Indigenous activists block transport
Thursday 17 January 2013
Printable
EmailNative Canadians slowed down motorway traffic on Wednesday, blocked a railway line and protested at the busiest Canada-US crossing point as part of a day of action over treaty rights.
Hundreds of supporters of the Idle No More movement gathered at the Ambassador bridge in Ontario.
In northern Ontario, a group set up a blockade on a railway line, halting the movement of trains between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Protesters also obstructed traffic on a Quebec motorway and stopped a train on a line outside Winnipeg.
Marchers also diverted traffic from a bridge in New Brunswick and took part in a 45-minute road blockade north of Victoria, blocking the Canadian National railway line in British Columbia.
The protests erupted two months ago against a Bill that affects Canada's Indian Act and amends environmental laws.
Protesters say the Bill undermines century-old treaties by altering the process for leasing native lands to outsiders and changing environmental oversight in favour of natural resource extraction.
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