Merlyn Kinrade passes — Caledonia, Six Nations, Canada & Israel lose a patriot and friend

UPDATES

• Mark Vandermaas eulogy for Merlyn Kinrade, Oct 11/12: [PDF, 6p]
• Gary McHale eulogy for Merlyn Kinrade, Oct 11/12: [PDF, 3p]
• Jeff Parkinson, Oct 22/12: Remembering Merlyn Kinrade

UPDATED Oct 26/12 — A great Canadian patriot, naval veteran, peacekeeper, father, husband, friend of Israel and a tireless force for justice in Caledonia has been called home.

I am saddened to report that Merlyn Kinrade, Caledonia resident and co-founder of CANACE (Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality), died after a long battle with cancer at 2pm yesterday – Saturday, October 06, 2012. He was born March 16, 1935, and passed in his 77th year.

Funeral details: 

LOCATION:

Bay Gardens Funeral Home
947 Rymal Road East, Hamilton  L8W 3M2   (just east of Upper Gage Ave.)
905.574.0509

Map: http://mapq.st/QJIydH

VISITATION:

• Wednesday 2-4 pm, 7-9 pm
• Thursday 10-11 am

SERVICE – CELEBRATION OF MERLYN’S LIFE:

• Thursday 11 am followed by cremation

ONLINE BOOK OF CONDOLENCES:

 http://www.baygardens.ca/tributes/kinrade-merlyn-1935-2012

ANNOUNCEMENT (appeared Oct 09/12):
Hamilton Spectator
http://www.lifenews.ca/thespec/profile/300082–kinrade-merlyn

DONATIONS IN LIEU OF FLOWERS:

The Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice Foundation

277 Stone Church Road East, Hamilton, ON L9B 1B1  905.387.2448

Website: kemphospice.org

Online Donations: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s45932

.

About Merlyn Kinrade

Merlyn Kinrade lived more than 60 years of his life in Caledonia. He is a former member of the Royal Canadian Navy who served on one of the most famous ships in Canadian naval history, HMCS Haida. His service included a tour of duty in Port Said, Egypt on a United Nations peacekeeping mission during the 1956 Suez crisis.

The Tiresome Mr. McHale – by ‘PUBLIUS’

RE: VoiceofCanada, Feb 28/12: Dear Ontario PC Party: blood from future victims on YOUR hands, not ours

‘The Tiresome Mr. McHale

by ‘Publius (photos added by VoC)

[…] “More of Gary’s same ol’ s— — at least it keeps him busy!!” Willett’s e-mail says. McHale said he believes the e-mail was in reply to the invitation he had extended to PC Leader Tim Hudak to join him in Caledonia.

[…] The Hudak Tories have been as silent as the tomb on Caledonia. John Tory, whilst party leader, at least attempted to show concern. Being a very cautious and unimaginative pol, Tim Hudak has stayed away from the issue. In fairness to Toby Barrett, he’s stuck his neck out a bit over Caledonia. That’s one of the tragedies of Caledonia. Simple decency is now a brave thing.

Why Caledonia still matters, even six years after the Douglas Creek Estates were occupied, is not what happened that day or in the months that followed. It’s more than the beating of Sam Gualtieri, or the destruction of a hydro transformer. No it’s the response of the authorities, or more correctly the lack thereof. Crime happens, that’s an unavoidable part of life. That’s why we have a justice system. When basic laws are not enforced there is a crime greater than the mere offence in question.

McHale letter to Spectator: 10 Things that have changed in Caledonia since 2006

Hamilton Spectator, Feb 23/12: Gary McHale pulling a scab off a wound

This well-known Caledonia  agitator’s antics have escalated with this most recent stunt on the weekend. […] Anyone with common sense knows no good can come of pulling these types of stunts repeatedly without there being consequences. Gary McHale must quit pulling the scab off this festering wound, and shame on Barrett for backing this type of reckless behaviour. They are bringing nothing but negative attention to the town of Caledonia and trivializing Six Nations land grievances. These antics serve no purpose other than to inflame a situation that has been on simmer for the past six years. Feb. 28 will be the sixth anniversary of this land dispute in Caledonia. And sadly nothing has changed. 

