The Mayors of St. Catharines and Haldimand county are at odds over a proposed development near Caledonia.
On Monday, St. Catharines council unanimously passed a motion encouraging officials in Haldimand to negotiate with protestors at the McKenzie Meadows site instead of calling in the police and escalating the issue.
Following the decision, an email from Haldimand county mayor Ken Hewitt was posted on social media, accusing St. Catharines council of 'undermining' the situation to 'jump on a leftist agenda.'
He writes the motion does not serve the 200 or so homebuyers waiting for their dream home to be built, or the contractors waiting to earn incomes.
In an email obtained by CKTB's One Dish, One Mic St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik responded, saying the frustrations are valid and acknowledged the issues regarding the land dispute are complex.
He goes on to say this isn't a leftist agenda, and the spirit of the motion is to focus on nation to nation negotiations.
At the heart of the dispute is a claim from protesters that the area is unceded land from the Haldimand Tract, granted to the Six Nations is 1784 for their role fighting with the British in the American Revolution.
The developer of the land has a signed agreement with the Six Nations elected council and a judge has granted a permanent injunction against the protesters' camp on the land.
The site has been the site of several skirmished between police and protesters.
Journalist and host of One Dish One Mic Karl Dockstader was arrested by the OPP and charged with criminal mischief while he was at the site last month.
Dockstader tells CKTB's Tom McConnell the St. Catharines anti racism committee wrote a letter to Haldimand officials asking for a negotiated settlement.