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CaledoniaWakeUpCall and VoiceofCanada have obtained a copy of the Statement of Claim for a $12,000,000 lawsuit against Gwen Boniface, Julian Fantino, Brian Haggith and the Province of Ontario by Caledonia residents Dave Brown and Dana Chatwell.

The claim is nothing less than a shocking indictment of OPP police state tactics and their complete abdication of law enforcement authority in the face of direct interference by the provincial government and native criminals. The actual Statement of Claim is 54 pages long, so we will be releasing excerpts from the document to help readers digest the unbelievable details. In actual fact, long time readers of VoiceofCanada and CaledoniaWakeUpCall will find these excerpts all too believable.

This excerpt describes how Dave Brown was falsely imprisoned by the OPP after being attacked on his own property by trespassing natives, and then turned over to the OPP by natives who demanded he be arrested.

NOTE: allegations made in the Statement of Claim have not been proven in court.
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[Brown, Chatwell Statement of Claim, page 27 of 54, Paragraphs 60-68]

False Imprisonment of Plaintiff David Brown by O.P.P.

60. On or about 1:00 a.m. on the 8th day of May, 2006, Brown was returning to his residence having attended a Blue Jays baseball game in Toronto. Brown was allowed to pass through an O.P.P. barricade on Argyle Street South and then had to pass through a native barricade in order to get to the Residence. The native person at the native barricade advised Brown that he was past the “curfew”. Brown was told that he could not return to his home. The Plaintiffs had not been advised of, and were not aware of any “curfew”. The curfew had apparently been arbitrarily set my native protestors at 11:00 without any notice to Brown. Brown, realizing that his spouse Chatwell was at the Residence, continued through the barricade to drive to his home.

61. Approximately 15-20 native protestors followed Brown and trespassed onto the Property. One of the protestors on an ATV took a run at Brown. Brown defended himself against the protestors’ attack. The native protestors forced Brown to get into their vehicle and took him to the O.P.P. at the barricades. The native protestors told the O.P.P. that Brown was disturbing the peace and trespassing and that Brown had assaulted them. The allegations of infractions against Brown were untrue. Despite the fact that the native protestors trespassed onto Brown’s Property and assaulted Brown and that Brown was defending his property rights, the O.P.P. officer at the barricade roughly seized Brown and arrested him and ordered he be detained in a prison cell. The O.P.P. refused to enforce the law to protect Brown’s property rights and right to safe passage to his residence.

62. When Brown was told he was being taken to prison he protested and argued his position with the O.P.P. officer at the barricade. Other O.P.P. officers at the barricade attempted to explain Brown’s position to the O.P.P. officer who ordered Brown be imprisoned. That officer became angry and stated that Brown had to be imprisioned because of the way Brown spoke to him.

63. Brown was taken to Cayuga and placed in a locked cell overnight. The O.P.P. did not charge Brown with any offences. Brown was not advised of the basis for his arrest. Brown was not advised of his rights. Brown was not offered the opportunity to call legal counsel. Brown was not allowed to make any phone calls nor to call Chatwell whom he knew to be at home surrounded by native protestors on her Property.

64. Brown was not released until 7:30 a.m. the next day. Brown states that the next day he was left to fend for himself to return to his residence, approximately 10 miles away. At the barricades, the O.P.P. refused to escort Brown back to his Property located inside the barricades.

65. Chatwell states that when she saw Brown surrounded by native persons in her own driveway, she attempted to contact the O.P.P. through a 911 call. That service declined to send anyone to assist her and advised that they would call her back. They did not. Chatwell again called 911 and was told not to call again.

66. Chatwell further states that when Brown was detained by the O.P.P., she made a request to come and pick her spouse up. That request was denied by O.P.P.

67. Brown pleads that his imprisonment byt he O.P.P. constitutes a total deprivation of his liberty without lawful cause. The deprivation was against his will and constitutes the tort of false imprisonment. Brown pleads that the officer who arrested him at the barricade had no authority to do so and committed the torts of assault and battery. Brown pleads that the O.P.P. did not comply with their own policy and procedures in arresting him. Brown pleads that Commissioner Boniface and Inspector Haggith, and, pursuent to s.5(1) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act, the Crown is liable for the torts committed by the unknown O.P.P. officer and the O.P.P.

68. Brown pleads that his imprisonment was in violation of s. 9 and s. 11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which grants Brown, as a Canadian citizen, the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

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VoiceofCanada comment

In addition to presenting a complete accounting of the negligence and misfeasance by the OPP and the Ontario government in Caledonia, the Brown/Chatwell claim is a goldmine of evidence in support of other lawsuits and complaints against the OPP, including our own. Thank you Dave and Dana! We will be forwarding copies to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsman, the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services and to various politicians.

Mark Vandermaas, Editor
VoiceofCanada

References

• CaledoniaWakeUpCall.com feature: $12M Lawsuit Against OPP & Ontario Government (links to other excerpts from Dave & Dana’s Statement of Claim, and media coverage)