OTTAWA -- Flanked by some of the top police officers in the country, Phil Fontaine issued a clear warning yesterday to aboriginal protesters plotting a wide range of mischief in the coming days.
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said anyone who breaks the law in protesting against native poverty should expect to run afoul of police. But he also urged police not to clamp down on those protesting peacefully as part of a long-scheduled day of action June 29.
"Freedom of expression and freedom of association are constitutional rights, and people have a right to demonstrate, to protest," Mr. Fontaine said. "And if they so wish to engage in civil disobedience, they can, as long as they're prepared to accept the consequences."
Mr. Fontaine's comments followed a ceremony at the Ottawa headquarters of the Assembly of First Nations, where he renewed an agreement with the RCMP to work together on policing issues. The Acting Commissioner of the RCMP, Bev Busson, was on hand, as were Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino and Stéphane Chabot, the deputy director of the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police.
The very fact that news media were invited to such an event suggests some nervousness on the part of Mr. Fontaine and the police forces as to how events will play out over the coming two weeks.
Mr. Fontaine made clear yesterday that his goal for June 29 is for Canadians at large to join aboriginals in Ottawa for a peaceful walk to raise awareness of native poverty. But debate rages among the many factions of Canada's aboriginal population.
Some who view the AFN as a self-interested institution of native chiefs are boycotting its day of action events altogether. Others have said there may be blockades of Ontario's Highway 401 in advance of the Canada Day long weekend.
Such disruptions will be a test for the OPP, which was criticized this month in a public-inquiry report for its role in the shooting death of an unarmed native protester during the 1995 occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park.
Commissioner Fantino said his information to date suggests the day will go smoothly, but he acknowledged the OPP expects a few "exceptions."
"Clearly, there no doubt will be a need for us to intervene in circumstances where there is a law-and-order mandate to be dealt with. But it will be according to a tempered, reasoned approach as opposed to going in there and creating more anxiety and escalating situations," he said.
"Our issue is to diffuse, to create a peaceful environment and, yes, enforce the law and all of that, but it isn't at all cost."
Meanwhile, another aboriginal-group leader said he is cancelling plans for a "mega-gathering" and march across the interprovincial bridge from Gatineau to Parliament Hill on Thursday.
Guillaume Carle, the grand chief of the Confederation of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, said he made the decision after police informed his group that his attendance at such a protest would violate the terms of his release from jail.
Mr. Carle was arrested in March for his involvement in a blockade of Quebec's Route 117. He says he represents all off-reserve aboriginals, but other native groups, as well as the federal and Quebec governments, have kept their distance since the organization was formed last year.
Mr. Carle said his constitutional rights are being violated because his phone is tapped and he is being closely watched by several police forces. Prior to Mr. Carle taking the microphone, a plainclothes officer from the House of Commons police force popped in to the news conference room.
Mr. Carle was joined onstage by Guy Frigon, who leads the Quebec wing of the organization and says he is a member of the Mohawk Warriors Society - an organization that was once referenced in a draft counterinsurgency manual used by the Canadian Forces.
"They think I'm a risk to national security," Mr. Carle said. "I don't know why."