Canadian Police Move To Clear Anti-Pipeline Protest Blocking Rail Corridor In Ontario

Police in Canada's province of Ontario began actions on Monday aimed at ending a weeks-long protest that has blocked one of the country's busiest railway corridors, officials said

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) Police in Canada's province of Ontario began actions on Monday aimed at ending a weeks-long protest that has blocked one of the country's busiest railway corridors, officials said.

"The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has taken action to resolve protest activity and remove the barriers to rail service in and near Tyendinaga Township," the OPP said in a statement.

Live footage from the scene of the Canadian National Railway line showed police taking several individuals into custody.

Activists have for nearly three weeks blockaded transportation corridors in Canada in solidarity with a group of indigenous tribal leaders protesting against the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their land.

The protests have crippled Canada's rail network, with the Canadian National Railway and the country's national passenger rail company, VIA Rail, collectively canceling hundreds of trains and laying off almost 1,500 people.

Ontario's provincial police agency said all avenues for an amiable resolution had been exhausted before Monday's action, and that a court injunction still needed to be enforced.

The OPP and the Canadian National Railway had given protesters until Sunday evening to disperse from the railway crossing east of Belleville, Ontario as per a court injunction issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on February 7.

Mass protests and blockades across Canada began on February 6 in response to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police operation to enforce a court order against those interfering with the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.

Solidarity protests began in the Vancouver metropolitan area, but soon spread to other parts of Canada, including Ontario, where a group of indigenous protesters shut down Canada's busiest railway corridor between Toronto and Montreal.

On Sunday, Teck Resources, a Vancouver-based natural resources company, backed out of a planned mining project in Alberta, citing a complex business environment with ongoing heated Indigenous relations and environmental debates.