POLICE RUN OFF OCCUPIED LAND - RUNCIMAN

(Queen’s Park) – In today’s Question Period in the Ontario legislature, Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter, under questioning by the PC House Leader Bob Runciman, defended the right of native occupiers to impose a “no-go zone” for the Ontario Provincial Police.

Runciman’s question stemmed from an incident in Caledonia Sunday night when OPP officers mistakenly drove onto occupied land and were surrounded by native protesters. A window on the police cruiser was broken and the OPP officers were subsequently arrested by First Nations Police, charged with trespassing and escorted off the property. A spokesperson for the occupiers later described the area as a no-go zone”.

Minister Kwinter refused to comment on the appropriateness of the arrest and charges laid against the officers, but defended the occupiers right to ban the OPP from the property.

“This is unbelievable, astounding and reprehensible,” charged Runciman, a former Solicitor General. “The McGuinty crew doesn’t believe in upholding the rule of law in Caledonia and they support the OPP being run off of native occupied property.”

“This is another humiliation for a once proud police force, and they have Premier Dalton McGuinty to thank for that,” Runciman concluded.