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.

Freedom Party of Ontario bestows ‘Free Speech Award’ on Mary Lou Ambrogio; praises Caledonia activists

The week beginning Saturday, April 21, 2012 was surely one of curious contrasts for Caledonia rule-of-law activists…

During the day I was one of two non-native activists arrested for ‘breaching the peace’ as I was being assaulted by one of the occupiers on the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia.

• VoiceofCanada, April 27/12: Vandermaas email to OPP officer re April 21 DCE rally before two ‘breach of peace’ arrests

120421 Freedom Party of Ontario ‘Red Alert’ dinner meeting. L-R: Robert Vaughan, Leader Paul McKeever, Mary Lou Ambrogio, Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale, Eva Ryten, Al Gretzky, Bob Metz, Bjorn Larsen.

In the evening, I was honoured to be a guest speaker and presenter at the post-election dinner meeting for the Freedom Party of Ontario where executive members Bob Metz, Robert Vaughan, and leader Paul McKeever explained why the NDP, Liberals and Hudak PCs are all nearly-identical ‘red’ parties more interested in promoting ‘wealth distribution’ than in promoting wealth creation and protecting liberty. 

• Freedom Party of Ontario updates, April 22/12: Ontario sees Red as budget vote approaches (speeches will be uploaded to YouTube when available, so check this page)
• Freedom Party of Ontario website: FreedomParty.on.ca
• Just Right Media, April 05/12: RED Alert! So Where’s the Right? Guest: Paul McKeever, Leader, Freedom Party [Just Right-244 AUDIO]

On the way home my very apolitical wife said, ‘The penny dropped after listening to the speeches. Now I understand the difference between the parties.’

Freedom Party of Ontario – honouring a great friend of Caledonia, Canada, liberty and democracy

Following Paul McKeever’s very thought-provoking speech about the red parties vs. liberty I gave a short talk to help honour an amazing activist named Mary Lou Ambrogio, VP of the Canadian chapter of the International Free Press Society (seen above as evening emcee for my inaugural 2012 Israel Truth Week Conference), and presented her, on behalf of the Freedom Party of Ontario, the party’s ‘Free Speech Award’ in recognition of her tireless work in giving a voice to artists, authors, politicians and advocates who have been faced persecution by those who fear the light shone on their lies and/or crimes. 

Mark Vandermaas honoured as part of Zachor Coalition at National Holocaust ceremony, Ottawa

VoiceofCanada editor Mark Vandermaas was called to the stage at the National Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony to be part of the candle-lighting ceremony in honour of the ‘Zachor Coalition’ — the group of organizations who contributed to the event’s success.

120423 Mark Vandermaas (white shirt & tie, behind podium) with other members of ‘Zachor Coalition,’ National Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

In the audience were 45 people who had travelled with Mark via a bus sponsored by the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem including, Caledonia activists Gary & Christine McHale as well as Merlyn Kinrade and his daughter Olivia, along with Al Gretzky from the International Free Press Society; Steve Scheffer from Hamilton’s Never Again group, and Rabbi Jonathan Hausman who flew up from Boston to ride the bus with his ‘Favourite Gentile.’

At his March 21/12 Israel Truth Week Conference in London, which was held at Royal View Church (where Caledonia activist Gary McHale’s message to Christians about the evils of racism – especially anti-Semitism – and about the necessity of paying a price for their beliefs was very well received), Mark announced that the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem had offered to provide a bus to take people to Ottawa for the ceremony. Dr. Peter Marshall of the Victory International Church in Hamilton enthusiastically supported the trip and approximately half the bus’s 46 passengers were members of his 1,000-strong congregation.

SUN TV: ‘The Caledonia Crusader’ talks about racist Supreme Court decision; then heads to Israel Consulate to stand with Jewish Defence League

120330 Gary McHale (CANACE) - Meir Weinstein (Jewish Defence League)- Merlyn Kinrade (CANACE), JDL protest at Israel Consulate v. GM2J

Gary McHale – ‘The Caledonia Crusader’ – appeared on the Brian Lilley Show yesterday with David Menzies to talk about the racist decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to devalue the lives of victims of crime – native and non-Native –  when they and their communities are victimized by repeat native offenders.

• SUN News Network, Brian Lilley Show, David Menzies, March 30/12: ‘The Caledonia Crusader’

After taping the show earlier in the day at the SUN studio in Toronto Gary and Christine McHale, along with Caledonia hero Merlyn Kinrade (all of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality – CANACE); Mark Vandermaas (Israel Truth Week/Caledonia Victims Project); Al Gretzky & Mary Lou Ambrogio (International Free Press Society); and members of the Hamilton-based Never Again Group spent the rest of the day at the Israel Consulate on Bloor Street to support the Jewish Defence League’s call to rally against planned protests by anti-Semitic forces  in connection with the so-called, ‘Global March to Jerusalem.’

