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Canadian Native groups block major roads, rail lines

Grand chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization Morris Shannacappo leads Manitoba Aborigines and supporters in a march for change during the Aboriginal Day of Action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Canadian travelers faced road closings and rail shutdowns Friday as they set out for the Canada Day holiday weekend amid nationwide protests by Native Canadian groups to demonstrate their displeasure with the Conservative government over several recent disputes about land claims and funding.

While most of the Native groups heeded a call from their national leadership to stage non-disruptive protests, members of a Mohawk tribe in Ontario shut down passenger and freight train service along Canada's busiest rail corridor and caused a section of Canada's busiest highway to be closed for about 11 hours.

Via Rail Canada, the country's passenger rail system, canceled service between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa for the duration of the day, leaving thousands stranded. Canadian National said that about 25 freight trains were also affected.

Most demonstrations on Friday, however, mirrored a peaceful march of about 1,000 people past the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa that was led by Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada's main Native group.

Speaking on an Ottawa River island that is claimed by an Algonquin tribe, Fontaine said the protest "is certainly not about political power. It's about hope and giving our children a reason to live."

Fontaine told marchers that his 13-year-old niece recently committed suicide, a disproportionately high cause of death for many young people on Native American reserves.

Topping the list of Native grievances is the decision taken by the Conservatives shortly after they took power last year. An agreement was canceled between the federal government and the provinces and territories that would have provided C$5 billion (US$4.7 billion) for education, employment training and health care improvements for Native peoples.

The government also cut funding for Native-language training programs and reversed Canada's longstanding support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Late last month, the government announced a new system for settling Native land claims that met with a favorable reaction from Fontaine. But he has not changed his overall view of the Conservatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We will not be bought off, never, ever, by any government," Fontaine said on Friday.

As a safety measure, the Ontario provincial police shut 29km of Highway 401, the main link between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, as members of the Mohawk tribe were about to move onto it shortly after midnight. The resulting detours and congestion added two or more hours to motorists' travels.

In Montreal, a massive traffic jam developed after Mohawks blocked a major bridge over the St. Lawrence River for 90 minutes.

The protesters agreed to the reopening of Highway 401 late in the morning though the blockade of a smaller highway and the main Canadian National Railway line would stand until midnight Friday.
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