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.

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.”

BULLETIN: MPPs Barrett & Hillier to join CANACE, Caledonia Victims Project at Queen’s Park news conference

Co-founders of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE) Gary McHale and Caledonia resident Merlyn Kinrade, and Caledonia Victims Project founder Mark Vandermaas will be joined by Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett and fellow MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox) at a news conference in the Queen’s Park Media Studio tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm.

The purpose of the event is to provide journalists with information about our upcoming ‘Truth and Reconciliation Rally’ which will be held this coming Sunday, Feb 27th at 1pm. (link to news release below)

We are very pleased that Mr. Barrett and Mr. Hillier have agreed to participate in this news conference to show their support in furthering the cause of healing for Caledonia and Six Nations residents. 

MPP Toby Barrett – there from the beginning

Mr. Barrett was one of the original speakers at Gary McHale’s inaugural March for Freedom on Oct 15/06, and so it is very fitting that he should take part in announcing this, the next stage towards resolution now that Christie Blatchford has finally recorded the ugly, undeniable history of Caledonia’s victims: the encouragement of those responsible to apologize so both Caledonia and Six Nations can begin a meaningful healing and reconciliation process that is based on truth, justice and respect for all human beings.

His devastatingly concise ‘Haldimand Proclamation for Peace, Order and Good Government‘ of February 11, 2008 surely must rank as one of the most shocking and historically-important documents ever written by a Canadian politician:

• VoiceofCanada feature: The Barrett Proclamation

Barrett has previously made the Media Studio available to us on three other important occasions: 

• Dec 04/07: Illegal Smokeshacks (Doug Fleming’s campaign vs. Illegal smokes and violence by 6N vs. non-natives, Dec 01/07) 
• March 14/07: The Ipperwash Papers (release of 400 pages of docs proving Inquiry did not study violence vs. Ipperwash residents)
• April 17/07: FantinoGate (OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino threatens Haldimand Council via email)

PC Leader Tim Hudak – a voice of reason when it counted

We should also note that, at a time when Ontario government ministers, including the Premier, were urging people not to march with Gary McHale in 2006 because they would be putting their lives “in danger,” current PC Leader Tim Hudak was the only voice of reason: 

“…Conservative Tim Hudak said the government is ignoring the situation and needs to end the ongoing occupation. The rally shows town residents have had enough, he said. “People are not only angry, they’re damn angry,” Hudak said. “It’s an incredible double standard. On the one hand, the premier is against this rally but it’s carte blanche for the occupiers on the occupied site.” The province shouldn’t continue negotiating with Six Nations as long as the protesters remain on the site, Hudak said. “There is no reason for that occupation to continue,” he said.

• VoiceofCanada, Oct 12/06: Ontario MPP Tim Hudak – a leader emerges to tell the truth about Caledonia and the March for Freedom
• VoiceofCanada, Oct 12/06: Mr. Ramsay – why would my life be in danger in Caledonia?

ANNOUNCEMENT: Representative from International Free Press Society to speak in Caledonia

We are pleased to announce that Mary Lou Ambrogio, Vice President of the Canadian chapter of the International Free Press Society – founded by Lars Hedegaard of Denmark to act as advocates for those whose freedom of expression is under attack – will be a guest speaker at our Truth & Reconciliation Rally on Feb 27th.

‘The Mohawk Warriors for Dummies’ – a guide for Stephen Harper

It is difficult to know which action by the Stephen Harper Conservatives is more despicable:     

1. Sitting back and watching while Julian Fantino, McGuinty and the OPP allowed the Mohawk Warriors organized crime group to terrorize Caledonia.     

In the discovery for the Brown/Chatwell lawsuit, Superintendent John Cain, the OPP’s major incident commander in overall charge of DCE from March, testified that this information [presence of “extreme activists” on Douglas Creek Estates occupation site] came from [Superintendent Ron] George in early April [2006]. Cain also said that, in his view, “extreme activists” meant Mohawk Warriors, whom he described as being akin to Hells Angels in that the Warriors deploy themselves in a quasi-military manner and, as he succinctly put it, they “use guns, have guns.”   

• Helpless, Christie Blatchford, 2010, p55 

The officers said the OPP grew more concerned about the possibility of violence after the arrival of militant members of the Mohawk Warriors, a group described as “akin to the Hells Angels.” The Warriors were involved in organized crime and cigarette running and had a reputation for physical confrontation and access to guns, including assault rifles, court heard. “Their flag was raised higher than the Six Nations flag which is symbolic of who controls the site,” Insp. Haggith testified.     

• National Post, Nov 13/09: Faith lost in OPP’s ability to protect  Caledonia: testimony  REPRINT
• see also:  VoiceofCanada, Dec 22/09: Brown-Chatwell trial: crimes against democracy (see section 1 re Warriors)
• see also: VoiceofCanada feature: Caledonia Photos 

OR…   

2. Annointing Julian Fantino as the CPC candidate in Vaughan – one of the key leaders of the OPP/Liberal ‘peacekeeping’ force that provided security, legal and PR services to the criminals who terrorized Caledonia.  The same Julian Fantino who cruelly joked recently that he was going to be a voice for victims now that he was an MP:    

• Western Standard, Dec 20/10: Julian and the Victims
• see also: Caledonia Victims Project, Dec 20/10: Western Standard: “one victim Julian Fantino did not have the courage to meet
• see also: Ottawa Citizen, Dec 16/10: ‘Team player’ Fantino vows to be voice for victims [PDF]
• Conservatives Against Fantino: www.ConservativesAgainstFantino.ca

OR…   

3. Ordering the Canadian Forces to…I can barely write the words…apologize to the criminals who terrorized Ipperwash, Caledonia, Deseronto and Oka. Oka – where they murdered Corporal Marcel Lemay. Marcel Lemay – the dead police officer to whom Christie Blatchford’s Helpless is dedicated. Blatchford – the award winning author whose book the Conservative Party of Canada refused to wait to read before appointing Julian Fantino as their Vaughan candidate.  Helpless – the book about how Caledonia was terrorized by Mohawk Warriors.     

