CALEDONIA—On Tuesday, February 13, 2024 a developer and contractor were confronted by a group of Indigenous protestors on a lot of land across the street from the Caledonia Baptist Church on Argyle St. S.
The lot of land is located just down the road from the Douglas Creek Estates, one of two areas in Caledonia that were previously set for development and taken control of by Indigenous protestors. According to Ward 3 Councillor Dan Lawrence, the commercial lot in question was purchased by Steven Webster, a Toronto-based developer, approximately 8-10 years ago.
“If you’ve driven past the property, you’ll see that they’ve put up the Warrior Flag and the Haudenosaunee flag as well, and they’ve spray painted over the sign that’s out front as well,” said Lawrence. “There’s no barricades at this time.”
Lawrence added, “In the last couple of years, (Webster) started the process of wanting to develop it, to my understanding, for three commercial units. He apparently had leases signed with three national retailers.”
According to Lawrence, while the County has a duty to follow the Planning Act as laid out by the provincial government, “(Webster) was, during this whole process, warned about what could happen … not only by us, but by Six Nations Elected Council…. He submitted his application, eventually checked all the boxes, and so we had no choice but to issue him permits.”
Lawrence continued, “There was consultation going on the whole time. We’re very transparent, but we cannot stop a development based on a potential future event, even though you know what in probability will happen. It’s no different than Douglas Creek … you knew it was going to happen, but we as a County have to follow the rules and regulations as laid out in the Planning Act.”
Lawrence said the developer had a contractor on site to start cleaning the property up beginning on Monday, February 12, and the following day they were approached.
“I believe it was representatives of Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) … (who) showed up and shut them down without incident,” said Lawrence.
He noted that the contractor “packed up and has been gone since,” and that the developer has made no attempts since to contact Haldimand County regarding the potential future development.
Stay tuned to The Press for any updates on this story as they become available.
