Native blockade organizer warns of 'escalating' actions
A key organizer of an aboriginal blockade thatdisrupted passenger and freight trains in the busy Toronto-Montreal corridor warnedSaturdayof "escalating" protests in the near future.
"We've identified targets as part of this campaign, one being the railway, one being provincial highways and one being the town [of Deseronto] itself," Brant said.
"The disruption on the CN line was a first in a series of economic disruptions, the first in a campaign." he said. "The campaign calls for an ever escalating degree."
Federal Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice told CBC News Saturdaythat adissident group in the Mohawk community put up the blockade against the will of its chief and council.
He saidnegotiations involving the disputed land have been going well since January and there was "no excuse" for such a paralyzing protest.
"These are not the people at the negotiation table," Prentice said. "They do not speak for the chief and council."
"What these types of illegal actions do is erode public support for the resolution of aboriginal issues. It's quite counter-productive and it's also quite harmful to the negotiations."
Protesters ignored court order
EarlyFriday,protesterspulled an old school bus across the tracksnear the eastern Ontario town of Deseronto.
They said it would be a 48-hour disruption to protest against what they said is the slow pace of settling a land dispute involving a quarry. The protesters said it's operating on ancestral Mohawk land. A developer plans to build condominiums using material from the quarry.
The protest halted dozens of freight trains andservice for thousands of Via Rail passengers.
The company had to charter buses to move passengers already holding tickets for destinations including Toronto, Montreal, Kingston and Ottawa.
Canadian NationalRailway has not been able to say when the track will fully reopen. Crews were dispatched to the scene to clearobstructions, including debris from abonfire.
A few hours after the blockade ended, freight trains were back on the tracks, but Via Railtold passengers who left for tripsalong the corridor on Saturday morning to expect delays of between one and two hours.
Fire crews arrived at the scene on Fridayafter plumes of smoke could be seen rising out of a wooded area down the rail line. They had to extinguishsomesmall brushfires along the tracks.
Ajudge in Toronto on Friday afternoon granted CN Raila court injunction ordering the protesters off the tracks, butit was ignored.
Through the night, the protesters sang, played drums and lit bonfires before the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced the blockade had been taken down around 6:30 a.m. ET Saturday.
More 'economic disruptions' likely
Brant said they were able to negotiate a compromise with the police to end the protest.Hesaid despite the decision toend it earlier than planned,demonstratorswere "prepared to meet force with force."
"We were prepared for any escalation on behalf of the OPP," he told CBC Newsworld.
Brant said protesters "took to the tracks as a first in a series of economic disruptions" after 3½ years of talks because they were unable to get a copy of the licence for the quarry.