Tracy Bomberry, Six Nations of the Grand River

• CANACEhd, Feb 18/12:  CANACE attacked on DCE Feb 18 2012 [VIDEO, 28:43]  ***NEW FOOTAGE***
• CANACEhd Youtube channel, Feb 18/12: Native thug assaults war veteran & cops [VIDEO, 2:17]
• CANACEhd, Feb 18/12: DCE occupiers assault police  
• VoiceofCanada, Feb 22/12: Jerry Agar, CFRB/SUN TV: ‘Caledonia is a festering boil of racist policy’ that discriminates against Whites, Blacks, Jews, etc.
• VoiceofCanada, Feb 22/12: David Strutt photos: Caledonia 8 make history on Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia
• VoiceofCanada, Feb 19/12: McHale arrested in Caledonia because Native man assaults 77 year old former Navy vet/UN peacekeeper & OPP officers 

————————————————

Hamilton Spectator, Feb 28/12: Ten things that have changed: McHale

While to some it appears inherently wrong ever to disagree with a native person, I have to say that Ms. Bomberry’s view that nothing has changed since 2006 is not supported by the evidence. Here are10 things that have changed since 2006.

1) Contrary to the Native occupiers’ view, Six Nation Band Council has repeatedly told the court there is no claim on title to people’s property. Judges have agreed.

2) Courts have repeatedly disagreed with the OPP refusal to enforce the law and have even rebuked the OPP for targeting legal property owners instead of Native protesters.

3) The OPP has been forced to accept that property owners do have the right to have Native trespassers arrested.

NEWS RELEASE: Caledonia 8 invite PC leader Tim Hudak to march in Caledonia against racism

UPDATES:

• VoiceofCanada, Feb 28/12: Dear Ontario PC Party: blood from future victims on YOUR hands, not ours
• Dunnville Chronicle, Feb 27/12: McHale invites Hudak to rally in March
• Country Radio 107.3, Feb 22/12: McHale invites Hudak to Caledonia (note: the story incorrectly states that the DCE occupation site ‘was given’ by the Ont. govt. in exchange for ending the occupation. This is not correct. Other property was given to end the roadblock of the main road through Caledonia, but the DCE is provincially owned land that it allows to be used by those who terrorized Caledonia. More info about the vexatious nature of the land claims made by occupation radicals and how the courts have ruled against them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcCZshMikDY; speaker’s notes:  PDF, 36p, incl. citations)

——————-
         

Feb. 22, 2012  [PDF]

Caledonia 8 invite PC leader Tim Hudak to march in Caledonia against racism

The Caledonia 8 – which includes members of CANACE, the Caledonia Victims Project and courageous residents of Haldimand County – call upon PC leader Tim Hudak to help them take a stand against institutionalized racism in Ontario and, in particular, against the McGuinty government’s racist policies that have victimized so many in Haldimand County. 

The Caledonia 8 are extending an official invitation to PC leader Tim Hudak to march side-by-side with them in Caledonia during the month of March on a date of his choosing. 

The principles of Rule of Law and equality under the law are fundamental principles of grassroots conservative people. As such the issues surrounding Caledonia must be key to the Conservative party’s efforts to rid Ontario of McGuinty’s racial policing policies. 

David Strutt photos: Caledonia 8 make history on Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia

Professional photographer and graphic artist David Strutt drove from his home north of Toronto to be with members of the ‘Caledonia 8’ and our supporters on Feb 18/12 when we became the first non-natives since Feb 28/06 to walk onto the Douglas Creek Estates with United Nations and Canadian flags without asking permission from the native occupiers who terrorized Caledonia while the province’s police and Liberal government ran interference for them, and bought the site so they could remain after a judge ordered their eviction. 

