Angry in the Great White North

From AM900 CHML:

Queen's Park and Ottawa have now sent a sternly worded letter to the chief of the Six Nations Confederacy Council.

But chief Allan McNaughton says he has not received the letter.

It's asking for assurances from the council that there will be no further nuisance and disturbances from the native protesters on the occupied land in Caledonia.

The letter says that means an end to loud noises, bright lights from ATV's, firecrackers and any other activities that disturb the peace.

It says the federal and provincial government expect a smaller presence on the site and the eventual withdrawl of the protesters while the process for determining land ownership continues.

The letter is signed by federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and provincial Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay.

No mention of a timetable for this "eventual" drawdown of protesters.

No mention of what consequences will follow if the protesters don't comply.

No mention of what actions will be taken to punish those who continue with the nuisance activities.

No mention of who will enforce these demands -- the Ontario Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the army.

No mention of why Prentice and Ramsay believe McNaughton has any power over the protesters to make these things happen even if he was so inclined.

The Mohawk Warriors don't work for McNaughton. If McNaughton tries and fails to take control of the situation, he'll end up looking like Dalton McGuinty, powerless and ineffective and irrelevant.

But regardless of whose name appears in the letter, it is a line in the sand of sorts. Expectations have been set, and credibility is on the line. If the protesters don't drawdown and then leave as demanded, both the federal government and provincial government will look bad. Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government has lost most of its credibility already, as has the OPP. I don't think the federal Conservative government in Ottawa, and either the RCMP or the army, should either be called in, are willing to go down the same path as McGuinty.