Ontario won't shut quarry at centre of aboriginal protests

The Ontario government will not shut down a quarry at the centre of a land dispute, despite Friday's Mohawk rail blockade and protests Monday by their supporters, says Ontario's minister responsible for aboriginal affairs.

David Ramsay said the government has no authority to shut down the quarry on land near the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory andDeserontothat theBay of QuinteMohawks say is theirs.

"An aggregate licence can only be suspended if there is a violation of one of the conditions of the licence, and that hasn't happened in this case," he said Monday. "So there's no validity to authorize me to suspend the licence in this case."

He added that land claims are under federal, not provincial, jurisdiction and that talks with the federal government over the disputed land continue.

The quarry has not been operating since Mohawk protesters set up a blockade there in March.

Protest at Queen's Park

About a dozen members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty protested in support of the Mohawks outside Ramsay's officeat the Ministry of Natural Resources Monday morning before marching to Queen's Park. Stephanie Gude said First Nations communities face many of the same issues as poor urban dwellers.

"We're united in a struggle against the capitalist system," she said. "We're united against this provincial government."

A group of Mohawk protesters blocked Via Rail service near Belleville — disrupting service to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal— for almost 30 hours starting Friday morning.

Protestsover the land claim have been continuing since last November, when a developer was scheduled to begin building a subdivision on privately owned land within the disputed territory.

The protesters said talks with the federal government have been proceeding too slowly and have threatened escalating protests in the near future.