Rally organizer arrested at Caledonia occupation site

Police arrested two men Saturday for disrupting the peace at the site of the ongoing land dispute in the southwestern Ontario community of Caledonia.

Protest organizer Gary McHale —one of the two men arrested — has been an outspoken critic of the dispute for months.

McHale, from Richmond Hill, Ont., more than 100 kilometres from the occupation site, has been criticizedfor inflaming tensions inthe embattled community.

McHaleand another man were taken into custody midday Saturday as they approached the site waving Canadian flags.

Six Nations protesters have occupied the former housing site since February, and say they will remain on the land until it is returned to them.

McHale claims the Ontario Provincial Police apply a different standard of the law for aboriginal protesters, allowing them to defy the law while police protect them.

"[Police] have one set of policies for natives and another set of policies for non-natives," he said before the rally.

Conditions possible

Police said McHale would be released either Saturday evening or Sunday morning on condition that he appear before a justice of the peace, who police said could impose conditions on McHale, such as staying away from Caledonia.

David Ramsay, Ontario's minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, said he offered McHale the chance to protest atthe Ontario legislature in Torontoon more than one occasion, but that McHale had declined the offers.

"Mr. McHale's plans were counterproductive and potentially dangerous to what we've been trying to do there, and that is to reach a peaceful settlement," Ramsay said.

Police had warnedsome 100 protesters gathered Saturdayabout crossing into the "no-go zone," which was previously established as a buffer area at the site after violent clashes erupted between protesters and non-aboriginal residents.

Police said the two men arrested won't face criminal charges.

The remaining protesters at the rally dispersed shortly after the arrests.

McHale organized a previous rally in October, which descended into a two-hour standoff with police after protesters attempted to storm the contested land.