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Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us
It officially began on February 28, 2006, when a handful of protesters from the nearby Six Nations reserve walked onto Douglas Creek Estates, then a residential subdivision under construction, and blocked workers from entering. Over the course of the spring and summer of that first year, the criminal actions of the occupiers included throwing a vehicle over an overpass, the burning down of a hydro transformer which caused a three-day blackout, the torching of a bridge and the hijacking of a police vehicle. During the very worst period, ordinary residents living near the site had to pass through native barricades, show native-issued "passports", and were occasionally threatened with body searches and routinely subjected to threats. Much of this lawless conduct occurred under the noses of the Ontario Provincial Police, who, often against their own best instincts, stood by and They too had been intimidated. Arrests, where they were made, weren't made contemporaneously, but weeks or monthlater. The result was to embolden the occupiers and render non-native citizens vulnerable and afraid. Eighteen months after the occupation began, a home builder named Sam Gualtieri, working on the house he was giving his daughter as a wedding present, was attacked by protesters and beaten so badly he will never fully recover from his injuries. The occupation is now in its fifth year. Throughout, Christie Blatchford has been observing, interviewing, and investigating with the tenacity that has made her both the doyen of Canadian crime reporters and a social commentator beloved for her uncompromising sense of right and wrong.
In Helpless she tells the full story for the first time - a story that no part of the press or media in Canada has been prepared to tackle with the unflinching objectivity that Christie Blatchford displays on every page. This is a book whose many revelations, never before reported, will shock and appall. But the last word should go to the
"This book is not about aboriginal land claims. The book is not about the wholesale removal of seven generations of indigenous youngsters from their reserves and families - this was by dint of federal government policy - or the abuse dished out to many of them at the residential schools into which they were arbitrarily placed or the devastating effects that haunt so many today. This book is not about the dubious merits of the reserve system which may better serve those who wish to see native people fail than those who want desperately for them to succeed. I do not in any way make light of these issues, and they are one way or another in the background of everything that occurred in Caledonia.
"What Helpless is about is the failure of government to govern and to protect all its citizens equally."
In Helpless she tells the full story for the first time - a story that no part of the press or media in Canada has been prepared to tackle with the unflinching objectivity that Christie Blatchford displays on every page. This is a book whose many revelations, never before reported, will shock and appall. But the last word should go to the
"This book is not about aboriginal land claims. The book is not about the wholesale removal of seven generations of indigenous youngsters from their reserves and families - this was by dint of federal government policy - or the abuse dished out to many of them at the residential schools into which they were arbitrarily placed or the devastating effects that haunt so many today. This book is not about the dubious merits of the reserve system which may better serve those who wish to see native people fail than those who want desperately for them to succeed. I do not in any way make light of these issues, and they are one way or another in the background of everything that occurred in Caledonia.
"What Helpless is about is the failure of government to govern and to protect all its citizens equally."
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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January 2, 2024
Civil disobedience and legitimate protest or reckless lawlessness?
Dateline Caledonia, Ontario 2006: HELPLESS is recently deceased Toronto Globe and Mail journalist Christie Blatchford’s shocking story of the occupation of Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia by a militant group of armed and angry aboriginals over long-standing unresolved land claims issues. Canada and the residents of Caledonia watched in shock as the protest escalated from simply causing inconvenience to outright terrorism, vandalism and destruction of property and theft. For right or wrong, the white population of Canada were dismayed to discover that the weak-kneed political solution to the problem was for the federal government to effectively ignore the issue, characterizing it as a civil matter, and for the provincial government to order the Ontario Provincial Police to stand down and do nothing.
In truth, the issue has yet to be resolved and, indeed, in 2020 the Highway 6 Caledonia bypass is now one of the sites of the blockades scattered across Canada that comprise the protests of the hereditary chiefs of the BC Wet’suwet’en nation against the construction of a pipeline on their lands.
There is no question that, since the time Cartier first set foot on what is now North American land, aboriginals have been given little respect, short shrift, and the raw end of the stick on dirty deals. Broken treaties, de facto attempts at linguistic and cultural genocide, third world health and education issues, low employment, ridiculously sub-standard infra-structure, unresolved land-claims issues and questions regarding aboriginal sovereignty over those lands seem to be the continuing order of the day. While civil disobedience has always been a recognized “legitimate” form of protest, it is a question far beyond that as to whether escalating violent lawlessness will promote non-aboriginal support for those issues or cause anger in turn and a loss of that support.
