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Aboriginal groups protest at border crossing, highways across Canada in treaty rights dispute
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Washington Post/Associated Press
Posted: January 22nd, 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/aboriginal-...
Aboriginals slowed highway traffic, snarled a rail line and protested at the busiest Canada-US crossing point on [January 16] as part of a day of action in their ongoing dispute with the Canadian government over treaty rights. The Idle No More movement, which has shown unusual staying power and garnered a worldwide following through social media, has reopened constitutional issues involving the relationship between the federal government and the million-plus strong Aboriginal community. The protests erupted almost two months ago against a budget bill that affects Canadas Indian Act and amends environmental laws. Protesters say the bill undermines century-old treaties by altering the approval process for leasing Aboriginal lands to outsiders and changing environmental oversight in favor of natural resource extraction. Hundreds of supporters of the Idle No More movement gathered at one entrance of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario. At one point, trucks were lined up for about almost a mile (2 kilometers). In northern Ontario, a group of people set up a blockade on a rail line Wednesday. Marchers also temporarily diverted traffic from a bridge in New Brunswick. About 200 First Nations protesters also took part in a 45-minute highway blockade north of Victoria. Protesters were also blocking the Canadian National rail line through Kitwanga, in northwest British Columbia.
Note: For more information on Idle No More, click here.
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