• VoiceofCanada, Feb 19/12: McHale arrested in Caledonia because Native man assaults 77 year old former Navy vet/UN peacekeeper & OPP officers

Strutt is also the gifted cartoonist/artist who has created the editorial cartoons found recently here on VoiceofCanada, and was a Freedom Party candidate in the last provincial election.

Read an interpretation of Davids photos below…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

David captured the deflated faces of the occupiers, etched with the dawning realization that somehow, everything had changed for them in one day. ‘One day’ that took five years for a patient, determined McHale to bring about.

MPP Toby Barrett praises McHale, CANACE for Caledonia ideas, media attention

Just days after our Queen’s Park news conference -‘Ending Race-Based Policing: The Caledonia Act,’ – where we were joined by speakers from the pro-Israel Never Again Group and the International Free Press Society, MPP Toby Barrett has issued a call for strong action re the Caledonia occupation, and praised our efforts and ideas for reaching a resolution…

“Barrett credits Gary Mchale and CANACE for keeping the issue alive in the media and in the limelight, suggesting a lot of McHale’s ideas have been ‘pretty good’.” They include having more oversight from the Ontario Ombudsman with respect to the OPP and more protection for whistleblowers in the Police service.

• CD98.9 Radio FM, Feb 14/12: Toby Barrett says native occupation of former DCE lands must end

It was Toby Barrett who made the Queen’s Park Media Studio available for our news conference, as he has done in the past. He also spoke in Gary McHale’s inaugural March for Freedom on Oct 15/06. (photos, R and top)

 You can read the Caledonia Act recommendations here:

• CANACE/Caledonia Victims Project recommendations: ‘The Caledonia Act’ [PDF, 4p]

Barrett also has a strongly worded article about the Douglas Creek Estates occupation and the violence in Caledonia on his website… 

‘Occupy Caledonia will be six years February 28’

By MPP Toby Barrett

On February 28, 2006, Dawn Smith and Janie Jamieson blocked the entrance to Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia. Six years later, the scars of the resulting mayhem remain, continuing to seed division in the community and to block home building, commercial and industrial development.

Christie Blatchford profiles Caledonia hero Merlyn Kinrade

 “Caledonia, Ont. — The fight for justice in Caledonia has cost him at least $40,000 and an incalculable toll on his health but even now, at 76 and with the cancer in his bones, Merlyn Kinrade is unrepentant and without regret.”

• National Post, Christie Blatchford, Jan 04/12: No regrets in the battle for justice in Caledonia

Christie Blatchford, author of Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear And Anarchy, And How The Law Failed All of Us, has published an inspiring profile CANACE co-founder Merlyn Kinrade, a staunch ally in the struggle for justice since Jan 20/07 when he — as described in Helpless — first clambered up the side of a hill near Canadian Tire when I asked for a volunteer to hold my Canadian flag (photo, L) while I gave my ‘Blue Beret’ speech.

Through Blatchford, Merlyn reveals publicly what we have known privately for some time: he is battling cancer that is spreading through his body, and that he has no regrets whatsoever about taking time away from his wife and daughter to fight for justice in his community and country.  

• National Post, Christie Blatchford, Jan 04/11: No regrets in the battle for justice in Caledonia
• also: VoiceofCanada, Dec 07/11: VIDEO: The Caledonia Eight Arrested

Blatchford’s article references a day when he blocked traffic for 40 minutes (after the road was first blocked by native protesters) even though he was sick with hives. This was Dec 01/07, the day we were attacked by Six Nations smokeshack supporters at a protest against one of the illegal ventures…when Gary McHale and Jeff Parkinson were sent to hospital, and I was also assaulted (but uninjured). The picture below is of Merlyn holding a sign that day (which  I made) that says, ‘TWO TIER JUSTICE VICTIMIZES NATIVE PEOPLE TOO!’ I use this image as part of my header at the Caledonia Victims Project site where you can read more about it.