The question remains open, unfortunately, and regardless of which side of the issue you might fall on, HELPLESS should be on your reading list if you feel that you want to be more fully informed on these aboriginal issues.
Paul Weiss
P.S. For those that might be interested, the following is an opinion/news article written by an aboriginal journalist that appeared on March 1, 2020:
In recent weeks, the indigenous people of Canada and their allies have rallied in support of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, after the Canadian government and Coastal GasLink Pipeline ignored an eviction notice issued by Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who are fighting to stop the construction of a pipeline on their traditional territories in northern British Columbia (BC).
The chiefs hold authority over their land and say they were not properly consulted over the 670km (416 miles) Coastal GasLink Pipeline, that would ship natural gas from the north of BC to the coast.
First Nations shut down ports, highways and government offices and blockaded railways. These actions proved effective. Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) cancelled more than 400 trains, ultimately leading to a loss of 100 million Canadian dollars (about $745m) for Canada's forest sector, which includes lumber and wood products, over two weeks and, additionally, for every day of rail blockage, about 425 million Canadian dollars ($317m) worth of manufactured goods transported that way sit idle.
The original people finally have their oppressors' attention.
But the settler government will not address the intent of the blockades - that Wet'suwet'en sovereign title rights and indigenous human rights be honoured and respected.
Instead, politicians began demonising Wet'suwet'en and indigenous peoples in general. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said they were holding the Canadian economy hostage and dubbed First Nations peoples "radical activists".
Yet it was not just conservatives attacking indigenous people. Neoliberals joined in. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a confrontational stance, saying rail blockades must "come down now" and claiming the situation was "untenable" even though he had not met the Wet'suwet'en leadership.
It was not long before the mainstream media joined in on the feeding frenzy. Blockades were blamed for hundreds of layoffs, even though CN Rail had already planned to lay off as many as 1,600 rail workers months before the blockades were put in place. Also, some unions reportedly view the blockades as labour actions, like strikes, and respect them as such. Others support them outright. A media release from the National Farmers Union (NFU), whose members depend upon rail transport for their livelihoods, expressed solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en and indigenous land protectors.
Blockades were also blamed for causing a potential shortage of chlorine, which is used to treat municipal drinking water. Meanwhile, First Nations communities like Grassy Narrows have not had safe drinking water for 50 years, thanks to industrial pollution.
A CN Rail executive even dismissed the victim role that his corporation is being cast in, refusing to revise a 2020 profit guidance as a result of the stoppages, claiming they would weather the blockades just fine.
Also seemingly absent from the mainstream media is the news that behind the scenes, Trudeau had reportedly brokered a deal for CN Rail that allowed it to use Canadian Pacific's network to reroute freight around blockades to deliver essential goods.
So what is the truth?
While it is obvious that the indigenous blockades occurring throughout Canada rattled the foundations of the current colonial regime and successfully garnered international interest, it appears that Trudeau and company are exacerbating the effects of the nonviolent direct actions of First Nations done in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en to push anti-indigenous propaganda and gather public support for increasingly unpopular fossil fuel extraction projects that are no longer financially lucrative and are quite literally dying on the vine.
Teck Resources Ltd recently cancelled a planned $15.6bn tar sands mine in northern Alberta. The corporation cited uncertainty about Canada's climate policy, but honestly, going forward with the project would have simply been economically unsound. Trudeau's administration bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline, and now it looks like that was an unwise investment.
The cost for Trans Mountain has jumped from $7.4bn to $12.6bn. TC Energy (formerly Transcanada) recently announced that they are unsure as to whether they will move forward with completing the $8bn Keystone XL pipeline. Even now, a Crown corporation is considering providing TC Energy with a bailout loan to complete Coastal GasLink, the very pipeline being forced through Wet'suwet'en territory.
The anti-indigenous language being spouted by settler government leaders and the spread of misinformation, as well as the omission of notable facts regarding the Wet'suwet'en and indigenous-led blockades and demonstrations, has real consequences.
Indigenous people throughout Canada are now being subjected to violent racist attacks online and in-person and white supremacist vigilantes are now using it to propel their hateful message and target indigenous people.
Curiously, a common refrain throughout Canada about the Wet'suwet'en and the subsequent solidarity actions is that indigenous peoples are not following the "rule of law". Nearly 200 Canadian lawyers and legal academics answered this argument by issuing a statement that declared it is not Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who are breaking the law, it is the settler government of Canada.
In Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa vs the queen, a Canadian High Court acknowledged that the Wet'suwet'en people, represented by its hereditary chiefs, had never surrendered title, maintained jurisdiction over their unceded lands, and that they must consent to any projects that cross their territory. The RCMP also violated the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) when it forcibly removed Wet'suwet'en matriarchs from their ancestral lands.
