The dispute over a cancelled Caledonia subdivision that has been occupied by Indigenous land defenders for over 18 months is heading back to court.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Foxgate Developments — a joint venture of Losani Homes and Ballantry Homes — secured a court date for a new hearing into a permanent injunction barring land defenders from the 10-hectare site, which has become known as 1492 Land Back Lane.

“Today the court reset the timeline to Foxgate’s application for a permanent injunction,” William Liske, vice-president and chief legal officer for Losani Homes, told The Hamilton Spectator in an email after Tuesday’s assignment court hearing.

The builders first turned to the courts in the summer of 2020 after land defenders from nearby Six Nations of the Grand River claimed the McKenzie Road property as unceded Haudenosaunee territory.

Shortly thereafter at Superior Court in Cayuga, Superior Court Justice R. John Harper issued a temporary injunction preventing unauthorized personnel from being on the land.

Police efforts to clear the site were unsuccessful, sparking violent skirmishes and prompting land defenders and their allies to barricade surrounding roadways.

Last December, Ontario’s top court ruled that 1492 Land Back Lane spokesperson Skyler Williams — the only person named in the injunctions — was “denied fairness” when he was disqualified from participating in the October 2020 legal proceedings that saw Harper’s injunction made permanent.

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