Post by hushasha40 on Apr 21, 2007 14:51:23 GMT 1
Leader defies court order
April 21, 2007
by Stan Josey
Special to The Toronto Star
DESERONTO, Ontario–Indian protesters vowed to keep the main CN [Canadian National] rail line between Toronto and Montreal closed for another day despite a court injunction and a personal plea from OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] Commissioner Julian Fantino to end the blockade.
The tense situation also prompted Premier [of Ontario] Dalton McGuinty to urge the federal government to intervene at the "earliest possible opportunity," to help resolve issues underlying the blockade.
About 3,500 Via Rail [leisure travel program] passengers were left scrambling for scarce bus seats and other modes of transportation on the first nice weekend of spring when a group of Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte shut down the rail line at midnight Thursday in this community just east of Belleville.
They parked a converted school bus camper on the tracks and built a bonfire nearby as part of a rotating, escalating campaign to resolve a land claim issue the Indians say has been festering for 170 years.
Almost exactly a year ago, the same group of Mohawks led by Shawn Brant erected a blockade using bonfires and old school buses that disrupted rail traffic from Toronto to Montreal in solidarity with land-claim protesters in Caledonia.
For the past month the band members have maintained barricades around a stone quarry just west of Deseronto, which they claim is on land that is part of their reserve. A developer plans to build condominiums using material from the quarry.
When the province failed to move quickly to cancel the quarry license this week, a group of individuals, acting in concert, decided to take the next step by imposing "economic sanctions". Brant said his group would not comply with a court order obtained by CN in Toronto court yesterday ordering the rail blockade removed.
He said they also rejected a personal request from Fantino to remove the blockade to avoid "further damaging escalation" of the dispute. Brant said the Ontario Provincial Police head told them they made their point and alerted the nation to their grievances and now it might be time to go home.
But Brant said the band members would stick to their pre-determined timetable and keep the rail line shut for 48 hours.
A large contingent of OPP, CN police and transport Canada officials maintained a watchful eye on the blockade last night and showed no indication of enforcing the injunction.
The wording of the injunction, Brant said, left the enforcement to the discretion of police and urged them to avoid any confrontation that might lead to violence. Brant said he was not concerned about thousands of inconvenienced travellers.
"It's unfortunate that the public has to be caught in the middle of these things but it is just collateral damage."
As some commuters in Toronto fumed, CN said in a release it was "concerned that the Ontario government has not ensured enforcement of the court order ..."
McGuinty appealed to Ottawa.
"The best thing that the federal government could do to protect the interest of all Ontario citizens is to address this outstanding issue in a way that takes the protest action off the table, sets up a good negotiating table, and resolves this at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.
Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said the protesters should "abandon" their blockade. "I continue to ask that everybody return home and do so peacefully," Prentice told the Belleville Intelligencer.
"That is the best way forward," he said, adding the blockade could jeopardize ongoing talks about the disputed land.
WITH FILES FROM CANADIAN PRESS
thestar.com/News/article/205732
April 21, 2007
by Stan Josey
Special to The Toronto Star
DESERONTO, Ontario–Indian protesters vowed to keep the main CN [Canadian National] rail line between Toronto and Montreal closed for another day despite a court injunction and a personal plea from OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] Commissioner Julian Fantino to end the blockade.
The tense situation also prompted Premier [of Ontario] Dalton McGuinty to urge the federal government to intervene at the "earliest possible opportunity," to help resolve issues underlying the blockade.
About 3,500 Via Rail [leisure travel program] passengers were left scrambling for scarce bus seats and other modes of transportation on the first nice weekend of spring when a group of Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte shut down the rail line at midnight Thursday in this community just east of Belleville.
They parked a converted school bus camper on the tracks and built a bonfire nearby as part of a rotating, escalating campaign to resolve a land claim issue the Indians say has been festering for 170 years.
Almost exactly a year ago, the same group of Mohawks led by Shawn Brant erected a blockade using bonfires and old school buses that disrupted rail traffic from Toronto to Montreal in solidarity with land-claim protesters in Caledonia.
For the past month the band members have maintained barricades around a stone quarry just west of Deseronto, which they claim is on land that is part of their reserve. A developer plans to build condominiums using material from the quarry.
When the province failed to move quickly to cancel the quarry license this week, a group of individuals, acting in concert, decided to take the next step by imposing "economic sanctions". Brant said his group would not comply with a court order obtained by CN in Toronto court yesterday ordering the rail blockade removed.
He said they also rejected a personal request from Fantino to remove the blockade to avoid "further damaging escalation" of the dispute. Brant said the Ontario Provincial Police head told them they made their point and alerted the nation to their grievances and now it might be time to go home.
But Brant said the band members would stick to their pre-determined timetable and keep the rail line shut for 48 hours.
A large contingent of OPP, CN police and transport Canada officials maintained a watchful eye on the blockade last night and showed no indication of enforcing the injunction.
The wording of the injunction, Brant said, left the enforcement to the discretion of police and urged them to avoid any confrontation that might lead to violence. Brant said he was not concerned about thousands of inconvenienced travellers.
"It's unfortunate that the public has to be caught in the middle of these things but it is just collateral damage."
As some commuters in Toronto fumed, CN said in a release it was "concerned that the Ontario government has not ensured enforcement of the court order ..."
McGuinty appealed to Ottawa.
"The best thing that the federal government could do to protect the interest of all Ontario citizens is to address this outstanding issue in a way that takes the protest action off the table, sets up a good negotiating table, and resolves this at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.
Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said the protesters should "abandon" their blockade. "I continue to ask that everybody return home and do so peacefully," Prentice told the Belleville Intelligencer.
"That is the best way forward," he said, adding the blockade could jeopardize ongoing talks about the disputed land.
WITH FILES FROM CANADIAN PRESS
thestar.com/News/article/205732