozen members of the media, the builder said McGuinty didn't provide any.We don't deserve another four years of that.
"The premier told me it was a federal issue and got on (his campaign) bus," Quattrociocchi said. "That is not leadership.
In an interview, Quattrociocchi said the province is provoking confrontation between natives and non-natives by taking a hands-off approach to disputes between developers and Six Nations.
"It's almost as if the province is encouraging a fight," Quattrociocchi said. "They're encouraging vigilantism."
**********
RELATED: "Not our problem," says government ministry
Ministry spokesman Lars Eddy told a Hamilton Spectator reporter on Tuesday that developers facing heat from natives for building on disputed land "should proceed" with their projects.Apparently the Premier of Ontario agrees.
When asked what happens in the event of a confrontation with Six Nations residents, Eddy was quoted as saying: "That's between the developers, it's their property ... and the Six Nations."
Mayor Mike Hancock said Quattrociocchi's anger and frustration are deserved.
"For the government to tell developers they're on their own is frankly shameful," he said. "To get solutions we have to be in this together - the province, the feds, Six Nations and developers. To tell one group 'Sorry guys, we can't help you on this" is disgraceful."
(h/t reader "fernando")
**********
LAST WORD: It's like a "Mafia shakedown"
Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer says it would be "outrageous" to allow the Six Nations Confederacy to collect fees for development projects along the disputed Grand River tract.(via "joanne's journey")
She has joined a group of mayors trying to block the move, which a Brantford area builder has compared to a "Mafia" shakedown.
Traditional chiefs at Six Nations are saying anyone planning to build in the Grand River watershed now needs their approval. Developers in the area have been told they must secure a permit, issued for a fee by a new planning department established under aboriginal law.
Brantford developer Mike Quattrociocchi of Mayberry Homes said the Six Nations Confederacy asked him to pay a 4 per cent or $48,000 fee for his $1.2 million building project on Grand Avenue in Brantford.
He has refused to pay and compares the demand to a Mafia "extortion."
It's not clear how Six Nations intends to enforce development permits not required by Ontario law.
Technorati Tags: Mayberry Homes, Mike Quattrociocchi, homegrown terror
