Aside from a few morning disruptions in Eastern Ontario and near Montreal, the national day of protest organized by native Canadians was marked by peaceful marches in pockets across the country.
Ontario Provincial Police reopened Highway 401 just west of Kingston, Ont. by lunch hour, after natives had set up a blockade on a highway that police had cordoned off late Thursday night.
“People were concerned that it may be too much of an imposition and erode any support that there might be for First Nations' issues,” native protest leader Shawn Brant said from an overpass on top of the highway.
He added this was not a result of police intervention early Friday morning but merely a “gesture to the public.”
The Ontario Provincial Police have issued an arrest warrant for charges of mischief against Mr. Brant, a Mohawk from the Tyendinaga reserve near Deseronto, Ont.
Via Rail suspended all trains headed from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal Friday – affecting about 5,000 travellers – after the group of Mohawk protesters blockading Highway 2 west of Kingston announced they would demonstrate on the tracks. The railway company has offered to refund or exchange tickets free, but Via Rail spokesman Malcolm Andrews said it was too early to estimate lost revenue.
Three hundred Canadian Pacific Railway trains across Canada were to grind to a stop Friday afternoon as the company marked the day with a one-minute halt in its operations at 2 p.m. in every time zone, said an internal memo obtained by The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Brant said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino called him three times in the early hours of Friday and that OPP told him they were prepared to launch an assault if they needed to.
“In fact,” said Mr. Brant, the OPP said “there would be a dawn assault and then ... a 6 a.m. assault. We've been anticipating and we've been preparing for that.”
The assault never happened. “That's part of the game,” Mr. Brant said.
Mr. Brant told reporters Friday morning that he would be willing to turn himself in later in the day but not before he “gets to give his kids a hug.”
Phil Fontaine, national grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, stressed in Ottawa Friday the importance of building alliances with other Canadians.
Political action, he said, “isn't about power; it's about giving our children hope and a reason to live.”
He referred to the despair felt by his 13-year-old niece, who recently committed suicide, and urged other aboriginal people not to despair, but to galvanize support among other Canadians.
“I truly believe in Canada, I really do. I know Canadians believe in fairness. I truly believe in my heart Canadians want everyone to have a fair chance in life.”
Mr. Fontaine was addressing a rally at the end of a march through Ottawa on Friday during the national day of action.
Slightly more than 1,000 marchers left their rallying point in front of city hall for a march through streets. Earlier Friday, about 50 members of Quebec's Barriere Lake band set up about eight tents, with the permission of the RCMP, on a corner of Parliament Hill.
Police maintained a low profile during the march, headed by Mr. Fontaine and attended by federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, Canadian Auto Workers Union leader Buzz Hargrove and a large contingent of union members.
Across the country, the mood of the protests was calm, save for a few minor road blockades.
In Montreal, Mohawk traditionalists blocked off the Mercier Bridge, the link connecting Montreal with the Kahnawake reserve and several suburban communities.
About 100 protesters marched with Mohawk Nations flags to the bridge span – a peaceful demonstration that nonetheless caused massive traffic jams for several kilometres.
