By Arthur Weinreb
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Native protesters blockaded the main CN rail line on the Toronto-Montreal corridor late last week by placing a dilapidated old bus across the tracks. The blockade took place near Deseronto, Ontario and apparently its purpose was to show that the aboriginals involved are unhappy with the progress that is being made in the negotiations of one of their many land claims.
CN went to court and obtained an injunction that required the protesters to vacate the train tracks. Whoever decided to go to court to seek an injunction should be jailed for life, whatever life may mean in this country. Court resources are scarce and judges shouldn't be wasting valuable time issuing "orders" that we all know will never be enforced. Deseronto after all is located in Fantinoland, previously known as Ontario and the thought of OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and what purports to be a police force actually enforcing a court order against a group of aboriginals is extremely remote. Besides, Fantino is much too busy sending bullying emails to local politicians to ever take the time to enforce a lawful order of a court.
The natives ended their 48-hour planned blockade (something about fearing violence) after 30 hours of disrupting rail service between Canada's two major cities. But not to worry. As Ahhnold would say (where's the Terminator when you need him?) - they'll be back. The blockading natives have promised more, bigger and better blockades of highways and railway lines in the near future. It's going to be a long summer of the natives blockading and the police awatchin' and anegotiatin'.
It takes a good aboriginal protest that causes inconvenience to Canadians and losses to business to really see what wimps we have in positions of leadership. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, whose legacy is bound to include having hired Julian Fantino as the Commissioner of the OPP, did what we now come to expect governments to do – he asked another level of government to solve the problem. Borrowing a page from the book of Toronto mayor David Miller, McGuinty looked to the federal government to take care of what he has no political will to do and asked the feds to act quickly to settle the outstanding land claim. In other words, pay the natives off just like I did in Caledonia. Perhaps he thinks that the federal government should completely take over the CN tracks and then let the natives play on them all day, much like the way that they are occupying the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia after Dalton was so impressed with the disputed property that he bought it – using our money, of course.
Meanwhile up in Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper was quoted as saying that he doesn't know that much about the blockade and "hoped" it could be dealt with fairly and quickly. In other words, Steve really couldn't care less and isn't going to do anything but the guy has "hope". If that doesn't qualify him for the top job nothing does. Undoubtedly Harper dreams of the blockades just going away, along with his dreams of a majority government.
Whenever rail service is stalled or stopped due to a labour dispute as recently happened, the government panics, talks about the severe consequences to the economy and immediately begins drafting back-to-work legislation. But when natives blockade highways or in this case, a main rail line, they chuckle as if it really doesn't matter.
There is, of course a double standard at work here. If any other group had a grievance with the government no matter how much merit that dispute had (and the natives' land claim may very well have merit) they would never be able to impose such tactics to further their cause. And it really doesn't help the aboriginals when they are treated like infants who really don't know any better. Oh look, they put an old bus across the tracks; isn't that cute.
For those planning to travel the Toronto-Montreal corridor, it's going to be a long hot summer. And don't expect any help from any level of government.
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