Ontario under siege

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) pre-emptively closed Highway 401 near Napanee last night, before a planned blockade was placed:

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.

It's unlikely that the warrant for Shawn Brant will actually be used . . . the OPP have been very cautious in dealing with native protesters (many people feel they've been far more than just cautious). VIA Rail also cancelled all passenger service from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal, as the protest would also block the railway line, which is in close proximity to Highway 2 and Highway 401.

It's unlikely that the police and the provincial government would be quite as careful to avoid confrontation if it were any other group blocking highways and other transportation corridors.

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.

Of course, in this sort of situation, things are peaceful only as long as the police don't actually try to enforce the law, which (in the morally inverted universe of political protest) puts the onus on the police to avoid any contact with the protesters for fear of being the "aggressors".

Tens of thousands of people are being forced to either avoid travel or take lengthy detours (all at their own expense) so that the police can't be accused of "escalating the situation". And there is little or no chance of the courts acting to punish or even censure the protest organizers.

Terence Corcoran tried to dig up some background on the underlying land claims:

If Indian Affairs has clear answers to these and other questions, it will not say. All documents are sealed under legal privilege and cannot be viewed by anyone. Even after settlement is reached, no Canadian, and no resident of Deseronto, will ever know what the facts are behind the Culbertson Tract claim.

Claims like this exist all over Canada. Since 1973, 1,279 claims have been filed by native bands. So far, only a few — maybe 75 — have been rejected as having no legal merit. Most of the rest have been approved and settled (282) by Ottawa or are awaiting negotiated settlement (790). All documents in all claims remained sealed.

So, as today's protest carries on, it also helps to ensure that more of those thousand outstanding claims will be accompanied by "actions" that the police won't — or can't — control. Long hot summer? It's going to be a long hot decade at least!