When the railroad did not run*

Mohawk activists have been "blockading"** the main CN rail line between Toronto and Montreal for the past twelve days. In response, CN has suspended all of its freight services east of Toronto and VIA Rail has cancelled passenger service, such as it is, all across Canada.  The railroad is not as crucial to the economy as it once was,  but the impact of the blockade and shutdowns is starting to grow. Shortages of propane in Quebec and Atlantic Canada could start to emerge this week if the situation is not resolved.

The blockade is being staged in sympathy with hereditary chiefs on the Wet'suwet'en territory in northern British Columbia, who are opposed to the building of a gas pipeline across their land.  Given its remoteness from major population centres,  Wet'suwet'en is not a promising spot for demonstrations to bring national attention to the cause, so the chiefs have called for sympathy action and the Mohawks, 5000 kilometres to the east, have responded.  Makes sense: the line they are targeting is the busiest in Canada, and it just so happens that their Tyenindaga reserve directly abuts the CN corridor.   

Canada's track record in dealing with its indigenous population has been appalling, and although things have improved in recent years, the performance of senior politicians in dealing with the current crisis leaves a lot to be desired.  Let's take a look at the two main Federal leaders, PM Justin Trudeau and Tory leader (though not for much longer), Andrew Scheer.

Since October's Federal election, Trudeau has handed off most of his day-to-day responsibilities to his Deputy PM, Chrystia Freeland.  It's scarcely a surprise to find that Trudeau spent the first week of the crisis gallivanting around the world.  First he was in Africa, making simpering speeches about the evils of slavery in Senegal in hopes of winning that country's support for Canada's bid to join the UN Security Council.  Then there was a stop for a security conference in Germany.

Trudeau has now returned to Canada and has issued a couple of statements about the blockade, basically calling for dialogue rather than confrontation.  However, he is still scheduled to swan off to a meeting in Barbados this week to further his UN ambitions. If he actually goes ahead with this,  it will firmly secure his growing reputation as a deeply unserious man with no real interest in his job. One wonders if it has occurred to him that an unresolved crisis with his own Indigenous population is not exactly a recommendation for a seat at the Security Council.

Still, it could be worse: we could have ended up with Andrew Scheer as PM.  Backed by a chorus of Tory party grandees, Scheer is calling for a robust police response to bust up the blockade and get the railroads open again. In a stunningly tone-deaf choice of words, Scheer called on the protesters to "check their privilege", not something likely to resonate with people struggling to make ends meet on a reservation.

Scheer seems not to have taken any heed of the problems that have always arisen when force has been used to deal with conflicts of this kind: see, for example, the Oka crisis of 1990 .  More recently, when Indigenous protesters closed a rail line near Sarnia, Ontario in 2012, PM Stephen Harper (like Scheer, a Tory) declined to use force, and the matter was eventually resolved peacefully.

Apart from a not-inconsiderable number of hotheads who would no doubt like to "teach the Indians a lesson", most Canadians doubtless hope the present crisis ends that way too. The Mohawk are savvy enough to know that they have the upper hand right now, but also savvy enough to know that if they push too hard and start to cause serious shortages of key products in Eastern Canada, sympathy will quickly evaporate. A full commitment by Justin Trudeau to finding a solution would undoubtedly be helpful. Putting off the trip to Barbados would be a good start.     


* Hat-tip to Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

** I put the term blockading in quotes because the demonstrators are not actually on the tracks.  They are on their own land, but close enough that CN has determined it cannot run trains safely.

UPDATE: PM Trudeau has bowed to the inevitable and will not be going to Barbados this week, opting instead to stay at home and work on trying to solve the crisis.  That's good -- and with so many controversial resource projects on the docket, starting with the Teck oilsands mine, he's going to need all the practice he can get.