whether Six Nations of the Grand River Territory were interested, it was not made the subject of the detailed negotiations that would have been required in a community where land claims remain a controversial issue both in the city and at Six Nations. As things played out, the discussion of this possibility was obviated by subsequent developments which abandoned the idea of a greenfield campus in favour of a downtown site.
In the wake of all the controversy over the disposal of the Icomm, city council’s discussion of the draft agreement with Laurier was characterized by voracious wrangling over procedure. This was a sign of things to come. Councillors took exception to Mayor Friel’s handling of the situation, arguing that he had negotiated with Laurier behind the scenes, that they had been improperly excluded from the discussions, and that he had not adequately informed council of the agreement. A local journalist, Ross Marowits, wrote an opinion piece on the meeting in which the agreement with Laurier was approved, entitling it “Council’s Infighting Spoils Moment.” In lambasting council, he wrote that “process is only part of the problem. The circus-like atmosphere of recent council meetings, political grandstanding, posturing for the television cameras, rambling questions, childish pouting and lack of discipline have devalued the institution itself.”6
The vehemence of the debate notwithstanding, the political infighting vanished on May 15, the day after city council approved an agreement with Laurier, a day when the city and the University Committee presented the agreement to President Rosehart, Professor Copp, and Dean Read at a joint presentation at Brantford City Hall. To mark the occasion, the city’s council chamber was dressed in flowers and festooned with balloons and decorations featuring Laurier’s official colours of purple and gold. A Chamber of Commerce wine and cheese reception followed. On behalf of the university, President Rosehart received the city proposal and promised to take it to Laurier for study and approval. But he emphasized that the studying must at some point stop: “Then you get like the Nike commercial and you ‘Just Do It.’”7
On June 29, 1998, six weeks after Brantford’s city hall presentation to Laurier, the university, the city, and the Grand Valley Education Society signed a formal Declaration of Intent which committed them to work out a formal agreement that “will lead to the creation of a campus of Wilfrid Laurier University in the City of Brantford.” President Rosehart, Mayor Friel, and Colleen Miller signed the agreement. The three parties agreed that they would aim for an agreement to be signed by September 1998, to allow a campus to open by September 1999.
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