A dump truck and other vehicles were lined up Friday beside the tracks at the Wyman Road rail crossing blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Protesters said they would move the truck onto the tracks if trains tried to get through. The blockade has stopped all rail traffic between Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto since Thursday. Photo by Sarah Cooke, QNet News
By Sarah Cooke
TYENDINAGA – For the fifth day in a row, passenger and freight trains on Canada’s busiest route are cancelled because of protesters on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory threatening to block the tracks.
The blockage is to protest RCMP raids on the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia last week. The raids were on protesters encamped to try to block construction of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline through Wet’suwet’en unceded territory.
Demonstrators in Tyendinaga set up camp Thursday at a railway crossing on Wyman Road after the RCMP made 21 arrests in Wet’suwet’en.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada granted an injunction allowing construction of the pipeline to move forward, but the protesters in Wet’suwet’en have refused to move their camps.
QNet News visited the site on Wyman Road on Friday but protesters refused to comment, saying only that the narrative speaks for itself.
Since then, the number of people at the site has grown to over 20 people and protesters say they will not leave until the RCMP withdraws from Wet’suwet’en.
CBC reported over the weekend that a court injunction against the Tyendinaga blockage has been served on behalf of Canadian National Railways.
Via Rail has posted the current cancellations for the day on their website stating that passengers will be able to get a refund for their cancelled trips.
OPP are currently blocking access to Wyman Road saying to QNet reporters on the scene that they can’t guarantee public safety.
No outside media has been allowed to access the site on Wyman Road with one protestor saying to QNet that they don’t want the police to think they are glorifying the situation.
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