Canada continues to be duplicitous. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were set to meet the settler government. Government officials pulled out at the last minute.
It is not the Wet'suwet'en or other First Nations who are hurting Canada. It is the settler government and its agents that are inflicting all this damage and expense. As Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Woos stated, "There's a difference between inconvenience and injustice ... Don't confuse one with the other."
Trudeau and other Canadian leaders speak of reconciliation, but refuse to honour indigenous sovereign Title, human rights, and international law. They talk about transitioning away from fossil fuels that cause climate change, but they are still in bed with big oil and use the RCMP to enforce their construction, brutalising indigenous people and posing unnecessary risks to their land and water in the process.
It is time for the Canadian government and the big oil corporations they are propping up to take accountability for the harm they are inflicting upon First Nations, as well as Canadian citizens.
The indigenous people of Earth have become the conscience of humanity. In this dire season, it is time to listen to them.
The point, of course, is that, as I stated earlier, the issue is far from laid to rest.
Dateline Caledonia, Ontario 2006: HELPLESS is recently deceased Toronto Globe and Mail journalist Christie Blatchford’s shocking story of the occupation of Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia by a militant group of armed and angry aboriginals over long-standing unresolved land claims issues. Canada and the residents of Caledonia watched in shock as the protest escalated from simply causing inconvenience to outright terrorism, vandalism and destruction of property and theft. For right or wrong, the white population of Canada were dismayed to discover that the weak-kneed political solution to the problem was for the federal government to effectively ignore the issue, characterizing it as a civil matter, and for the provincial government to order the Ontario Provincial Police to stand down and do nothing.
In truth, the issue has yet to be resolved and, indeed, in 2020 the Highway 6 Caledonia bypass is now one of the sites of the blockades scattered across Canada that comprise the protests of the hereditary chiefs of the BC Wet’suwet’en nation against the construction of a pipeline on their lands.
There is no question that, since the time Cartier first set foot on what is now North American land, aboriginals have been given little respect, short shrift, and the raw end of the stick on dirty deals. Broken treaties, de facto attempts at linguistic and cultural genocide, third world health and education issues, low employment, ridiculously sub-standard infra-structure, unresolved land-claims issues and questions regarding aboriginal sovereignty over those lands seem to be the continuing order of the day. While civil disobedience has always been a recognized “legitimate” form of protest, it is a question far beyond that as to whether escalating violent lawlessness will promote non-aboriginal support for those issues or cause anger in turn and a loss of that support.
The question remains open, unfortunately, and regardless of which side of the issue you might fall on, HELPLESS should be on your reading list if you feel that you want to be more fully informed on these aboriginal issues.
Paul Weiss
P.S. For those that might be interested, the following is an opinion/news article written by an aboriginal journalist that appeared on March 1, 2020:
In recent weeks, the indigenous people of Canada and their allies have rallied in support of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, after the Canadian government and Coastal GasLink Pipeline ignored an eviction notice issued by Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who are fighting to stop the construction of a pipeline on their traditional territories in northern British Columbia (BC).
The chiefs hold authority over their land and say they were not properly consulted over the 670km (416 miles) Coastal GasLink Pipeline, that would ship natural gas from the north of BC to the coast.
First Nations shut down ports, highways and government offices and blockaded railways. These actions proved effective. Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) cancelled more than 400 trains, ultimately leading to a loss of 100 million Canadian dollars (about $745m) for Canada's forest sector, which includes lumber and wood products, over two weeks and, additionally, for every day of rail blockage, about 425 million Canadian dollars ($317m) worth of manufactured goods transported that way sit idle.
The original people finally have their oppressors' attention.
But the settler government will not address the intent of the blockades - that Wet'suwet'en sovereign title rights and indigenous human rights be honoured and respected.
Instead, politicians began demonising Wet'suwet'en and indigenous peoples in general. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said they were holding the Canadian economy hostage and dubbed First Nations peoples "radical activists".
Yet it was not just conservatives attacking indigenous people. Neoliberals joined in. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a confrontational stance, saying rail blockades must "come down now" and claiming the situation was "untenable" even though he had not met the Wet'suwet'en leadership.
It was not long before the mainstream media joined in on the feeding frenzy. Blockades were blamed for hundreds of layoffs, even though CN Rail had already planned to lay off as many as 1,600 rail workers months before the blockades were put in place. Also, some unions reportedly view the blockades as labour actions, like strikes, and respect them as such. Others support them outright. A media release from the National Farmers Union (NFU), whose members depend upon rail transport for their livelihoods, expressed solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en and indigenous land protectors.
