A stretch of Canada’s busiest highway will soon be reopened after being closed for hours by Mohawk protesters near Deseronto, in Eastern Ontario.
The closing of Highway 401 was only one of several across the province - all part of a national aboriginal day of action - that could disrupt cottage-country traffic ahead of the summer’s first long weekend.
The deal to reopen the 401 followed a negotiation between Indian police and the Ontario Provincial Police. Mohawk protest leader Shawn Brant had set up three blockades near the eastern Ontario town of Deseronto - on the 401, on Highway 2 and the CN rail line.
When, exactly, the highway will return to normal is not known.
"It is going to open but we don't have an exact time frame. But we hear it will be soon," OPP Const. Angie Atkinson told the Star in mid-morning.
She said traffic was relatively light on the detour routes and moving with no major delays.
Brant said this morning he did not want to aggravate long-weekend travellers more than necessary by keeping the 401 closed throughout the day.
The two other barricades remain.
“We certainly don’t want to stick our finger in the public’s eye and continue to do so,” Brant said. “Obviously, we’re concerned about the support of the people.”
The protest prompted the OPP to issue an arrest warrant for Brant on a charge of mischief, but police made no move to remove the blockades or arrest him. Brant, a 43-year-old Mohawk, is out on bail on previous charges of mischief, disobeying a court order and breach of recognizance in connection with a 30-hour blockade of the nearby CN rail line April 20.
Police closed Highway 401 as a safety measure just before midnight Thursday before the Mohawks had a chance to block it.
Demonstrators also blocked roads in and out of a reserve in Alderville, Northumberland County, halfway between Toronto and Kingston. OPP Const. 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 this morning. A county road near the popular Muskoka town of Bala was also blocked by demonstrators.
OPP Const. Peter Leon told the Starthat he expects the closing of County Road 38, Wahta, Muskoka, to last for some time. He said it's the main route into Bala, so the closure could pose a problem to holiday traffic.
The road is blocked by members of the Wahta First Nations community.
"We want people to plan their route well ahead," he said.
The closure of County Road 45, near the village of Roseneath in Northumberland County, will also disrupt cottage traffic, as it's a main route into the Hastings area.
Leon said the road is blocked by members of the Alderville First Nations community. "It is effecting traffic in the area."
In the Maritimes, members of the Mi’kmaq Nation threatened a blockade of the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border on Highway 104.
Meanwhile, Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine reiterated on CTV’s Canada AM comments he had made earlier in the week that blockades were not intended to be part of the day of protest.
“Our position has been very, very clear,” he said. “We’ve never advocated blockades.
“I mean, we’ve made it very clear that this is to be peaceful. We want to do everything possible to reach out to Canadians. We are not interested in major disruption. We don’t want to impede the Canadian economy.”
Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders issued a rare joint statement Thursday, acknowledging that aboriginals are understandably disappointed and frustrated with the past, but urged protesters to keep today’s campaign “peaceful and law-abiding.”
Earlier, the Mohawk protesters near Deseronto who threatened that they had arms and were ready to use them, parked an old school bus across Highway 2, forcing a steady stream of traffic and heavy trucks to turn around.
“We’ve made no secret that we have guns within this camp,” Brant told The Canadian Press in an interview.
“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 that they’re bringing those against.”
In anticipation of the blockade, Via Rail suspended today’s passenger train service on the heavily travelled Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto corridors, affecting an estimated 5,000 passengers.
The threatened rail barricade prompted CN to cancel all traffic on the busy line, affecting almost 50 passenger or freight trains - a repeat of the situation in April when CN obtained an injunction to end that blockade. However, police chose not to enforce the injunction.
“First Nations protesters are again blocking CN’s rail corridor and the OPP continues to refuse to intervene,” said a statement issued by the railway early today.