Quebec aboriginal chiefs to skip day of action protests

The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador has persuaded Quebec's aboriginal leaders not to organize protests for a day of action designated by its national sister organization.

'The Oka crisis 17 years ago taught us a lot about how something simple can turn into a major confrontation.' — Chief Stephen McGregor, Kitigan Zibi

Thenational group, the Assembly of First Nations, had named June 29 as a day to draw attention to aboriginal poverty and unresolved land claims.

Some aboriginal groups, including the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve in southeastern Ontario near Kingston, have said they will be holding blockades of highways or railroads.

But Quebec chiefs such as Stephen McGregor,of the Kitigan Zibi Algonquin First Nation near Maniwaki, said they are skipping that type of action at the request of Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador.

"We do not want to blockade bridges, we wish to build some," Picard said when he made the request last week,warning that "any attempt of blockade or demonstration of civil disobedience will be severely denounced."

On Thursday, McGregor said Quebec aboriginals learned froma violent clash between police and Mohawks in 1990 in which a police officer was killed.

"The Oka crisis 17 years ago taught us a lot about how something simple can turn into a major confrontation," McGregor said.

Theconflict arose after the Mohawks tried to block the expansion of a golf course onto ancestral lands.

Since then, McGregor said Quebec chiefs have turned to a different approach.

"There is a change of direction I've seen with chiefs in Quebec. They believe in negotiation," he said.

Blockades can be counterproductive: expert

Cynthia Wesley Esquimaux, who teaches aboriginal studies at the University of Toronto, said the day of action is about educating people about aboriginal issues and that will only happen if the actions taken that day don't antagonize the public.

"Some of the chiefs are discouraging their young people from blocking roads close to their reserves simply because it creates bad relations and that's not where we want to go," she said.

McGregor said that on Friday, aboriginals from Quebec reserves won't go further than distributing pamphlets at a few key locations, such as Highway 117 north of Maniwaki.

If people really want to do something that day, he's encouraging them to go the noon march in Ottawa organized by the Assembly of First Nations, which he sayswill be properly supervised.