Blockades were also blamed for causing a potential shortage of chlorine, which is used to treat municipal drinking water. Meanwhile, First Nations communities like Grassy Narrows have not had safe drinking water for 50 years, thanks to industrial pollution.
A CN Rail executive even dismissed the victim role that his corporation is being cast in, refusing to revise a 2020 profit guidance as a result of the stoppages, claiming they would weather the blockades just fine.
Also seemingly absent from the mainstream media is the news that behind the scenes, Trudeau had reportedly brokered a deal for CN Rail that allowed it to use Canadian Pacific's network to reroute freight around blockades to deliver essential goods.
So what is the truth?
While it is obvious that the indigenous blockades occurring throughout Canada rattled the foundations of the current colonial regime and successfully garnered international interest, it appears that Trudeau and company are exacerbating the effects of the nonviolent direct actions of First Nations done in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en to push anti-indigenous propaganda and gather public support for increasingly unpopular fossil fuel extraction projects that are no longer financially lucrative and are quite literally dying on the vine.
Teck Resources Ltd recently cancelled a planned $15.6bn tar sands mine in northern Alberta. The corporation cited uncertainty about Canada's climate policy, but honestly, going forward with the project would have simply been economically unsound. Trudeau's administration bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline, and now it looks like that was an unwise investment.
The cost for Trans Mountain has jumped from $7.4bn to $12.6bn. TC Energy (formerly Transcanada) recently announced that they are unsure as to whether they will move forward with completing the $8bn Keystone XL pipeline. Even now, a Crown corporation is considering providing TC Energy with a bailout loan to complete Coastal GasLink, the very pipeline being forced through Wet'suwet'en territory.
The anti-indigenous language being spouted by settler government leaders and the spread of misinformation, as well as the omission of notable facts regarding the Wet'suwet'en and indigenous-led blockades and demonstrations, has real consequences.
Indigenous people throughout Canada are now being subjected to violent racist attacks online and in-person and white supremacist vigilantes are now using it to propel their hateful message and target indigenous people.
Curiously, a common refrain throughout Canada about the Wet'suwet'en and the subsequent solidarity actions is that indigenous peoples are not following the "rule of law". Nearly 200 Canadian lawyers and legal academics answered this argument by issuing a statement that declared it is not Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who are breaking the law, it is the settler government of Canada.
In Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa vs the queen, a Canadian High Court acknowledged that the Wet'suwet'en people, represented by its hereditary chiefs, had never surrendered title, maintained jurisdiction over their unceded lands, and that they must consent to any projects that cross their territory. The RCMP also violated the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) when it forcibly removed Wet'suwet'en matriarchs from their ancestral lands.
Canada continues to be duplicitous. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were set to meet the settler government. Government officials pulled out at the last minute.
It is not the Wet'suwet'en or other First Nations who are hurting Canada. It is the settler government and its agents that are inflicting all this damage and expense. As Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Woos stated, "There's a difference between inconvenience and injustice ... Don't confuse one with the other."
Trudeau and other Canadian leaders speak of reconciliation, but refuse to honour indigenous sovereign Title, human rights, and international law. They talk about transitioning away from fossil fuels that cause climate change, but they are still in bed with big oil and use the RCMP to enforce their construction, brutalising indigenous people and posing unnecessary risks to their land and water in the process.
It is time for the Canadian government and the big oil corporations they are propping up to take accountability for the harm they are inflicting upon First Nations, as well as Canadian citizens.
The indigenous people of Earth have become the conscience of humanity. In this dire season, it is time to listen to them.
The point, of course, is that, as I stated earlier, the issue is far from laid to rest.
November 10, 2011
An interesting book about an interesting situation. Unfortunately it is poorly written and extremely one-sided. Apparently, Ms. Blatchford was barred from speaking about this book at the University of Waterloo because of her one-sided views. I found that Wikipedia offers a more balanced account of the events concerned.
September 27, 2011
Christie Blatchford is one of my favourite women. She has written for the Star, the Globe and is now, I believe, with the National Post. I miss her columns in the Globe & Mail.
I heard her speak at a Canadian Women for Afghanistan fundraiser in Kingston 2 years ago. She had been in Afghanistan a number of times and had written a book about the men and women she encountered. She spoke plainly, with respect and occasionally swearing, about Canadian troops and their service and sacrifice. She strikes me as someone with great integrity and heart, but doesn't suffer fools well.