Photo credits

Blatchford’s National Post article includes two photos of Merlyn being arrested as one of the Caledonia Eight on Dec 03/11. They are credited to Never Again Group member Steve Scheffer who has come to Caledonia on several occasions to support our protests. 

VIDEO: The Caledonia Eight Arrested

UPDATED Dec 09/11 — CANACE’s Director of Multimedia Production Jeff Parkinson has released a short movie that tells the story of the arrests of the Caledonia 8 on the Douglas Creek Estates on Dec 03/11.

• CANACEHD channel: The Caledonia Eight Arrested [VIDEO, 9:54]
• JeffParkinson.ca, Dec 06/11: New Video – The Caledonia Eight Arrested
• Also: VoiceofCanada, Dec 04/11: CAUGHT ON TAPE: Native occupier threatens non-native woman in Caledonia’s ‘no-go zone’
• Also: VoiceofCanada, Dec 04/11: The Caledonia 8 – arrested in non-native ‘no-go zone’ occupation site (photos, story)

Jeff himself was arrested, but handed the camera over to Christine McHale when it was his turn line to wear handcuffs so she could continue documenting the scene. Jeff is shown kneeling in the photo below.

The Caledonia Eight (L-R): Randy Fleming, Doug Fleming, Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale, Jeff Parkinson (kneeling), Jack Van Halteren (w/hat), Merlyn Kinrade, Bonnie Stephens. PHOTO by Stuart Laughton, taken at OPP Caledonia sub-station after arrests.

TRIVIA: You’ll see a rather humorous scene where I’m bent over trying to get into the paddy wagon but the door is too small for my shoulders and it was almost impossible to twist sideways with my hands cuffed. As you watch me try to get through the door you’ll hear me say, “If the van doesn’t fit you must acquit” (with apologies to Johnny Cochran).

MORE TRIVIA: While we were inside the van Jeff asked if anyone knew any civil rights songs so I led the seven of us (Gary McHale was taken by other means of transport) in ‘We Shall Overcome,’ so that’s my voice you first hear singing from inside the van. I didn’t see Bonnie so I assumed she had been taken away with Gary, but she was, in fact, with us in another part of the paddywagon:

“There was a separate, small cell built into the van directly behind the front passenger side seat.  I was sitting in there, but I could see out because there were rows of small holes in the side, sliding door that closed off the approximately 4′ x 4′ “cell” where I was.  I could hear you guys behind me in the back.  I heard you talking to each other, but I couldn’t make out all the words.  I heard you singing and I joined in, and I heard Randy Fleming most clearly, so that might help you figure out where I was in relation to yourself.  I think that you were on the driver side, so I was across from you. I might add that I was quite proud of my calmness because I am very claustrophobic.” 

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Native occupier threatens non-native woman in Caledonia’s ‘no-go zone’

UPDATE: VIDEO: The Caledonia Eight Arrested

CANACE’s videographer Jeff Parkinson caught a threat made against Bonnie Stephens by a native occupier while she was waiting for police to arrest her during our Saturday protest in Caledonia where eight of us were arrested for ‘trespassing’ on a Haldimand County road. The man can be heard clearly saying, “Come again and the cops won’t be here to protect you.”

• CANACE video, Dec 03/11: If you come again, the cops won’t be here to protect you [VIDEO, 0.03]

VoC Comment

Even after 5 years of work in Caledonia, even after I and my associates were smeared and assaulted (several put in the hospital) and our property stolen and destroyed by Six Nations militants who ripped apart the community I must confess to still being surprized at just how much violence permeates the attitudes of some of the occupiers. Imagine – threatening a non-native woman for simply daring to stand on a county road! A road that has been declared off-limits to non-natives (and police!) by violent racists whose delusions are backed up by our province’s police force and the Ontario government.  

