One arrested as Algonquins mount protest on Quebec highway north of Ottawa
Canadian Press Article online since November 19th 2008, 0:00
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GRAND-REMOUS, Que. - Algonquin activists say police have dismantled three blockades they erected on a western Quebec highway in what they described as a protest to get governments to respect treaty agreements.
A spokesman for the Barriere Lake community says that after protesters set up a blockade around 7 a.m. they were quickly confronted by as many as 50 provincial police officers toting pepper spray.
Norman Matchewan, a spokesman for the community 300 kilometres north of Ottawa, said police also arrested his fellow spokesperson Marylynn Poucachiche.
He said the protest was peaceful but that Poucachiche was charged with obstructing police and mischief.
Matchewan said that police were towing vehicles and charging some participants with traffic violations, but that the protest had not escalated into violence as a similar one did last month.
The Algonquins said police arrested nine people during the Oct. 6 blockade and used tear gas against the crowd that included elders, youth and children.
One man was allegedly hit in the chest by a tear-gas canister.
"Right now the tension is still high," Matchewan said in a telephone interview just moments before his vehicle was towed away from the scene.
"(Police) are still forming a line on the access road so that we can't exit our community and they've dismantled all of our barricades."
The Algonquins say they want the federal and provincial governments to let them select new community leaders, and to respect environmental and revenue-sharing agreements signed in 1991.
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Canadian Press Article online since November 19th 2008, 0:00
Be the first to comment on this article
GRAND-REMOUS, Que. - Algonquin activists say police have dismantled three blockades they erected on a western Quebec highway in what they described as a protest to get governments to respect treaty agreements.
A spokesman for the Barriere Lake community says that after protesters set up a blockade around 7 a.m. they were quickly confronted by as many as 50 provincial police officers toting pepper spray.
Norman Matchewan, a spokesman for the community 300 kilometres north of Ottawa, said police also arrested his fellow spokesperson Marylynn Poucachiche.
He said the protest was peaceful but that Poucachiche was charged with obstructing police and mischief.
Matchewan said that police were towing vehicles and charging some participants with traffic violations, but that the protest had not escalated into violence as a similar one did last month.
The Algonquins said police arrested nine people during the Oct. 6 blockade and used tear gas against the crowd that included elders, youth and children.
One man was allegedly hit in the chest by a tear-gas canister.
"Right now the tension is still high," Matchewan said in a telephone interview just moments before his vehicle was towed away from the scene.
"(Police) are still forming a line on the access road so that we can't exit our community and they've dismantled all of our barricades."
The Algonquins say they want the federal and provincial governments to let them select new community leaders, and to respect environmental and revenue-sharing agreements signed in 1991.
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