Helpless, Christie Blatchford
Helpless, Christie Blatchford
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Helpless
Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us

Author: Christie Blatchford

Narrator: Kathleen Gati

Unabridged: 15 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Anchor Canada

Published: 12/21/2021


Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

In February 2006, the site of a residential development in Caledonia, Ontario, was occupied by protestors representing the Six Nations. The land, they claimed, rightfully belonged to their people. They have never left.

And Christie Blatchford has never let go of the story: a story so fraught with complications and sensitivities—with political explosiveness—that the Canadian media has too often found it easier to avert its gaze.

It is the story of innocent victims who have been abandoned, left helpless. It is the story of a government that has not governed and police who have not policed. It is the story of a community whose freedom and peace of mind have been sacrificed in order to maintain a toxic status quo and keep officials in the jobs they are refusing to do.

About The Author

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD was born in Quebec. She wrote for all four Toronto-based newspapers. She won a National Newspaper Award for column writing, and in 2008 won the Governor General's Literary Award in non-fiction for her book Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army. Blatchford is also the author of Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us and Life Sentence: Stories from Four Decadesof Court Reporting --  or, How I Fell Out of Love with the Canadian Justice System (Especially Judges). Christie Blatchford died in Toronto on February 12, 2020.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul

Civil disobedience and legitimate protest or reckless lawlessness? Dateline Caledonia, Ontario 2006: HELPLESS is recently deceased Toronto Globe and Mail journalist Christie Blatchford’s shocking story of the occupation of Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia by a militant group of armed and angry abor......more

This is a chilling, infuriating, hard to believe story. In 2006, just outside Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a group of indigenous protestors took over a housing project in Caledonia, adjacent to the Six Nations reservation. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) did nothing to stop them, so the occupation......more

Goodreads review by Erik

Christie Blachford’s novel Helpless provides a narrow view of what I find is an interesting and complex historical event. The recording of land claim events are important and I do sincerely believe all sides should have their point of view expressed and documented. Why the author would purposefully......more


Quotes

“This is a landmark book that every citizen should read—and every politician and journalist.” —Toronto Sun