Into the fray

Council unsure of support for JTF2

County council waded, rather awkwardly, into the fight between Frank Meyers and the Department of National Defence last week. In doing so, council has inexplicably brought this nasty dispute across the bay into the County.

It seemed simple at first—a motion of support by this council to lend its voice to those welcoming the arrival of JTF2 or Joint Task Force Two. It is the sort of token council proffers rather easily and with frequency. But not this time.

Specifically, Quinte West had asked this municipality’s council to support DND’s intention to relocate the JTF2 unit to 8 Wing Trenton. With the arrival of about 1,000 new military personnel and associated facilities, Quinte West and neighbouring communities, including the County, would benefit from the welcome economic boost it will bring to the region.

But to do this, DND had to expropriate Frank Meyers’ farm; land that had been in his family since granted to his direct ancestor, John Meyers, by King George III, for his military service in the American Revolution. Meyers had no interest in selling his land. He is in his mid-eighties now. This is the only place he has ever lived. It’s home.

After a long legal battle, DND successfully expropriated Meyers’ 90 hectares in 2012. Out of options, Meyers signed an agreement that gave him a few months to take off his crop and remove his equipment. But by last September, he was to have vacated the property.

In the meantime, a Facebook campaign had aroused a great deal of awareness of and sympathy for Meyers’ plight. Politicians, including the NDP’s Paul Dewar, have taken up his cause. Reinvigorated by the support, Meyers is vowing to continue the fight and stay on the land.

Quinte West Mayor John Williams is worried that the economic rewards of the JTF2 move may be slipping away—or at at best delayed. Last month, he and his council unanimously passed a motion signaling their continued support to DND for the move to their community.

Williams asked Mayor Peter Mertens to bring a similar motion to County council. He did that last week. And so council became entangled in a controversy that doesn’t touch County soil.

Several council members were wary of the implications of their support—were they being asked to pick sides in a dispute between the farmer and the federal government? Some were simply hostile to the notion—suggesting this region would be better off if the JTF2 unit never came—because of what they do.

“If we support this, we should know what they do,” said Councillor Brian Marisett. “I think people would be unhappy if they knew.”

The JTF2 is an elite specialized operations unit formed in 1993. They have hunted snipers in Bosnia, Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, advised security forces in Hati, and rescued hostages in Iraq. The JTF2 has served as bodyguards to General Romeo Dallaire when he testified on Rwandan war atrocities in a Tanzanian court.

Criticism of the JTF2 arises largely from the fact the unit operates in the shadows—accused, at times, of failing to keep government officials briefed as to its mostly counter-terrorism activities. This has led to allegations the unit lacks sufficient oversight and accountability.

Marisett didn’t elaborate further on his own specific concerns about the “humanitarian evidence of JTF2 in this world.”

Instead he accused Mayor Peter Mertens of misleading members of council.

“This motion has nothing to do with Meyers’ farm,” said Mertens in response to question.

Marisett snapped.

“Do you have proof of that?” asked Marisett. “I don’t believe you. Are you prepared to put that in writing? I want that put in writing.”

Councillor Keith MacDonald sensing the rising temperature in the room, joined in saying it was wrong to put the proposed military unit on prime agricultural land—that it should be built at Mountain View.

By now, Councillor Jamie Forrester had lost the thread.

“I don’t get what the argument is about?” said Forrester. “It isn’t about agriculture. It isn’t about Meyers’ farm. It’s a motion to support the JTF2.”

Nevertheless, the committee of council chose to bunt the matter back to staff to tell them what they were getting themselves into. It is likely that some council members welcomed the time to assess the political winds.