Excerpts from a major and well-sourced post by Publius, well worth the read:

Caledonia and Mr Law and Order

When Stephen Harper first presented himself as a national figure, he consciously projected the image of a conservative reformer, someone who would fight to overturn Canada’s growing position as a “northern European welfare state.”..

With Prime Minister Harper’s support, former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino has been nominated as the Conservative candidate in Vaughn…

As former head of Canada’s second and third largest police forces, Fantino carries an enormous prestige and is seen by the party as a star candidate. For the Tories, Julian Fantino is Mr Law and Order, exactly the sort of figure who can appeal to crime worried suburban voters. In his four years as Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), a term which ended this summer, Fantino has been front and center in the ongoing Caledonia land dispute.

To evaluate Fantino’s fitness for political office and, if rumours are correct the cabinet table, it is important to look into his conduct during the Caledonia crisis. Assuming command of the OPP in October of 2006, seven months after the initial occupation of the Douglas Creek Estate, the majority of the nearly five year long saga has taken place during Fantino’s watch.

The Caledonia crisis represents the longest single breach of the peace in modern Ontario’s history…

Had only the land claim been at stake, it’s unlikely the residents would have been much disturbed. Instead a wave of terror was initiated in Caledonia against its non-aboriginal citizens. During this wave of terror Julian Fantino, likely bowing to political pressure from Queen’s Park, failed in his duty as an officer of the law.

His failure became the failure of the OPP forces station in Caledonia, leaving Canadian citizens at the mercy of a lawless mob obviously contemptuous of our laws and government…

In his four years in power the Prime Minister has sold Canadian conservatives a false bill of goods. He has promised us greater freedom from the state, a fight against crime and a strong defence of Canadian sovereignty. In supporting Julian Fantino for Parliament he has again failed to live up to his promises.

Despite the disgraceful neglect of the Caledonia Crisis by the mainstream media, there is a wealth of resources available online…

The formidable Christie Blatchford will soon be out with a book on Caledonia: Helpless…

Update: Paul puts it nicely at Celestial Junk:

Stephen Harper: The Law and Disorder Prime Minister

Mark
Ottawa