So what has that got to do with Helpless? Well Christie wrote it and she tells an unbelievable tale of terrorism and occupation in the town of Caledonia starting in 2006. I knew something went on there, and that it involved a Native protest, but I really didn't have a clue about the trauma and disruption to the towns peoples lives and the abdication of enforcing the law by the OPP. The OPP was still smarting from Ipperwash and there was huge political pressure, and political correctness being imposed when dealing with Native Canadians. None of that excuses the absolute abject terrorism that went on most every day in Caledonia.
If Canadians don't think that government can do whatever they want, and twist the narrative to come out in their perceived favour - think again.
It's a wonder no one was killed in Caledonia, but there was a lot of mental, physical and emotional damage.
Christie makes several points in her forward, that "....this book is not about Aboriginal Land Claims....this book is not about the wholesale removal of seven generations of Indigenous youngsters from their reserves and families...neither is it about the dubious merits of the reserve system or the dysfunction and infantilzation it arguably engenders....."
"Helpless is about what happened to the rule of law - the dry legal term for the noble arrangement a civilized society makes with its citizens, rendering us all equal before and bound by the same laws - in that town (Caledonia) and environs.
It began on February 28, 2006 when a handful of protestors from the nearby Six Nations reserve walked onto Douglas Creek estates which was then a residential subdivision under construction, and blocked workers from entering it.
Over the ensuing four years, and then some, as the occupation continues to this day, the rule of law was utterly decimated."
Hardest to grapple with in reading this book, was the inaction of the OPP, who stood around in large numbers and watched as fights broke out, property damaged, threats yelled, people's lives put at risk and much more.
This book made me so mad, I thought my head would explode.
Yes, it can happen in Canada. You can be asked for a makeshift 'passport' to go into town as you drive along your street and are stopped at a barricade manned by people in masks. Every day for years. And you can be subject to a curfew, not imposed by the police, but by the occupiers of your town. Rocks can be thrown at your house, at your person, lights shone in your windows, tire fires lit in your town and death threats shouted at you. And the OPP might see and hear all that, but not lift a finger.
Note: There are many many names in this book and I got tired of trying to keep track of everyone. Also some of it is dry because Christie had to focus on government policies and legal proceedings.
I heard her speak at a Canadian Women for Afghanistan fundraiser in Kingston 2 years ago. She had been in Afghanistan a number of times and had written a book about the men and women she encountered. She spoke plainly, with respect and occasionally swearing, about Canadian troops and their service and sacrifice. She strikes me as someone with great integrity and heart, but doesn't suffer fools well.
So what has that got to do with Helpless? Well Christie wrote it and she tells an unbelievable tale of terrorism and occupation in the town of Caledonia starting in 2006. I knew something went on there, and that it involved a Native protest, but I really didn't have a clue about the trauma and disruption to the towns peoples lives and the abdication of enforcing the law by the OPP. The OPP was still smarting from Ipperwash and there was huge political pressure, and political correctness being imposed when dealing with Native Canadians. None of that excuses the absolute abject terrorism that went on most every day in Caledonia.
If Canadians don't think that government can do whatever they want, and twist the narrative to come out in their perceived favour - think again.
It's a wonder no one was killed in Caledonia, but there was a lot of mental, physical and emotional damage.
Christie makes several points in her forward, that "....this book is not about Aboriginal Land Claims....this book is not about the wholesale removal of seven generations of Indigenous youngsters from their reserves and families...neither is it about the dubious merits of the reserve system or the dysfunction and infantilzation it arguably engenders....."
"Helpless is about what happened to the rule of law - the dry legal term for the noble arrangement a civilized society makes with its citizens, rendering us all equal before and bound by the same laws - in that town (Caledonia) and environs.
It began on February 28, 2006 when a handful of protestors from the nearby Six Nations reserve walked onto Douglas Creek estates which was then a residential subdivision under construction, and blocked workers from entering it.
Over the ensuing four years, and then some, as the occupation continues to this day, the rule of law was utterly decimated."
Hardest to grapple with in reading this book, was the inaction of the OPP, who stood around in large numbers and watched as fights broke out, property damaged, threats yelled, people's lives put at risk and much more.
This book made me so mad, I thought my head would explode.
Yes, it can happen in Canada. You can be asked for a makeshift 'passport' to go into town as you drive along your street and are stopped at a barricade manned by people in masks. Every day for years. And you can be subject to a curfew, not imposed by the police, but by the occupiers of your town. Rocks can be thrown at your house, at your person, lights shone in your windows, tire fires lit in your town and death threats shouted at you. And the OPP might see and hear all that, but not lift a finger.
