Posted on 05/16/2007 4:29:18 PM PDT by fanfan
OTTAWA–Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice is warning that "someone's going to be hurt" if native people don't tone down talk of confrontation over unsettled land claims.
Prentice was talking yesterday just hours after Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine warned that native frustration was building to potentially dangerous levels and days after a YouTube video called "When Justice Fails, Stop the Rails" was posted anonymously on the Internet, lamenting unsettled land claims and giving instructions on derailing trains.
It was only a few weeks ago that aboriginal protesters halted rail service in eastern Ontario by parking a school bus on the line and lighting bonfires along some track near Deseronto.
"First Nations people are beginning to question the so-called rational process," Fontaine said yesterday during a speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa. "At this point, you must realize we have a right to be frustrated, concerned, angry."
Canadian National Railway investigators are trying to trace whoever is behind the YouTube video. It was still posted yesterday afternoon despite requests from CN that it be removed.
In the meantime, Prentice wants Fontaine to help keep the tone calm among native groups.
"I continue to say that blockades are not acceptable, they're not necessary because we are making progress at land claims tables and I am fearful that someone will be hurt," he said.
With files from CP
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Memo to “first nations” :
You weren`t the first people to inhabit
North America. You`re not special, get over it.
At the rate they’re going, they won’t be the last to inhabit NA, either.
Police probe video on how to disrupt trains
BILL CURRY
From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
May 16, 2007 at 1:32 AM EDT
OTTAWA — A video posted on YouTube offering detailed instructions for disrupting train traffic has triggered investigations by the police forces for Canada’s two main rail lines, CP and CN.
The 3½-minute video surfaced on the Internet this week. The video was filmed at night showing a person standing over a train track. The person provides a step-by-step guide to setting off the red emergency lights that tell train conductors to stop immediately.
Mark Hallman, a spokesman for CN Rail, said the measures outlined in the video are extremely dangerous and urged YouTube to pull the video.
“[The video] depicts illegal activity and highly dangerous behaviour and this is obviously a source of considerable concern to the railway,” he said. “This could have serious safety repercussions.”
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The Globe and Mail
The anonymous video simply states that it was produced by “the railway ties collective.”
The video begins with white words on a black screen stating that there are more than 800 native land claims pending in Canada and disrupting rail service could encourage provincial and federal governments to resolve them more quickly.
Though the video makes reference to Mohawk blockades in Tyendinaga and Caledonia, one sentence in the video suggests it might have been made by non-natives.
“By halting the freight and passenger rail service, we who support indigenous struggles for dignity and fairness will show governments that indigenous people are not alone,” it states. “When Justice Fails, Stop the Rails.”
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said: “I think it’s irresponsible and I think it should be taken down. Someone is going to be hurt. I call on all chiefs, the national chief in particular, to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, urged those who are viewing and sharing the video to hold off on such measures, but did not say how long that wait should last.
“I urge caution to those people that have accessed this information [in the video],” he told reporters Tuesday. “Give us the opportunity to see if we can secure the kind of commitment that will change things here.”
Both CN and CP have federally regulated police forces that have the same powers as other forces.
A spokesperson for the RCMP said they too are aware of the video but could neither confirm nor deny whether the RCMP is also investigating the matter.
LOL!
I see that the transition from ‘First Nation’ to ‘Domestic Terrorists has already begun.
Unfortunately, the first terroristic act of derailing a train by the so-called ‘natives’ will most likely be hailed by the leftist media, the public will once again hear the bleating of liberals calling for ‘understanding’ and a ‘dialogue’, and of couse: blaming Conservatives and specifically Stephen Harper.
The best way to deal with such actions (or terroristic threats of such actions) is to have a national security certificate issued, pick up the suspects, and in the absence of a tall tree and a short piece of rope, put ‘em on ice for a few years.
The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule.
The best way to deal with such actions (or terroristic threats of such actions) is to have a national security certificate issued, pick up the suspects, and in the absence of a tall tree and a short piece of rope, put ‘em on ice for a few years.
What part have the Canadian politicians played in the matter?
How is the Caledonia thing going? Haven’t seen much about it since the townspeople met with David Ramsay and went (according to what I read) politely told to bug off.
A lot, they present as weak kneed liberals.
World events have shown that terrorism and violence against liberals gets results. In short it works.
The governments job with these terrorists is to show them that there is no 1st nation: There is One Nation, and that the liberals have left town for good, so they better start talking instead of demanding and terrorizing.
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