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The war of words between OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and Mohawk activist Shawn Brant is escalating as controversy swirls over last summer's blockade of Highway 401.
Fantino yesterday rejected criticism of his handling of Brant's June 29, 2007, blockade of Canada's busiest highway and a main rail line near Kingston.
"I find the whole thing ludicrous," Fantino told the Star in an email.
"It's all utter shameful madness that under the circumstances ... I and the OPP would be portrayed as the villains and Brant the victim. But then again some people have no shame," he wrote.
Fantino said he is proud the OPP was able to achieve a peaceful outcome to the blockade.
"Ironically, only in Canada can someone basically usurp the rights and lawful entitlement of tens of thousands of people and obstruct commerce by leading a so-called blockade using criminal tactics (and have) such unlawful actions be made out to be legitimate and its mastermind then the victim. This is insane!" he wrote. "I come away from this nonsense, the media hype and all, with two fundamental beliefs: my undeterred faith in the justice system, and the fact that as a law enforcement officer, I happen to have all the right enemies."
But Brant, charged after the 27-hour standoff and facing a criminal trial, told a Queen's Park news conference that Fantino's intervention into "a life and death situation" nearly sparked a tragedy.
In transcripts of three June 29, 2007, calls between Fantino and Brant, released late Friday after a court denied a publication ban sought by the Crown, the commissioner cajoles the protester and tells Brant "you're gonna force me to do everything I can within your community and everywhere else to destroy your reputation."
Brant told The Canadian Press yesterday he was dismayed to learn the OPP tapped the phone of his brother, a lawyer. Brant said his brother, Greg, had never been involved in any of the land-claim protests that coincided with the 2007 national day of aboriginal protest.
Evidence at pre-trial hearings for Brant revealed that Ontario Provincial Police used emergency wiretaps to eavesdrop on Brant, his brother and two friends.
Of those, only Brant has been charged.
In London, Premier Dalton McGuinty reiterated his support for Fantino, adding: "I think that if you were able to talk to our aboriginal communities across the province they would tell you we've made some real progress."
With files From Rob Ferguson
