Sunday, April 29, 2007

Tough talk by Feds ends CN Barricade - a lesson to be learned

Tyendinaga police acted as negotiators, playing a pivotal role in ending the 30-hour blockade of a major railway line between Toronto and Montreal. A court injuction ordered the protesters to remove an old school bus off the track, but was not enforced by local OPP Instead, the two sides met through the night to reach an agreement at around 4:00 a.m.

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have had any dialogue - we would have just had a battle,” said Shawn Brant, a spokesperson for the demonstrators. (edit by Jeff: Leader of the group, not simply spokesperson) “Our contempt towards (the OPP) is strong, and if we don’t have the ability to relay information then we could never have even a sense of a dialogue with them.
“The people are ready to finish the job. We set this course and even with the intensity of (the blockade), people didn’t walk away – more people walked in. People aren’t concerned with the consequences of our actions…

Read the full story here

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