OF PROTEST AND POLICE
When your hashtag is #ShutDownCanada, and illegal blockades coast-tocoast are hurting the economy and the travelling public, you won’t necessarily garner a lot of sympathy. So why don’t the police clear out the agitators? Certainly Andrew Scheer thinks they should, and even the prime minister is “concerned with the rule of law.”
These disruptive demonstrations are, mostly, in support of a handful of Wet’suwet’en First Nation hereditary chiefs in British Columbia, who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline on traditional lands. Protesters have ringed the B.C. legislature, blocked ports and shut streets in Vancouver. In Ottawa, the protests have been felt sharply through the shutdown of freight and passenger train service; 400 Via trains nationwide were cancelled last week due to blockades of the tracks.
But dismantling illegal protests is not easy — and in some instances, it may not be the constructive thing to do.
First, Canada’s democratic culture generally tolerates protests, even illegal ones, to a point; it’s part of our deep belief in free speech. It helps in this particular case that many Canadians also support environmental causes, even if they know little about these specific grievances.
Second, public safety must be the priority for police. If the half-dozen people camped across a CN rail line near a rural town aren’t an imminent danger, police will act cautiously; nobody wants to accidentally spark violence that could injure anyone. Even in cases where a court has issued an enforcement order, police have — and need — discretion in applying it.
Third, there is particular sensitivity to protests involving Indigenous groups. From Oka to Ipperwash to Gustafsen Lake to Idle No More, the issues, motivations and individuals involved have varied — and Indigenous leaders and police alike have learned hard lessons from them. Today, smart senior cops and savvy Indigenous officials communicate so that, if police do move in, there’s warning of what to expect. A ham-fisted crackdown might well exacerbate tensions.
That’s not to say police have been passive bystanders in the current situation. Two dozen people have been arrested in the B.C. pipeline area by the RCMP. Vancouver police moved in earlier this week to arrest many of those blocking access to ports.
Meanwhile, Friday, a blockade of a CN track near New Hazelton, B.C., came down because political talks were scheduled — talks that might not be happening but for the patience of police. Eventually they may need to act decisively to break up blockades across the country. But, perhaps, not yet.