DESERONTO, Ont. (Jun 30, 2007)Police were hunting last night for the man who shut down traffic in eastern Ontario and parked $100 million of cargo during the national day of action.
Mohawk Shawn Brant and about 40 supporters shut down Hwy. 401 for about 11 hours, blocked Hwy. 2 and prompted railways to stop trains along the Toronto-Montreal and Ottawa-Montreal corridors.
The blockades captured most of the attention on what was otherwise a peaceful day of protest by natives drawing attention to living conditions on Canada’s reserves. CN Rail’s decision to halt traffic on its busiest Toronto-Montreal line meant a daily average of 25 freight trains and 22 Via Rail trains were blocked.
Brant was unrepentant, saying he’ll do it again.
“This is the first time ever we’ve shut down the 401, and I don’t believe it’s going to be the last,” said a defiant Brant. And he said he won’t surrender to police until sometime next week.
