(The following story by Allison Hanes appeared on the National Post website on May 10.)
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway is suing the native protesters who blockaded the country’s busiest rail corridor last month, stalling millions of dollars worth of freight shipments and diverting thousands of train passengers.
The company is demanding unspecified damages from protest leader Shawn Brant, and other individuals who participated in the two-day occupation of the tracks west of Kingston near Deseronto, Ont. that shut down the crucial Toronto-Montreal artery.
The Bay of Quinte Mohawk Nation, to which the protesters belong, is also named — although the band council made clear at the time it did not endorse the action.
The lawsuit marks the first time CN has sought to recoup revenue lost during a native protest, said Mark Hallman, a corporate spokesman.
“We’re seeking is damages not only in connection with this particular blockade but for one a year earlier as well [near Marysville, Ont.] which involves a number of the same principles,” he said.
The company is asking the court to make permanent an interim injunction CN obtained in an effort to force the protesters off the rails.
“We want to see that continue to be enforced to prevent recurrence,” Mr. Hallman stated.
The Toronto-Montreal line is CN’s busiest, transporting $100- million worth of goods a day and is travelled by 50 freight and passenger trains.
The day of the protest, Via Rail was forced to use charter buses to ferry 3,500 passengers booked on 22 trains travelling between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa.
There was no word yesterday on whether the passenger rail carrier has plans to sue.
Protest leader Brant said yesterday the lawsuit only goes to prove the point the demonstrators were trying to make: No one pays attention to native land claims unless dramatic action is taken to interrupt “business as usual.”
The blockade was a bid to raise awareness about development on disputed Tyendinaga Mohawk territory.
“Honestly, when we were out there on the tracks, I felt sick and I understood the seriousness of it,” Mr. Brant said. “The whole time I’m shaking my head saying ‘This is over a quarry. How can this be over a quarry?’ I didn’t want to be there but I had to.”
From the Oka Crisis in Quebec, to the Ipperwash standoff in Southwestern Ontario, to the ongoing Caledonia occupation — Mr. Brant said these are but a handful of hundreds of land claims that have been dragging on for years.
While First Nations are expected to wait idly by for the results of negotiations, he said developmentt on disputed land continues unabated — leading to pent-up frustration that is boiling over into confrontation with increasing frequency.
The Bay of Quinte Mohawk people have been waiting decades to resolve their claim over the Culbertson tract, a 925-acre parcel of land granted by the Crown in exchange for their loyalty during the American War of Independence.
Earlier this year Mr. Brant led a month-long sit-in at a gravel quarry on the disputed land. He has vowed a rotating series of actions intended to pack an economic wallop as part of a pressure campaign to stimulate the stalled land claim.
Mr. Brant is facing criminal charges from the rail blockade. He turned himself over to police last week.
He was released on bail under conditions that he not incite or encourage any more illegal demonstrations.
“It has no effect, no bearing — charging me, suing me, silencing me, shooting me,” he said. “If I go down on the battlefield I shouldn’t expect the battle to stop. And I don’t.”