The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Although a judge has issued an injunction against further First Nations blockades on Hudbay property, questions linger over whether the protests will actually end. After the injunction was ordered last week, Chief Arlen Dumas of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) said it remains to be seen whether the band will respect the ruling. 'I will have to go back to my community where we will discuss it and weigh out all of our options,' he told the Winnipeg Free Press. 'We will decide in a prudent way how we proceed.' Chief Dumas added, however, that he has 'always been one who respects the rule of law' and that he is 'well aware of my role as a treaty-holder and a First Nations person.' In issuing the injunction against Chief Dumas and his fellow protesters, Justice Glenn Joyal said he expects the RCMP to enforce the order, according to the Free Press. 'The intention has to be to enforce the order,' Joyal was quoted as telling lawyers for the RCMP. 'I'm confident the injunction will be respected and that the parties will in good faith carry on about their business.' But the fact is that other aboriginal blockades in Canada and Manitoba have been allowed to continue even after an injunction. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Miles Hiebert said in a case where an enforcement order is issued, Mounties have 'the operational discretion to enforce' it once they have 'reviewed resources and conducted a risk assessment in order to ensure public and police officer safety.' 'The proper use of police discretion should not be confused with the lack of enforcement,' he said. 'It is important to keep in mind that everyone is equal before the law and persons engaging in illegal activity are subject to enforcement whether or not an order is in place.' Added Cpl. Hiebert: 'The RCMP respects the right of Canadians to engage in peaceful, lawful protest.' Last week's hearing, held March 20 at the Court of Queen's Bench in Winnipeg, was by several accounts a heated affair. Media outlets reported that about a dozen MCCN members and supporters, including Chief Dumas, stormed out of the courtroom before the final ruling was made. 'It's unfortunate that we weren't able to have an honourable day in court,' Chief Dumas later told the Free Press. See 'Right...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 'Our legal representatives were continuously interrupted. They were called childish insults. It's unbelievable that type of conduct is allowed to be had from one of our justices in something that's supposed to be an honourable institution.' Hudbay lawyer Jim Edmonds said the company does not want to suppress the right to protest, but protests should not stop workers from doing their jobs or occur on remote roads used by heavy trucks, the Free Press reported. Chief Dumas led two protests at Hudbay's Lalor site, on Jan. 28 and March 5, and according to the company had threatened further demonstrations. Chief Dumas says Hudbay does not have permission to operate on MCCN's traditional land and has called on the company to halt work at Lalor and the Reed mine until that authority is granted. He argues that MCCN deserves a share of those resource projects. Hudbay says it is willing to sit down and discuss that and other issues. Lalor is near Snow Lake while Reed is between Snow Lake and Flin Flon.