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…

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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.

McHale arrested in Caledonia because Native man assaults 77 yr old former Navy vet/UN peacekeeper & OPP officers

LAST UPDATED Feb 28/12

• ** JUST RELEASED** – CANACEhd video, Feb 18/12: CANACE attacked on DCE Feb 18 2012
• VoiceofCanada, Feb 22/12: David Strutt photos capture Caledonia 8 history on Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia
• CFRB Newstalk 1010, Jerry Agar, Feb 21/12: Gary McHale & Christie Blatchford re Caledonia racism [CFRB LINK, scroll down] (A ‘MUST-LISTEN INTERVIEW.’ See also: LINK)
• OPP News Release, Feb 19/12: Assault With A Weapon (Teresa Jamieson re attack on Gary McHale)
• BlogWrath.com, Feb 19/12: Caledonia — pipe-wielding native detained (And Gary McHale wrongfully arrested again) (Miroslav was there on Saturday with us, and he shares some great pictures and a unique chronological narrative in some detail)
• CFRB 1010 has now posted video from yesterday’s Caledonia 8 protest on the Douglas Creek Estates taken by CANACE videographer Jeff Parkinson, a member of the C8. Video links below.
  —————————————-

Only in Caledonia.

Only in Caledonia do the police let the native thugs who attack their officers and peaceful non-native people (one of whom happens to be an elderly, cancer-ridden veteran of the Canadian Navy and a UN peacekeeping mission) go free, and arrest the peaceful leader of the non-natives for standing quietly on a county road. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Today seven of the Caledonia Eight, along with a number of Caledonia residents, supporters and spouses, did what no one has done since Feb 28/06 when the occupation there began. We walked through the gates of the Douglas Creek Estates, down the county road that runs through it, to within 100 feet or so of the only house on the site.

The visit was a surprise for the occupiers and police, who were warned shortly before we left the Lions Hall in Caledonia to drive to the site.

Although history was made today by both the visit itself into Dalton McGuinty’s forbidden no-go zone via the county road that runs through the site; and by the first-ever arrest of a native person during the commission of a crime (an assault on Gary McHale), we clearly demonstrated once again that racial policing is very much alive.

The OPP arrested Gary McHale for the sixth time because a native man assaulted OPP officers and 77 year old Navy war veteran & UN peacekeeper Merlyn Kinrade who was wearing his blue beret and holding a UN flag.

Sadly, he also happens to be suffering from cancer. It happened right beside me. The police let the attacker go, and then arrested the non-native — Gary McHale — because he refused to leave because he wasn’t doing anything illegal. Why the arrest then? Because, according to the police, it was Gary McHale – one of the peaceful non-native victims of an earlier assault – who was inciting a breach of the peace.

One observer who has never attended one of our protests sent me this comment:

“I’m still trying to get it through my head that Gary was arrested in order to stop the natives from continuing to break the law. This is just ludicrous.”

Stories & letters from final edition of Haldimand Regional News

UPDATE: National Post, Feb 10/12: Christie Blatchford: Caledonia loses brave, feisty voice as Regional shuts its doors
————-

Since the Regional News did not publish its stories online Christine McHale (photo below) has taken the time to transcribe some of the key articles from today’s final edition so we can share them with you.

In choosing to publish four separate items from four separate members of the Caledonia Eight in her last edition, publisher Chris Pickup left no doubt where she stood when it came to supporting those who have fought to restore the rule of law and end OPP racial policing in Caledonia:

Regional News, final edition, Feb 08/12: Selected stories [PDF, 9P]

• ANNOUNCEMENT (Chris & Kevan Pickup): It’s been forty years but now it’s goodbye...
• EDITORIAL (Chris Pickup): Residents have lost their alternative voice
• LETTER TO EDITOR: (Bonnie Stephens, Caledonia 8): Stand up people
• LETTER TO EDITOR (Merlyn Kinrade, Caledonia 8): Truth, justice and freedom of speech not allowed in Haldimand County
• ARTICLE (Mark Vandermaas, Caledonia 8): Charges dropped against Caledonia Eight, but OPP undeterred
• WEEKLY OPINION COLUMN (Gary McHale, Caledonia 8): Mayor Hewitt used your taxpayers’ money to control the message
• LETTER TO EDITOR (Gordon S. Munro): Where was the coverage?

Charges dropped against Caledonia Eight, but OPP undeterred

On Friday (Feb 03/12) all charges against the Caledonia Eight – arrested Dec 03/11 for ‘trespassing’ on a county road running through the occupied Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia – were dropped by the specially-chosen prosecutor brought in to handle the cases.

