First Nations veteran arrested at Remembrance Day ceremony
Three activists carrying aboriginal flags were arrested for breaching the peace at the Old City Hall ceremonies, which they said lacked native representation.
By:Stephanie MacLellan
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
An aboriginal veteran and two other men carrying First Nations flags were arrested at Toronto’s Remembrance Day ceremony at Old City Hall on Monday.
Davyn Calfchild said he brought the three flags to the ceremony to honour the First Nations soldiers who fought for Canada. This was the third year he has gone to the ceremony with his flags, and the first time he was arrested, he said.
First Nations soldiers were not represented in the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony this year.
“I don’t go down there to protest,” said Calfchild, who says he served as a peacekeeper for five years in the former Yugoslavia. “I go down there to show solidarity with our native brothers and sisters.”
A police officer confronted Calfchild and his two friends in the crowd right after they got to Old City Hall on Monday, he said.
“He started telling me that our flags were illegal, that we weren’t welcome to stand there and let them fly,” he said.
Toronto Police say the men were arrested for breaching the peace, shortly before the ceremony started.
“It was disturbing to the others that were attending the event,” said police spokeswoman Const. Wendy Drummond.
“It had nothing to do with the type of flag or who the three people were. It had to do with the disruption of the Remembrance Day service itself.”
A video taken by one of the men, activist Miguel Avila-Velarde, shows Calfchild face-to-face with a police officer. The officer warns Calfchild that he will be removed if he continues to breach the peace; Calfchild repeatedly interrupts him, swearing.
He then yells at the crowd, “This guy says that our flags aren’t welcomed here on Iroquois land.”
I know Calfchild, and to say he's a goon is putting it rather lightly. Besides thinking the whole of southern Ontario is Haudenosaunee land, he thinks he has the right to harass everyday people just going about their business. He's racist, aggressive, unreasonable and a disruptive wherever he goes. Him and people like him are part of the element that fuels and fosters the very negative impression people have of Native protesters.
I haven't seen the video yet, but if true to form, I'll bet him and his friends weren't just standing their holding Native flags. I'm looking for the video now.
Three activists carrying aboriginal flags were arrested for breaching the peace at the Old City Hall ceremonies, which they said lacked native representation.
By:Stephanie MacLellan
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
An aboriginal veteran and two other men carrying First Nations flags were arrested at Toronto’s Remembrance Day ceremony at Old City Hall on Monday.
Davyn Calfchild said he brought the three flags to the ceremony to honour the First Nations soldiers who fought for Canada. This was the third year he has gone to the ceremony with his flags, and the first time he was arrested, he said.
First Nations soldiers were not represented in the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony this year.
“I don’t go down there to protest,” said Calfchild, who says he served as a peacekeeper for five years in the former Yugoslavia. “I go down there to show solidarity with our native brothers and sisters.”
A police officer confronted Calfchild and his two friends in the crowd right after they got to Old City Hall on Monday, he said.
“He started telling me that our flags were illegal, that we weren’t welcome to stand there and let them fly,” he said.
Toronto Police say the men were arrested for breaching the peace, shortly before the ceremony started.
“It was disturbing to the others that were attending the event,” said police spokeswoman Const. Wendy Drummond.
“It had nothing to do with the type of flag or who the three people were. It had to do with the disruption of the Remembrance Day service itself.”
A video taken by one of the men, activist Miguel Avila-Velarde, shows Calfchild face-to-face with a police officer. The officer warns Calfchild that he will be removed if he continues to breach the peace; Calfchild repeatedly interrupts him, swearing.
He then yells at the crowd, “This guy says that our flags aren’t welcomed here on Iroquois land.”
I know Calfchild, and to say he's a goon is putting it rather lightly. Besides thinking the whole of southern Ontario is Haudenosaunee land, he thinks he has the right to harass everyday people just going about their business. He's racist, aggressive, unreasonable and a disruptive wherever he goes. Him and people like him are part of the element that fuels and fosters the very negative impression people have of Native protesters.
I haven't seen the video yet, but if true to form, I'll bet him and his friends weren't just standing their holding Native flags. I'm looking for the video now.
