(The Canadian Press circulated the following on April 8, 2009.)
TORONTO — The lawyer for a group of First Nations protesters says disrupting railway traffic through blockades can be justified as a way to bring attention to aboriginal issues.
Lawyer Peter Rosenthal was in a Toronto court today arguing motions in a lawsuit CN Rail launched against protester Shawn Brant and others.
Some Tyendinaga Mohawks blockaded the busy Toronto-Montreal corridor of the CN Rail line in eastern Ontario in April and June of 2007.
CN has sued Brant and others for defying a court injunction during the blockades, and the protesters have countersued.
CN wants the court to strike portions from the protesters’ statement of defence and counterclaim that the company says are irrelevant to the case, including statements about First Nations people living in poverty.
None of the allegations have been proven in court, and the judge has reserved his decision.
“There is increasing realization … that aboriginal blockades might be justified sometimes,” Rosenthal said, specifically to bring attention to the often glacial pace of land-claims negotiations with the government.
CN has not specified the damages it is seeking for the interruption of rail service.
Brant makes no apologies for any losses suffered by CN, as he alleges the suffering of his people is directly tied to CN profiting off First Nations land.
“They can sue me until the cows come home but it isn’t going to stop until the issues of First Nations people are dealt with respectfully, with honour and integrity,” Brant said outside court.
It’s a shame it takes such a disruptive gesture to bring attention to the abject poverty in First Nations communities and boil-water advisories that last years, he said.
“If I have to go out and shut down the (Highway) 401 or the CN main line in order to have somebody look at our community with some compassion and understand what it’s like to live like that for year after year after year,” so be it, Brant said.
“It’s beyond me why I have to go out and shut down the 401 or the CN main line to have that dealt with.”