Ontario provincial park closed 'until further notice' due to land claim demonstration

A southwestern Ontario provincial park has been closed to the public after demonstrators blocked the front gate in support of a land claim.

A trailer was parked in front of the entrance to Pinery Provincial Park, located on the shores of Lake Huron, and a few people were peacefully demonstrating, provincial police said Friday.

OPP Sgt. Dave Rektor said the demonstration was related to a "land claims issue that is before the courts."

The park has been the site of land claim protests in the past. It is also not far from Camp Ipperwash, where a land claim demonstration turned deadly in 1995.

Park officials issued a statement Thursday saying a decision was made to close the park "until further notice" after the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry received notice of intention to blockade the park.

Park officials also tweeted that the individuals claim the park is "rightfully theirs" and that the police had been notified.

"Ontario Parks will continue talks with the individuals in an effort to resolve the matter," the park statement said, noting that until then, the park is closed to the public for camping and day use.

"Public safety remains our first priority and will guide our operation of the park," the statement added.

Rektor said Friday that a police liaison team would be working with all involved to resolve the issue.

"We respect everybody's right to demonstrate, we just ask everybody remains respectful," he said, noting that police were keeping an eye on the situation.

The park near Grand Bend, Ont., boasts about 10 kilometres of sand beach along Lake Huron and 21 square kilometres of forests and rolling dunes.

An Aboriginal family led by demonstrator Maynard T. George has made several attempts to "repossess" Pinery Provincial Park in past years, saying the land belongs to approximately 100 of his great-grandfather's descendants.

In 2004, then Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant told the legislature that George's claim was "an individual grievance" and not a land claim.

Bryant noted that the First Nations in the area — Kettle and Stony Point First Nation — had said that they didn't endorse the grievance and that they have no land claim at Pinery.

Pinery Park is near Camp Ipperwash, where a land claim demonstration turned deadly in 1995 when a police sniper killed Dudley George — no relation to Maynard George — during a raid on the protesters' camp.

The Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation approved the deal with the federal government in 2015 to settle that claim.