LILLEY: Six Nations chief says group behind subway injunction doesn’t represent his community

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The Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River is warning the province, dozens of municipalities and provincial agency Metrolinx that they should stop dealing with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute. HDI, which is currently involved in a court action against building the Ontario Line subway project, bills itself as the development arm of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council.

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Yet in a letter to Metrolinx earlier this month, Chief Mark B. Hill of the Six Nations of the Grand River expressed disappointment that the transit agency had engaged with HDI and paid the group $1.46 million.

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“HDI and Aaron Detlor, the lawyer behind it, do not represent our people. Not a single penny of this money has gone to the people of Six Nations or to any other Haudenosaunee community. As you can imagine, this is not acceptable,” Chief Hill wrote.

Chief Hill questioned where that money was being spent and called on the government to stop working with HDI.

“No government or agency should be making payments to those who do not represent an Indigenous community. It is time for Metrolinx to end these separate and unaccountable payoffs and processes as they are undermining true Indigenous consultations,” Chief Hill wrote.

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The letter is similar to one Hill has sent to municipal leaders across southern Ontario regarding HDI.

The dispute raises questions about who actually speaks for First Nations communities and which organization’s governments should engage with. It’s one courts have grappled with for some time and will continue to grapple with.

HDI sought and received a temporary injunction against the removal of trees for the building of the subway station at Osgoode Hall. They asserted rights going back to the 1701 Nanfan Treaty that granted hunting rights to the Iroqouis across much of what is now New York State, Ohio, Michigan and southern Ontario.

As part of that assertion of right, Aaron Detlor, acting on behalf of HDI, demanded in emails to Metrolinx that they pay a price per tree and/or pay HDI for land that was being used for the subway build even though the land is in downtown Toronto and not owned by HDI.

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“We have advised metrolinxs that their operations will interfere with established treaty rights some of which include sacred irreplaceable trees such as those at Osgoode Hall,” Detlor said in an email to the Sun.

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“In other instances where the significance of impact is yet to be determined, we have proposed financial models to address fair compensation and accommodation for cumulative impacts consistent with the Supreme Court of Canada’s position a compensation will be owed if rights are infringed.”

While Chief Hill says that HDI doesn’t benefit his community, Detlor says that money collected by HDI goes back to the community through various programs including day care and health facilities.

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As part of the ongoing court battle over Osgoode Hall, Metrolinx has said that HDI has no standing and pointed to a 2013 court ruling which stated that “HDI is not a lawful government authority.” That hasn’t stopped governments at all levels from consulting with HDI and in some cases paying them, which is what raised the concerns of Chief Hill.

Detlor dismissed Hill’s concerns as part of an ongoing dispute over traditional versus elected leadership.

That ongoing dispute is dividing the community of Six Nations. Earlier this week, Two Row Times, an Indigenous newspaper based at Six Nations but covering Ontario, was highly critical of HDI, it’s secret structure and its tactics.

They were also critical of the Ford government for requiring government departments to deal with HDI.

Given what’s Metrolinx is saying about HDI in court, it looks like the province is ready to be done with them but that likely won’t be the end of this story.