Caledonia Activists launch ‘ConservativesAgainstFantino.ca’ website

BREAKING: We have just received an advance copy of Christie Blatchford’s much-anticipated book about the Caledonia crisis. From the introductory ‘Author’s Notes‘:

“As it turns out, the front line officers of the OPP were sold down the river too, by their senior ranks, in particular by two commissioners of the force, Gwen Boniface and Julian Fantino, who either subjugated themselves to government will, held their tongues or respectively dreamed up the disastrous operational plan for Caledonia and then stubbornly held onto it for dear life.”

 

• Caledonia Victims Project, Oct 10/10: Christie Blatchford in HELPLESS: Front line officers ‘sold down the river’ by Fantino & Boniface  

—————————- 

The Italian newspaper Corriere is reporting that Prime Minister Harper will be in Vaughan to announce that former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino will be the Conservative candidate for the riding:

VAUGHAN – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be at Vaughan next Friday to announce the nomination of Julian Fantino a representative of the Conservative Party in the next-elections that should take place in December along with two other-elections that are to be held in Manitoba and a fourth in the district of Prince George-Peace River, which will be vacated on 25 October by the Conservative MP Jay Hill has already announced his resignation.

• Corriere.com, Oct 08/10 (translation): Harper launched toward the conquest of the GTA
• Hat tip to CanadianSense Politics, Oct 09/10: Julian Fantino: Vaughan Star Candidate

An insult to Caledonia, an insult to justice and an insult to Conservative supporters

'HOW DID WE BECOME THE ENEMY?' March for Freedom, Caledonia, Oct 15/06

Read more here:

• Conservatives Against Fantino, Oct 10/10: ‘ConservativesAgainstFantino’ website officially launched

Mark Vandermaas, Editor
VoiceofCanada
Co-Founder, Conservatives Against Fantino
info@voiceofCanada.ca

BULLETIN: Natives build smoke shack on private property in Caledonia

Illegal smoke shack on private property in Caledonia. Click for hi-res image.

UPDATE 2117 EST June 29/09: What’s that sharp-looking shiny thing sticking out of your back, Ernie?

UPDATE 1552 EST June 12/09: A very reliable source spoke with OPP today who say they cannot take action against the native occupiers because they have not received a complaint from the owner of the property.

UPDATED 1245 EST June 12/09

We have received several reports from Caledonia that natives have built an illegal smoke shack on private property belonging to an elderly man who has been threatened with violence if he resists. 

OPP may be aiding the natives by trying to convince the owner to allow the shack to remain instead of enforcing the law against the trespassers.

BREAKING NEWS: US Marines shut Akwasasne border, Six Nations threatens Caledonia

United States government sources have informed CANACE that the U.S. considers the Akwasasne/Cornwall border to be ‘undefended’ now that Canada has abandoned the post due to threats by Mohawk Warriors and, under international law, has sent or is sending United States Marines to stand guard against criminal/terrorist activity.

Background info:

• VoiceofCanada, June 01/09: Mohawk Warriors: Canada allows organized crime to seize border crossing

CANACE assists U.S. authorities

When the Canadian government refused to cooperate with U.S. authorities, CANACE founders met with them to provide evidence to aid in the conviction of Trevor Miller for assaulting a U.S. law enforcement agent in Caledonia in 2006.

WARNING re Sterling bridge overpass in Caledonia

UPDATE:

• Regional News, Gary McHale, June 23/10: Two years after fatal crash: Is #6 by-pass safe? Lawsuit shows OPP recorded 1500 incidents between 2003-2008 never reported to public or Haldimand’s Police Services Board. 
• Aug 23/08: Protect Our Families Rally at OPP Cayuga 

UPDATES 2118 EST Aug 09/08:

• Editorial by Gary McHale, CaledoniaWakeUpCall.com – No One Has Died Yet: No Thanks to OPP.
• New OPP Press Release, Aug 09/08: MISCHIEF
• Hamilton Spectator, Aug 09/08: Rock thrown at window hurts passenger

——————————————-
Yesterday, at 1235, the Mayor of Haldimand sent an email to the OPP, Michael Bryant, Indian Affairs, MTO, Toby Barrett and Diane Finley warning that the Highway #6 By-Pass at Sterling Road was not safe due to objects being thrown onto the Caledonia by-pass highway below. In addition to the regular bypass traffic, the highway is now being heavily used by residents due to the closure of the northbound lane of the bridge in town for repairs.

==================================

—–Original Message—–
From: xxxxxxxx (Mayor’s assistant)
Sent: July 31, 2008 12:35 PM
To: ‘dave.mclean@ontario.ca’; ‘mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org’; ‘minister@inac.gc.ca’; ‘chris.maher@osaa.gov.on.ca’; ‘minister@mto.gov.on.ca’; ‘finled1@parl.gc.ca’; ‘Toby Barrett (toby.barrett@pc.ola.org)’; DL-COUNCIL; DL-SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM; JANIS LANKESTER

Subject: Highway #6 By-Pass at Sterling Road, Caledonia – NOT SAFE
Importance: High