A politically
charged meeting is scheduled to
go ahead in Picton tomorrow
night despite, the organizer
alleges, meddling by the Ontario
Provincial Police.
Cindy Welsh,
a Deseronto resident hoping to
meet with other concerned area
citizens, had booked the Elk’s
Hall in Picton for Thursday
night at 6:30 to discuss issues
surrounding native blockades and
protests. The agenda is to
include comments and
presentations from residents of
Caledonia. Welsh was forced to
book the hall in Picton after
officials from other venues in
Deseronto turned her down once
they learned the details of her
planned gathering.
Last week,
Welsh — who insists the meeting
is not being held to incite any
confrontations — managed to book
the Elk’s Hall in Picton and
began planning for the meeting
which, she said, was being well
received by local residents.
However,
those plans appeared to come to
a screeching halt Monday
afternoon when she was contacted
by a member of the Picton Elks
stating she could not have use
of the hall, adding a
representative of the OPP had
contacted the Elks’ board of
directors advising them of
Welsh’s problems getting a hall
in Deseronto.
“I got a call
and was told I couldn’t have the
hall because, apparently, the
OPP got in touch with the board
at the Elks,” Welsh told The
Intelligencer. “I phoned the OPP
and was just huffing. What gives
them the right to do this?”
Staff Sgt.
Bernie Gaw, detachment commander
for Prince Edward OPP, confirmed
he made a phone call to the Elks
but said he did not advise
against renting the hall to
Welsh. Instead, Gaw said, he
wanted to make sure all of the
information was out there for
the hall owners.
“We spoke
with the executive of the Elk’s
Lodge, wanting them to be
informed of the issues that
originated in Deseronto ... We
did provide them with that
information,” he said “It’s
certainly their hall and we
wanted them to make an informed
decision.”
The Elks, he
added, are a service group well
known for their work in the
community.
Asked if
there was another way to deal
with the situation, such as
ensuring officers were on hand
for the scheduled meeting, Gaw
said, “I’m not in the business
of speculation.”
Floyd Snider,
secretary for the Picton Elks,
said Welsh’s reservation for the
hall was not canceled due to any
OPP involvement. The
cancellation stemmed, instead,
from financial issues, he said.
“She didn’t
pay her 50 per cent down,”
Snider said. “When you rent the
hall you have to put in your 50
per cent and she hasn’t done
that and she hasn’t signed her
lease.”
