[All] Using Competitions Bureau to raise concerns

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks
I spoke with some friends of mine at Six Nations regarding the project that proposes to put 3500 homes on contested Treaty Lands in Haldimand County. This are is impacted in fact with the same treaty concerns as the previous Caledonia conflict actually. 

I found a report with details of this subdivision project, dated 2013 and it is seriously weak. No EIS data, no actual water supply identified for this project. It's pretty much sitting in a floodplain and this will destroy existing  A1 farmlands, forests etc. but the scale of this thing is absolutely HUGE. PDF of the report is in the attachments.
This is project was approved in October 2015. I have requested the EIS docs and Draft Plan of approvals as well as the Storm Water Management docs from the Municipality. I want to see what they've got happening here. 

In the mean time, this company is already selling houses and according to media reports, they have taken no measures to inform potential home buyers about the fact this is located on contested First Nation's territory. Check out this site with video.http://www.chch.com/buyers-concerned-about-new-grand-river-land-claims/
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is accusing the Province of failing to consider treaty rights. 
So in light of this I filed a formal complaint tonight with the Competitions Bureau.  I am concerned because it appears this firm does no properly communicate the nature of these legal risks to potential home owners. This in my view, appears misleading because they are projecting an image that does not match the existing circumstance of this significant risk.  I do not know if shareholders related to this venture are being reasonably informed either.  
In Caledon this same scenario resulted in the occupation of land by protesters. Tens of millions of dollars were spent on policing, property devaluation, damaged property and eventually the Province had to purchase the land in settlement agreement. There was a court process as to whether or not settlement monies could be taxed and in the judgement it chronicles all the issues that took place as a direct result of the conflicts that arose due to lack of First Nation's consent. That ruling is online here: http://www.thor.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014-TCC-192.pdf
I told the Competitions Bureau is my hope by reporting this it will better protect consumers and related investors from the adverse impacts of a repeat scenario. Don't let folks buy in unless they reasonably are informed of the risks. In doing this it will also hopefully motivate companies to facilitate proper negotiations with First Nations prior to such ventures.
Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.Waterloo Ont.N2V 2L2
Disclaimer: Louisette Lanteigne accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author.


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