Intelligencer Staff
Friday, April 20, 2007
The Belleville Intelligencer
Native protesters underscored their discontent with the provincial and federal governments by barracading the most heavily travelled rail corridor in Canada.
Shortly after midnight Friday, Mohawk protesters parked a number of vehicles — including a decrepit, painted school bus — over the CN Rail crossing at Deseronto Road, bringing all morning Via Rail and CN Rail freight traffic to a halt.
Passengers aboard Via Railway trains were bused between train stations in Kingston and Belleville in order to avoid any lengthy delays.
The protest, which is over the province’s refusal to revoke the licence of a nearby gravel quarry, is ultimately regarding a 950-acre land claim by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. A Kingston developer was planning to build condominiums on land, which encompasses a large portion of Deseronto
Friday morning, only protesters were allowed access to the scene of the railway crossing while a handful of demonstrators blocked any non-native and media access at the intersection of Deseronto and Slash roads. A school bus manned by protesters was also parked cross nearby Bridge Street.
Provincial police, meanwhile, maintained roadblocks at either end of Deseronto Road — Highway 2 and Belleville Road — in addition to keeping patrols through the region.
For the past five weeks, protesters have been occupying a gravel quarry on Deseronto Road in an effort to have the provincial government revoke the licence of the quarry’s operator.
Since taking over the Thurlow Aggregates site, the Mohawk demonstrators have been trucking gravel out of the site to use on private driveways on the Tyendinaga reserve.
However, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Chief R. Donald Maracle was angry with the group’s decision to mount the railway blockade, which he said “significantly compromised” ongoing land claim negotiations with the federal government regarding the land tract.
“The (Mohawk band) council is disappointed in the action of some of our members who decided to take matters into their own hands by blocking the CN rail line,” he said from the band office, Friday.
“I know that our people are frustrated with the length of time it takes to settle claims and maybe they think they are helping to advance our cause ... but we believe they are misguided. We believe there was no reason to take this action while the negotiation table was functioning.”
Maracle said the band council was neither consulted or involved with the actions of the demonstrators.
“Our purpose is to get the land returned to the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte through a process. There has been an enormous amount of time spent on research, legal review and political lobby ... and it would be a huge injustice to our community that after 20 years of hard work and determination if our land claim was jeopardized by this action.”
The real issue at hand is being lost whenever the protesters take such action, he said, especially considering their actions are not condoned by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
“The issue is about the legal obligations of the Crown to address our long outstanding grievance with the Mohawk people. And the real issue is being overshadowed by the protests and blockades, instead of raising awareness of the legitimate interests of our people in the land.“
In an attempt to “de-escalate the situation”, Maracle said the band council wrote Natural Resources minister David Ramsay to have the quarry’s licence revoked. Ramsay maintained it cannot be revoked unless the operation contravenes the Aggregate Resources Act.
Maracle said the licence should at least be suspended until the negotiations are completed, given the land claim is a legitimate legal action.
“The issue is that the Mohawk people have never surrendered their title to that land ... and we have a legal interest — we own that property under the terms of our treaty.
“We did everything possible to try to avoid this escalation ... what more can I say?”