(Apr 24, 2007)
Waterloo Record
Another April. Another illegal native blockade in Ontario. Another threat of violence from native protesters. Another tense standoff with police. And another judge defied.
When will the governments of Ontario and Canada insist that the laws of this land apply to everyone living here? And what will it take for a small minority in the aboriginal community to realize you don't arrive at the right place by choosing the wrong road -- the road of injustice?
This time, the radical aboriginal fringe struck near Deseronto in eastern Ontario, where they blocked the Canadian National Railway's main line with a school bus. For 30 hours the protesters refused to budge, ignoring both entreaties from the Ontario Provincial Police and a court order demanding that they move.
This was wrong and harmful. By the time the tracks were cleared, more than two dozen freight trains carrying more than $100 million worth of goods had been stopped while hundreds of VIA Rail passengers on the country's busiest passenger route had their travel plans disrupted and were forced to take buses.
It was all depressingly familiar, too. The bus was parked on the tracks on Friday, exactly one year after provincial police evicted other native protesters from a housing development in Caledonia, only to retreat when the natives returned with reinforcements.
The occupation of that subdivision by Six Nations protesters has now lasted more than a year. As in Deseronto, the law became a doormat for the natives to wipe their feet on. Roads and a rail line were blocked in Caledonia. A court order was defied. Unlike Deseronto, there was violence. And the occupation became legal only because the provincial government purchased the land and gave permission for the protesters to remain there. Even worse, it is entirely possible that the real gains made through the violent and illegal actions in Caledonia are convincing natives in other areas to choose such dangerous tactics.
We can't live this way. While the Six Nations protesters near Deseronto finally agreed to open the rail line 18 hours earlier than they had said they would, one of the organizers of that blockade, Shawn Brant, is now threatening "escalating'' actions. The railway, provincial highways and the town of Deseronto itself are all targets, Brant says.
The authorities should not wait for Brant to make good on his threats. Anyone in Ontario who arbitrarily blocks a public rail line is, on the surface, breaking the law and should face criminal charges. Brant should be no exception, and it would also be fitting if he faced a civil suit from the railway. He should be called on to make his case in court, and let a judge decide if what he did constituted acceptable political protest or an unacceptable violation of the law.
What makes the Deseronto blockade even more intolerable was the way the protesters initially responded to police requests that they move with their own threats of violence. If the provincial and federal governments do nothing now, they merely confirm to Brant and his followers that such ominous displays of force are an acceptable shortcut to resolving complicated land disputes.
But force and violence are wrong, and the vast majority of Canada's native community sees this truth. Yes, Canadian natives have suffered many wrongs in the centuries since the Europeans first began settling North America. But natives in Canada have repeatedly challenged the injustices inflicted upon them and received redress. They have done this again and again using the tried and true methods of going to Canadian courts of law or entering into negotiations with federal and provincial governments. And they have won major victories -- land, fishing and hunting rights as well as financial reparation. This is true despite the fact that court cases and negotiations often consume a frustrating amount of time and energy.
The federal and provincial governments are in a tricky spot. If they overreact to incidents such as the Deseronto blockade, they risk meeting a violent reaction that results in injuries no one wants. Such a response could also trigger a whole series of disruptive protests from native communities across Canada. But if the authorities do nothing, they might convince small but extreme groups of natives that the ends they seek justify illegal, even violent means.
The law of Canada is not a smorgasbord. It is not a place where people go and pick what they like, when it suits them. It is nothing less than the safety net that keeps a peaceful and civil society from plunging into an abyss governed by those with the biggest fists or the most guns. Canada must never become a place like that. The federal and Ontario governments should do everything possible to find a quick resolution to the land disputes that underlie the tensions in Caledonia and Deseronto. But the aboriginal community in both places and across Canada should reject the lawlessness of a minority in favour of the law that rules and protects us all.