Armed Mohawk protesters got an early start to the Canada-wide aboriginal day of action on Friday, barricading a major rail line and a highway in eastern Ontario before one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
The protesters' swift action caused police to shut down a one kilometre stretch of Highway 401, the major road link between Toronto and Montreal, at midnight, fearing protesters would move to that portion of the road.
As of 5 a.m. Friday, the highway remained closed to all traffic between the towns of Belleville and Napanee, which are about 60 kilometres west of Kingston, OPP Const. Sandra Barr said.
"We closed the highway as a safety precaution," Barr told CBCNews.ca early Friday.
Traffic was being re-routed, and police could not anticipate when the highway would reopen.
Barr advised all motorists to be patient and stick to the designated detour routes in the area to avoid more traffic chaos.
"People have been trying to find shortcuts and it's ended up taking them even longer," she said.
The protesters set up their first barricade at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, three hours before the day of action officially began, parking a schoolbus on Highway 2, a secondary route near Deseronto, and lighting a bonfire nearby.
The protesters, many wearing masks and army fatigues, sang and beat drums on the road.
"Things are remaining peaceful," the OPP's Barr said. "It was relatively quiet overnight and we hope it stays that way."
The Highway 2 barricade forced traffic to stop and turn around at the location and least one motorist engaged in a screaming match with protesters before leaving the site.
A short time later, protesters set up a second blockade on the nearby CN Rail line, using jumper cables to activate crossing barriers before moving a schoolbus onto the tracks.
Protest leader Shawn Brant said the first Highway 2 blockade was just a "soft target," in anticipation of more blockades on Highway 401, between Montreal and Toronto, and the rail line between the two cities.
"We want the government to know, and the rest of this country, that we're prepared to make commitments and sacrifices to ensure a safe, healthy environment in which our children can live," he said.
Police issued an arrest warrant early Friday for Brant on a charge of mischief.
The Assembly of First Nations designated Friday as a National Day of Action to draw attention to the issues facing Canada's aboriginal communities, including poverty, soaring high school dropout rates, high suicide rates and unresolved land claims.
Brant said his protesters are ready to keep up their blockades until midnight Friday and have stockpiled food and water, and have trucks, tree trunks and wooden pallets ready to build more barricades.
"We've made no secret that we have guns within this camp," Brant told the Canadian Press.
"It's our intent to go out and ensure a safe day. Unfortunately, previous incidents have shown that aggressive tactics by the police need to be met with equal resistance by the people they're bringing those against."
Brant cited the 1995 death of protester Dudley George in Ipperwash Provincial Park as one tragic example where police and aboriginal protesters clashed.
Dozens of Ontario Provincial Police cruisers gathered in the nearby town of Napanee on Thursday as the first blockade was being set up.
Barr said police on the scene will try to "keep the lines of communication open" and "have this warrant served as quick and peaceful as possible."
The blockade forced CN to suspend all service on the Montreal-Toronto corridor indefinitely in the third closure due to aboriginal actions in 15 months, CN spokesman Mark Hallman said.
The line would be closed until police can remove protesters and ensure safe operation, he told CBC News early Friday.
He said it was impossible to put a dollar value on the disruption, but noted that $100 million in commodities is transported through the corridor every day.
"We would like to see this situation resolved as soon as possible," Hallman said.
Earlier Thursday, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino told reporters in Toronto that the force would be dispatching extra officers to ensure the protests had a "peaceful outcome."
He issued a direct warning to Brant, who this spring led a quarry occupation and a 30-hour CN Rail blockade to protest an ongoing land dispute the Mohawks have with the federal government.
"We're prepared to discuss things with Mr. Brant, as we have done before," Fantino said. "But at the end of the day, there is accountability for one's actions as well, and he will be held accountable."
Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine has insisted the National Day of Action should be a peaceful occasion designed to educate the public and raise awareness.
On Thursday, he urged aboriginal people and non-aboriginal people not to misinterpret the national day of action as an occasion for violent confrontation and illegal road blockades.
That didn't stop some native groups from planning protests, including the Mi'kmaq Nation, which has threatened to block Highway 104 on the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border.
In anticipation of Ontario blockades, Via Rail cancelled all Friday train services between Toronto and Montreal and between Toronto and Ottawa.