Native groups plan peaceful protests - for the most part

Brantford Expositor
Canada’s native leaders are walking a fine line as they plan for a national day of protest on June 29. They hope to be dramatic enough to draw attention to poverty on reserves, stalled land claims and other issues, yet most insist they aren’t thinking blockades or confrontation. “We don’t want to cause a major disruption in the lives of Canadians, but at the same time, we also want to make sure they understand that this is a crisis,”

Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in an interview this week from Ottawa.Shawn Brant, a Mohawk protester from the Bay of Quinte First Nation who led a 30-hour rail blockade in April near Deseronto, Ont., said a group is planning an action within a “framework of economic disruption,” but were co-ordinating with other communities as to which infrastructure would be targeted.“We have our plans made, and it’s really just contingent on circumstances that come up within the course of the next seven or eight days …,” Brant said.“We’re not going to close a highway that’s already closed or a train line that’s already closed. If that’s done, then we’re going to adjust ourselves accordingly. We want to be the most effective that we can be,” Brant said. (Edit: How very peaceful)

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