Algonquin First Nations standoff continues
By Laura Beeston, THE GAZETTE
The threat of arrest issued late on the night of July 9 has yet to materialize today for Algonquin First Nations currently standing off with Sûreté du Québec officers over a logging dispute in Barriere Lake.
Local residents allege Resolute Forest Products began cutting on their land July 3 without warning or consent, prompting the small community to take action. A letter from the First Nations community was sent to Premier Jean Charest on July 4 and another to the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources July 9. Both letters urge the government to come to a resolution with the residents, who assert sacred ground and moose habitat are at risk.
Talking from one of the four phones in the small community, elder Michel Phusky said the SQ were prepared to make arrests last night but have yet to do so. Videos from the standoff have appeared on YouTube, where an unidentified officer states the SQ will “do everything to come to a peaceful ending. Our goal as police officers is to try as much as we can not to have confrontation or compromise the safety of anybody.”
Phusky maintained that the community “never put any blockades or barricades up at all, we just went over there waiting out to get a response and make sure no one acts.”
There have been no reports of altercation between groups; however Phusky said many in the community fear the clear cutting will begin again tonight.
“Some of our elders are taking it really hard, and the children are witnessing their grandparents’ tears,” he said, his voice growing quiet. “It’s really emotional.”
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By Laura Beeston, THE GAZETTE
The threat of arrest issued late on the night of July 9 has yet to materialize today for Algonquin First Nations currently standing off with Sûreté du Québec officers over a logging dispute in Barriere Lake.
Local residents allege Resolute Forest Products began cutting on their land July 3 without warning or consent, prompting the small community to take action. A letter from the First Nations community was sent to Premier Jean Charest on July 4 and another to the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources July 9. Both letters urge the government to come to a resolution with the residents, who assert sacred ground and moose habitat are at risk.
Talking from one of the four phones in the small community, elder Michel Phusky said the SQ were prepared to make arrests last night but have yet to do so. Videos from the standoff have appeared on YouTube, where an unidentified officer states the SQ will “do everything to come to a peaceful ending. Our goal as police officers is to try as much as we can not to have confrontation or compromise the safety of anybody.”
Phusky maintained that the community “never put any blockades or barricades up at all, we just went over there waiting out to get a response and make sure no one acts.”
There have been no reports of altercation between groups; however Phusky said many in the community fear the clear cutting will begin again tonight.
“Some of our elders are taking it really hard, and the children are witnessing their grandparents’ tears,” he said, his voice growing quiet. “It’s really emotional.”
Read More...