Note: There are many many names in this book and I got tired of trying to keep track of everyone. Also some of it is dry because Christie had to focus on government policies and legal proceedings.
July 27, 2024
Christie Blachford’s novel Helpless provides a narrow view of what I find is an interesting and complex historical event. The recording of land claim events are important and I do sincerely believe all sides should have their point of view expressed and documented. Why the author would purposefully restrict her account of the events that took place in Caledonia to a single side is beyond me and contributes to the blatant bias present in Helpless.
It’s a shame such lengthy “journalistic” effort will contribute, for many people, to an incomplete view of history and the issues that exist to this day.
Yes, she acknowledged (in the book’s Forward) that the book was not about colonialism, residential schools, etc. Similarly, she acknowledged in the afterword that her intent when writing the book was to cover the event journalistically as opposed to historically. However, good journalism includes historical context, various viewpoints, and is free from explicit bias. Instead of good journalism, Blatchford just gives us a snarky play-by-play.
I think it is wholly irresponsible to do this for such a sensitive issue.
I encourage people to learn about land claims and seek out more context for these historical events in Caledonia - including the more recent protests in 2020. Journalism is a very important part of our democratic society and I’ll give Helpless an extra star because it gave some individuals on one side of the issue a medium to express their views.
It’s a shame such lengthy “journalistic” effort will contribute, for many people, to an incomplete view of history and the issues that exist to this day.
Yes, she acknowledged (in the book’s Forward) that the book was not about colonialism, residential schools, etc. Similarly, she acknowledged in the afterword that her intent when writing the book was to cover the event journalistically as opposed to historically. However, good journalism includes historical context, various viewpoints, and is free from explicit bias. Instead of good journalism, Blatchford just gives us a snarky play-by-play.
I think it is wholly irresponsible to do this for such a sensitive issue.
I encourage people to learn about land claims and seek out more context for these historical events in Caledonia - including the more recent protests in 2020. Journalism is a very important part of our democratic society and I’ll give Helpless an extra star because it gave some individuals on one side of the issue a medium to express their views.
November 9, 2020
This is a chilling, infuriating, hard to believe story. In 2006, just outside Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a group of indigenous protestors took over a housing project in Caledonia, adjacent to the Six Nations reservation. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) did nothing to stop them, so the occupation went on for years, escalating to harassment, vandalism, assaults, a "passport" system imposed on the residents, several severe injuries and the obliteration of local real estate value.
Although it was published in 2010, this book, by the late, great veteran reporter Christie Blatchford, is timely in 2020. Today, there is much pressure on governments and police to right historical wrongs against various groups, such as First Nations and African Americans. Sadly, race-based law enforcement is back in vogue, with activist groups demanding that police be defunded, aboriginal fishers working under different rules and pandering, vacuous politicians like Justin Trudeau commenting on sentences given to aboriginal offenders.
The Caledonia nightmare foreshadowed all this, by showing the horrific outcomes that result when laws are enforced differently for different groups of people, either out of historic guilt and resulting political correctness, or because of fear of rioting, if rules are applied equally to both sides. Canada now has huge issues with moral hazard and economic paralysis, as First Nations are often treated as separate and equal nation states to whom our laws do not apply.
In early 2020 the Trudeau federal government also did nothing as Canada's railways were blocked nation wide by protests over a British Columbia pipeline whose route had been negotiated by elected chiefs, but was disputed by unelected elders, assisted by the usual anti-pipeline activists.
Justice is supposed to be blind. When it isn't, we get Caledonia, a dispute that, incredibly, continues, 14 years later. The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the OPP come out of this debacle looking incompetent, fearful and corrupt. I highly recommended that every Canadian read this book.
Although it was published in 2010, this book, by the late, great veteran reporter Christie Blatchford, is timely in 2020. Today, there is much pressure on governments and police to right historical wrongs against various groups, such as First Nations and African Americans. Sadly, race-based law enforcement is back in vogue, with activist groups demanding that police be defunded, aboriginal fishers working under different rules and pandering, vacuous politicians like Justin Trudeau commenting on sentences given to aboriginal offenders.
The Caledonia nightmare foreshadowed all this, by showing the horrific outcomes that result when laws are enforced differently for different groups of people, either out of historic guilt and resulting political correctness, or because of fear of rioting, if rules are applied equally to both sides. Canada now has huge issues with moral hazard and economic paralysis, as First Nations are often treated as separate and equal nation states to whom our laws do not apply.
