My daughter, Kim, and I were talking today about the native claims along the Grand River. I told her I'd watched a program on T.V. where one faction of native spokesmen considered it fair for homeowners on the disputed land to pay the natives a fee if they wanted to stay in their homes. Neither our provincial or federal governments will put these homeowners at ease by making a firm decision on native land claims.
Kim said that natives have approached banks holding mortgages on these homes and told them they should think twice before renewing any mortgages on land where natives have claims. Scary stuff!
Then she came up with a great idea! Homeowners on 6 miles either side of the Grand River (disputed land) should notify the government that they will withhold property tax until the dispute is settled. After all, they surely need to know that the right people are getting all those tax dollars!
I think this is a terrific idea but it would only work if a large percentage of the property owners banded together and got a lawyer to advise and represent them. There is strength in numbers. I feel so bad for these people whose homes are threatened and our government is doing nothing to help them. It just isn't right.
Our home is the largest purchase we'll ever make in our lives and it is our haven from the rest of the world. People work so darned hard to even put a down payment on their homes and then continue to pour their life blood into them. I thought of this as I watched the 2 native spokesmen on T.V. calmly discussing how they should get what they felt was owed to them. They had done zero to develop this land and yet they thought it fair that the hard working home owner should work a little harder to hand more money over to them. Just because they are native. Not because they've done one darned thing to earn it.
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