The McGuinty government had threatened to arrest non-native protesters who attempted to enter the natives-only ‘no go zone’ which even the OPP cannot enter without permission from the occupiers. Eight of us lined up, one-by-one, to be arrested for refusing to obey the OPP’s order to leave the road known as Syrie Street.

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.” 

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.

Caledonia milestone: Occupiers & OPP respect non-native right to place Truth & Reconciliation monument at entrance to DCE

“I believe the greatest reason the OPP both acknowledged our Charter Rights and then protected them this past Sunday was because we have maintained a clear message of Equality under the Law for all people, that the Rule of Law demands all people obey the Law and that we have remained peaceful even in difficult situations.” – Gary McHale

Something changed in Caledonia yesterday. In a way never before seen in the history of the Caledonia crisis both the OPP and the occupiers of the Douglas Creek Estates displayed great respect for the rights of non-natives at yesterday’s CANACE/Caledonia Victims Project Truth & Reconciliation Rally yesterday, and that respect resulted in us being able to place our symbolic Apology/Reconciliation monument on the paved entrance to DCE while we made some short speeches and answered questions from the media.

The contrast between the conduct of the OPP and the occupiers yesterday compared to our Feb 27th and March 27th attempts to place our monument couldn’t have been more stark. During those attempts the OPP stood by as occupiers bumped, assaulted, and screamed insults at us from inches away, and falsely accused us of assault. During the March rally officers watched as our monument was stolen from us by occupiers, destroyed and then burnt with our Canadian flag. Yesterday’s event, however, was nothing short of remarkable.

Landmark Report: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 2

Authored for the Landmark Report by ‘Kaffir Kanuck,’ a Canadian Forces veteran of Afghanistan
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(My second part from Landmark Report. See here for Part 1) 

(This is the second of two parts examining the Native occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia, Ontario. It is a result of interviews with activists Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale and Merlyn Kinrade. It has been framed exploring what it has cost the Ontario taxpayer so far and how the OPP’s actions under their former Commissioner Julian Fantino and those of various stake holders may affect the federal election in two ridings.)  

Behind the barricade remains, a Native patrol drives by in a red pickup in front of the press-board ramshackle “Embassy.” Outside DCE, a sign invites tourists.  

(This is the second of two parts examining the Native occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia, Ontario. It is a result of interviews with activists Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale and Merlyn Kinrade. It has been framed exploring what it has cost the Ontario taxpayer so far and how the OPP’s actions under their former Commissioner Julian Fantino and those of various stake holders may affect the federal election in two ridings.)  

The Douglas Creek Estates were to be a bedroom community for Toronto and Hamilton. Small economic off shoots to strengthen the community were planned such as Chris Syries’ plans to open up a music school for 400 students. A class action suit is still under way representing the few businesses which have remained and are still fighting for justice.  

Landmark Report: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 1

Authored for the Landmark Report by ‘Kaffir Kanuck,’ a Canadian Forces veteran of Afghanistan
—————– 

(This is the first of two parts examining the Native occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia, Ontario. It is a result of interviews with activists Mark Vandermaas, Gary McHale and Merlyn Kinrade. It has been framed exploring what it has cost the Ontario taxpayer so far and how the OPP’s actions under their former Commissioner Julian Fantino and those of various stake holders may affect the federal election in two ridings.)

Conservative MP Julian Fantino hopes for re-election in Vaughan on Monday. He won the previously Liberal held seat by less than on thousand votes. However, the legacy he inherited and left behind in Haldimand Track, the events of Native occupation in Caledonia have come back to haunt him.
Conservatives Against Fantino peppered his constituency during his by-election, and their information campaign may very well have contributed to his marginal win, although the 2008 election had Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua win by over eight thousand votes. This movement has morphed into Conservatives Against Racism, now also targeting the Conservative Party elite who supported getting Fantino elected into Vaughan.

In Haldimand-Norfolk, Liberal Bob Speller running against incumbent CPC Diane Finley, has been the first federal candidate to offer a Caledonia policy statement. Of note to Caledonia residents has been Finley’s conspicuous absence from their township and her silence regarding issues related to the Native occupation during this campaign.

Recently, some of the main stream media played up a few resignations form the Julian Fantino Conservative MP re-election camp.

[…]

Read the rest of this article…

• Landmark Report, April 30/11: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 1
• Kaffir-Kanuck.ca, April 30/11: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 1

References

• Landmark Report, May 01/11: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 2
• Kaffir-Kanuck.ca, May 01/11: Fantino’s Billion Dollar Legacy – Part 2

Mark Vandermaas, Editor
VoiceofCanada
info@voiceofcanada.ca

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.