In early 2020 the Trudeau federal government also did nothing as Canada's railways were blocked nation wide by protests over a British Columbia pipeline whose route had been negotiated by elected chiefs, but was disputed by unelected elders, assisted by the usual anti-pipeline activists.
Justice is supposed to be blind. When it isn't, we get Caledonia, a dispute that, incredibly, continues, 14 years later. The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the OPP come out of this debacle looking incompetent, fearful and corrupt. I highly recommended that every Canadian read this book.
November 6, 2017
This is a great, but infuriating read. Christie Blatchford simply lays out the facts in chronoligical order, and leads the reader to an inescapable conclusion: In order to avoid confronting lawless natives, the Ontario provincial government and the Ontario Provincial Police abrogated the rule of law. They wilfully abandoned the idea that acts of violence against people and property should be confronted, and the guilty parties apprehended and punished by lawful means.
Instead, the non-native citizens were doubly victimized. First by violent native thugs, and secondly by a state apparatus that chose to bend over backwards to NOT apprehend and punish violent criminals simply because of the color of their skin.
This was a clear travesty of injustice that will have repercussions for decades to come. As much as I enjoy reading Blatchford's work, I could only read this book at a 5-10 page pace, as what I was reading infuriated me so much that I had to put it down.
Great piece, well written, in Blatchford's straight ahead no-nonsense style.
Instead, the non-native citizens were doubly victimized. First by violent native thugs, and secondly by a state apparatus that chose to bend over backwards to NOT apprehend and punish violent criminals simply because of the color of their skin.
This was a clear travesty of injustice that will have repercussions for decades to come. As much as I enjoy reading Blatchford's work, I could only read this book at a 5-10 page pace, as what I was reading infuriated me so much that I had to put it down.
Great piece, well written, in Blatchford's straight ahead no-nonsense style.
November 16, 2025
This was almost a DNF for me. The first half clipped along, and I found myself recalling that year in Caledonia, but the second half was a bit much. She obviously wanted to sell the book, and her limited point of view made it harder to keep going. I honestly only kept reading because my Mom's work was mentioned in it.
July 15, 2019
Lost alot of respect for the O.P.P., will never view them the same. Shameful.
September 26, 2022
DNF due to it being egregiously one-sided and biased. I was hoping for a in-depth recounting of events, but this is definitely not the writer nor book for the job.
January 15, 2013
This book should be required reading for every Canadian. The problem is that a lot of Canadians have their head in the sand and do not believe that these events even took place. Most will believe that the stories are embellishments because this kind of thing could never happen in Canada, right? Some even believe that non-natives deserve this kind of treatment...well, as long as they are not the ones being treated poorly. Others will be totally oblivious to it because they just don't care.
The different levels of Canadian government have done a good job of painting the Native's as victims and in turn, many Natives have identified non-natives as the ones responsible. Don't get me wrong, some Natives are victims as are some non-natives. There are some very real issues where the Natives deserve their say, but the government has allowed anarchy as a way for the Natives to get their point across. Acts of aggression that would put any non-native in prison for several years are met with a slap on the wrist at best or more likely, ignored. How can land settlements be negotiated fairly with this approach? Not to mention the amount of Natives that are, if not apart of the actual government ministries making decisions, then those that are part of committees and lobby groups that have powerful influence over decision making within the government. A perfect example from the book would be the ART division of the OPP that were stationed at the DCE occupation site. How well did that work out?
It has come to the point where you can't even have an opinion on the Native issues unless it is pro-Native. If you say anything that is perceived as negative you are painted as racist. This scares me because I was brought up to believe that, in Canada, you can have any opinion or belief that you want, as long as you don't bring harm to anyone or anything. Now, I am not so sure. I feel like the government, activists, associations, etc. have whitewashed and propagandized the issues so much that it is now the non-native's that are becoming the victims; being treated the way the Native's are fighting so hard not to be treated.
The bottom line is the government has created this mess and, as always, the ones caught in the middle will pay the price.
As for the book itself, I found that some of it was hard to follow because of the amount of people mentioned in the book. I also found the direct quotes used by the author make it a little difficult to make out exactly what the people quoted were trying to say. Other than that, I think that this is a very important book and I am glad that the other side of the story, in this case, has been told.
