TORONTO AND DESERONTO, ONT. — Ontario Provincial Police, who shut down Canada's busiest highway early Friday morning west of Kingston due to native protesters in the area, have decided to reopen Highway 401.
The OPP had closed it earlier in the day after the protesters blockaded a section of secondary highway and a stretch of nearby railway track on the eve of the National Day of Action.
The OPP closed Highway 401 both ways between Napanee and Belleville and were diverting traffic north onto Hwy 7 due to native protesters "being in the direct area, for safety reasons," said Sergeant Kristine Rae of the Smith Falls detachment.
Hours later the OPP issued an arrest warrant for protest leader Shawn Brant on a charge of mischief.
Mohawk Shawn Brant speaks to reporters last night after his protesters lit two bonfires in the middle of the highway near Marysville, Ont. (Ryan Carter/The Globe and Mail)
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Internet Links
- The Assembly of First Nations: National Day of Action
- Ontario Ministry of Transportation information on road closures
- Map of area around Highway 401 closing
- Via Rail: Read the statement
- Raw Audio: Voices at Union Station, part 1 (wma)
- Raw Audio: Voices at Union Station, part 2 (wma)
Native demonstrators also blocked roads in and out of a reserve in Alderville, Northumberland County, halfway between Toronto and Kingston.
Constable George Silvestri said that both the north and south ends of Alderville, on County Road 45 just north of Cobourg, were blocked by the demonstrators Friday morning.
A county road near the popular Ontario Muskoka town of Bala was also blocked by demonstrators. The OPP confirmed Friday there are protesters in the Kawartha Lakes region as well.
Via Rail suspended all trains headed from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal Friday — affecting about 5,000 travellers — after the group of Mohawk protesters now blockading Hwy. 2 west of Kingston announced they would demonstrate on the tracks.
Protesters had barricaded the CN rail line used by both passenger and freight trains, Highway 2 and Highway 401.
"I think that's an indication of our strength, of our willingness to stand on the line," Mr. Brant said.
He said OPP Chief 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," Mr. Brant said, 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 today but not before he "gets to give his kids a hug."
In Caledonia, Ont., where a native occupation of a construction site has often flared up in violence, a group of about a dozen protesters started the day with prayers for peace and calm.
"Our prayers simply go out to all our brothers and sisters that they remain safe and out of harm's way," said Dawn Smith, a Six Nations protester.
No blockades were planned near Caledonia, she said.
Natives from the nearby Six Nations reserve occupied the Douglas Creek Estates housing development early last year, claiming the land as their own and accusing the government of reneging on a 200-year-old treaty.
The protesters blocked a road and a railway track last year. They weathered a raid by the Ontario Provincial Police and several violent confrontations with local Caledonia residents.
The native occupiers at Caledonia do not recognize the authority of Assembly of First Nations, the body that represents elected band councils and that organized Friday's protests. The protesters in Caledonia defer to the confederacy council, a group of chief and clan mothers who draw legitimacy from their hereditary lines. The confederacy council views the elected chiefs and the AFN as puppets of the federal government.
"This is for one day only," Miss Smith said of today's events organized by the AFN. "Our protest is generations old."
In Montreal, meanwhile, there were only minor disruptions Friday morning.
About 6 a.m., Kahnawake Mohawks slowed traffic for about 90 minutes along Highway 30, a suburban road. Criticizing the government's choice to expand the highway, they distributed pamphlets to drivers saying there needed to be more consultation.
Earlier in the morning, they also hoisted large Warrior Society flags on the Mercier Bridge, a commuter feeder that was blocked throughout the summer Oka crisis.
Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, stressed at a news conference Thursday in Ottawa that his organization is calling only for peaceful events.
He said he has tried but failed to contact Mr. Brant, the Mohawk protester from the Tyendinaga reserve near Deseronto, Ont., who plans to lead Friday's rally on the tracks, and convey his wish "that there are no major disruptions."
Thursday night, Mr. Brant's protesters lit two bonfires in the middle of the highway near Marysville, Ont., and had also parked pickups trucks, a van and school bus there. Mr. Brant said the action was part of a three-phase plan that included blockading the railway tracks and Highway 401.
"It's our intent to maintain the mandate of Chief Fontaine," he said, adding that the plans are just for a peaceful protest.
However, he added, "Governments aren't going to disrespect us."
Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino said Thursday he thinks Mr. Brant, who is currently out on bail on charges connected to a 30-hour railway blockade in April, is a "one-off" and warns he will be held accountable for his actions.
Via Rail expects Friday's cancellations will affect roughly 24 trains, spokesman Malcolm Andrews said Thursday.
The railway company has offered to refund or exchange tickets free of charge, but Mr. Andrews said it was too early to estimate lost revenue.
Three hundred Canadian Pacific Railway trains across the country will grind to a stop Friday afternoon as the company marks 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.
Speaking from the site of Friday's main demonstration at Victoria Island in Ottawa, Mr. Fontaine said living conditions on some reserves are so bad that officials in hospitals refuse to let women bring their newborn babies home.
Eleven of the 13 premiers issued a statement Thursday expressing support for the goal of raising awareness of the issues facing Canada and its native peoples.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell did not sign the statement; his government later issued a similar release focusing on issues more specific to British Columbia.
Though supportive of the day, Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik also took a pass on the communiqué on the grounds that the territory is primarily Inuit and has no reserves. Inuit are not participating in the day of action.
The statement pointed to the 2005 Kelowna Accord as evidence that governments are making progress on aboriginal issues. However, the Conservative government's decision not to honour the deal's $5-billion price tag is one of the reasons listed Thursday by the AFN for Friday's protests.
While expressing support, the premiers also called for the rule of law to be respected.
The OPP acknowledges that Eastern Ontario looks like a "hot spot," but adds it is prepared to respond, in a measured way, to any unlawful activity. The force won't discuss operations.
Spokespeople for the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP in Manitoba and New Brunswick had similar responses and said they expect only peaceful assemblies but are prepared for other events.
Members of the Mi'kmaq Nation and their supporters plan to convene at the border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Friday morning, but will only slow traffic if the RCMP agrees.
Some members of the Mohawk community at Kahnawake, the Montreal-area reserve at the heart of 1990's Oka standoff, are planning a symbolic gesture on the Mercier Bridge at noon, but do not plan to disrupt traffic.
Coincidentally, Friday's protest falls on the one-year anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Council adopting a long-awaited Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The UN General Assembly has still not given the declaration its full approval, because Canada and Russia voted against it, despite Canada having led negotiations in recent years.
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and NDP leader Jack Layton will march on Victoria Island Friday but Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Jim Prentice, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, are not expected to participate.
Mr. Fontaine will be meeting with Mr. Prentice Friday afternoon to discuss the day's events.
With reports from Bill Curry in Ottawa, Ian Bailey and Patrick Brethour in Vancouver, Colin Freeze in Toronto, Alex Dobrota in Caledonia, Ont., Tu Thanh Ha in Montreal and Canadian Press.