I am reminded of Christie Blatchford’s observation:

“…the law in Haldimand County operates as the law in America’s Deep South once worked, where there was one law for the white man, who could break it with impunity, and another for the black man. In Haldimand County, since the occupation began, there has been one law for natives and another for non-natives.“

• Globe & Mail, Christie Blatchford, May 04/11: Caledonia activist free to drop by Canadian Tire [PDF]

The Caledonia 8 – arrested in non-Native ‘no-go zone’ occupation site

• UPDATE, Feb 05/12: Charges dropped against Caledonia Eight, but OPP undeterred
• UPDATE: VIDEO: The Caledonia Eight Arrested
• UPDATE: CAUGHT ON TAPE: Native occupier threatens non-native woman in Caledonia’s ‘no-go zone’

UPDATED – VoiceofCanada editor/Caledonia Victims Project founder Mark Vandermaas was one of eight people arrested yesterday while walking on the occupied Douglas Creek Estates (DCE) in Caledonia.  The protest was organized by Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE) to draw attention to the racially-segregated site owned by the Ontario government and Haldimand County, a ‘no-go zone’ for non-natives and police.

According to Gary McHale, Executive Director of CANACE, the goal of the protest was to remind the OPP, the McGuinty government and Haldimand County that citizens will never surrender their freedoms and rights to OPP racial policing policies.

• Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality news release, Dec 03/11: CALEDONIA 8: OPP illegally arrest 8 people in Caledonia today 

Rule of law activists from London, Richmond Hill, Binbrook and Norfolk lined up quietly with Caledonia/Haldimand residents to wait their turn to refuse OPP orders to leave the road into DCE. We were then arrested, handcuffed and loaded into a paddy wagon which took us to the Caledonia OPP sub-station where we were issued tickets and released. The photo above of the ‘Caledonia 8’ was taken in front of the station after our release. Additional photos can be found below.

Gary McHale to Six Nations: Beware what you teach your children

SEE ALSO: Six Nations Councillor Helen Miller: ‘Stop blaming colonization and residential schools’

Beware What You Teach Your Children

by Gary McHale   [PDF]
Regional News (Caledonia), June 08, 2011  

For five years the youth on Six Nations have watched their leadership, their parents and so-called community protectors illegally occupy sub-divisions throughout Haldimand and Brant County. They have listened to the wisdom of their chiefs who have repeatedly supported criminal behaviour as the means to resolving issues. Now that these youth have learned their lessons well, they have decided to follow in the same footsteps and resolve their issues using illegal behaviour by occupying the old Police Station on Six Nations. 

So far this illegal occupation has resulted in zero police officers being hospitalized, no Six Nations residents have been attacked, no tire fires, no burning of people’s private properties, no roads have been dug up, no disruption of any public services and yet, suddenly, several people on Six Nations believe it is wrong, disrespectful, counter-productive and unhelpful for such tactics to be used. 

CANACE media release: McHale to seek charges of Assault, Mischief vs. CUPE 3903 leader of Caledonia confrontation

Following up on the Crown’s decision to drop the Assault charge brought against him by CUPE 3903 leader Tom Keefer in connection with a Feb 27/11 Caledonia protest Gary McHale has issued a news release with additional information.

In addition to outlining details regarding the circumstances of the case, McHale states that he will be using the private prosecution provisions of the Criminal Code to ask the Court to issue process for charges of Assault, Mischief and Counselling Mischief against Mr. Keefer, and will also be seeking to have charges of Mischief certified against those who joined Keefer “to interfere with the use of private property.”

• CANACE/Gary McHale news release, June 08/11: Cayuga Crown Withdraws Criminal Charge Against Gary McHale
• see also: VoiceofCanada, June 07/11: BULLETIN: Crown drops Assault charge vs. Gary McHale

Basis of charges vs. Keefer et al

Section 41 of the Criminal Code of Canada provides that property owners/agents may remove trespassers using reasonable force, and trespassers who resist removal are deemed to have committed an assault against the owner:

• Department of Justice, Criminal Code of Canada: Defence of House or Real Property, S.41(1)(2)

Trespassers’ statements to OPP against McHale provide evidence for charges vs. Keefer and associates

Not only does McHale have a wealth of experience in the criminal courts in the field of private prosecutions (see below), convincing a judge that there is evidence for the charges against Keefer and his followers should prove easy since the statements they made to the OPP in hopes of seeing McHale convicted of Assault can now be used against them. 