The different levels of Canadian government have done a good job of painting the Native's as victims and in turn, many Natives have identified non-natives as the ones responsible. Don't get me wrong, some Natives are victims as are some non-natives. There are some very real issues where the Natives deserve their say, but the government has allowed anarchy as a way for the Natives to get their point across. Acts of aggression that would put any non-native in prison for several years are met with a slap on the wrist at best or more likely, ignored. How can land settlements be negotiated fairly with this approach? Not to mention the amount of Natives that are, if not apart of the actual government ministries making decisions, then those that are part of committees and lobby groups that have powerful influence over decision making within the government. A perfect example from the book would be the ART division of the OPP that were stationed at the DCE occupation site. How well did that work out?
It has come to the point where you can't even have an opinion on the Native issues unless it is pro-Native. If you say anything that is perceived as negative you are painted as racist. This scares me because I was brought up to believe that, in Canada, you can have any opinion or belief that you want, as long as you don't bring harm to anyone or anything. Now, I am not so sure. I feel like the government, activists, associations, etc. have whitewashed and propagandized the issues so much that it is now the non-native's that are becoming the victims; being treated the way the Native's are fighting so hard not to be treated.
The bottom line is the government has created this mess and, as always, the ones caught in the middle will pay the price.
As for the book itself, I found that some of it was hard to follow because of the amount of people mentioned in the book. I also found the direct quotes used by the author make it a little difficult to make out exactly what the people quoted were trying to say. Other than that, I think that this is a very important book and I am glad that the other side of the story, in this case, has been told.
May 12, 2016
Christie Blatchford once again proves how she can write a balanced and objective book. This book clearly exposes how the rule of law is different depending on the politics and what ethnic groups are involved. This book is a well documented and impartial indictment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for their total inaction in Caledonia and the politics that they used to justify not enforcing the law against one group. While then using any possible reach of the law to attempt to silence and criminalize lawful expression and demonstration by different groups of people with valid complaints and concerns. The results including people suffering serious injuries, thefts and criminal harassment just to name a few of the litany of criminal offences. It also includes people unlawfully arrested, held in custody and also charged criminally (the true victims of the crisis who never once deserved to be arrested let alone held in custody or criminally charged!!). Christie Blatchford writes thoughtful and insightful columns and I hope she continues to do so as well as authoring excellent books such as Helpless.
March 21, 2011
This is a heartbreaking book about the occupation in Caledonia.
March 28, 2011
This book is heartbreaking, scary and all too enlightening. Living close to Caledonia I have been deeply concerned by the lack of media coverage this has recieved. As Blatchford states, this is not a book about native land claims, it is a book about the marriage of police and state and media - and the hazard this poses to us all. I would presume that if I hadn't experienced these events so closely I might question if it hadn't been embellished. It hasn't.
The only questions Christie doesn't ask is to the media and why they refused to cover it. Of greatest concern is the larger question of how much truth is there in the news we hear and don't hear?
Helpless ought to be required reading in any high school or university civics class.
The only questions Christie doesn't ask is to the media and why they refused to cover it. Of greatest concern is the larger question of how much truth is there in the news we hear and don't hear?
Helpless ought to be required reading in any high school or university civics class.
August 27, 2015
this is about the protests in caladonia Ontario over the douglas creek property with the riots and demonstrations that went on and the opp that just stood back and watched it all happen.it explain a lot more than the papers did but I felt the book was very one sided and none of the native people were asked their opinion on the book.as I have always found there are two sides to every story it would have been a better book I felt if it wasn't so native offensive...
March 27, 2016
Highly highly recommend. Should be mandatory reading for all OPP and also for First Nations Studies. Appalling how this was not resolved, complete disregard for the laws of Canada to protect all citizens by the OPP. This was supposedly done with the "bigger picture" in mind of land issues with First Nations. Every Canadian needs to read.
March 3, 2013
If you can read this and fail to be enraged almost immediately, then...well, I don't know. I can't help you. Certainly had me thinking some non-PC thoughts. Shameful behaviour on the part of all in charge.
August 24, 2011
A sad book about how our government and police failed us. Well written and thoroughly researched something every Canadian should read.
September 5, 2011
Great book. Had no idea that Caledonia was such anarchy. Disgusted with the OPP leadership and government after reading this book.
February 27, 2013
I think any one surrounding Haldimand Norfolk should read this book~along with every Canadian.
Read
February 19, 2013wouldn't call this a great piece of journalism....too biased.....I wonder how Neil Young feels about providing the title of the book
July 4, 2014
An intelligent look at the Native dispute in Caledonia. Book drags in some parts.
January 13, 2015
Interesting and informative. For anyone interested in the North American Indian situation in Canada, and specifically Ontario.
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