Liberal Bob Speller first federal candidate to offer Caledonia policy statement

Click image to download brochure

Liberal Party candidate Bob Speller (Haldimand-Norfolk) has become the first federal candidate in the 2011 election to issue a policy statement regarding the breakdown of the rule of law in Caledonia.  

Speller’s statement – which referenced Christie Blatchford’s book Helpless on several occasions – was read at our Conservatives Against Racism townhall presentation held last night at the Delhi Belgian Club by the president of the Haldimand-Norfolk Liberal Electoral District Association, Herb Ibbotson. It was much stronger than any us could have hoped for, and it referenced every aspect of the crisis: land claims; illegal tobacco; the rule of law; property rights; and helping victims (the full text of Mr. Speller’s statement is reprinted below followed by a VoC comment):

“There is nothing more important than the rule of law. We have troops in Afghanistan and our air force flying in the skies of Libya to ensure those countries have the rule of law. You can’t have democracy without the rule of law. We all know what happened in Caledonia. […]  Anyone who has read Christie Blatchford’s book as I have knows what happened. It is not acceptable.”

• Bob Speller, Liberal candidate, Haldimand Norfolk, April 14/11: Caledonia policy statement [PDF] (read by Herb Ibbotson, President, Liberal riding association)
• Simcoe Reformer, April 15/11: Liberals draw Finley-Fantino connection [PDF]
• Conservatives Against Racism, April 03/11: TOWNHALL MEETING (Haldimand-Norfolk): Delhi Belgian Club, April 14
• Conservatives Against Racism brochure: Harper – Not Here for Human Rights [PDF]

Empathy for Caledonia’s youngest hero

CANACE founder Merlyn Kinrade emceed the event, opening with a strong condemnation of the Harper decision to appoint Julian Fantino as a candidate.

• Merlyn Kinrade, Conservatives Against Racism townhall meeting, Delhi Belgian Club, April 14/11: Opening remarks/introductions [PDF]

Most readers know that I and Merlyn Kinrade are ex-military and former UN peacekeepers, and so we were pleased to discover, before the event began, that Herb Ibbotson had served as an officer in the Canadian Artillery Reserve for 21 years.  Later, he explained to the crowd that seven members of his family were killed during World War I defending his ancestral country of Belgium, and asked us all if we knew why Canada’s flag was red and white. I did not know that red and white were colours bestowed on Canada by King George in recognition of Canada’s terrible sacrifice in the Great War. Clearly, he was struck by what he had heard during the presentation, and the importance of defending the rule of law.

VIDEO: Native occupiers ‘respectfully’ destroy and burn Reconciliation/Apology monument & Cdn flag in Caledonia

In my last article I posted photos showing how OPP officers stood by and watched on March 27/11 as we were swarmed by native thugs from the occupied Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia who stole our Reconciliation/Apology monument; kicked it into the road; smashed holes in the sides; inserted Six Nations flags; then carried it off to be burnt along with our Canadian – all while OPP officers watched.

Jeff Parkinson caught the action on video which has now been posted. Watch as a woman in a rage attacks the monument and then kicks and drags the base into the road where a plainclothes OPP officer from the Provincial Liaison Team then pulls it off to the side of the road before it gets carried off to be burnt.

‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares’ presentation notes & videos now available

Speaker presentation notes and videos shown to the audience during our March 22/11 presentation of ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares‘ in Ottawa are now available at a new feature page at the HelplessByBlatchford project.

Blogger/videographer ‘Vlad Tepes’ videotaped the event and has posted a 15 min video based on my presentation related to the national security aspects of Caledonia.