[R-G] Plan to arm border guards 'act of war,' native chief warns

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Somnia/1644252/story.html

Plan to arm border guards 'act of war,' native chief warns

By Jorge Barrera, Canwest News ServiceMay 29, 2009


[photo caption] Homemade signs show the extent of Akwesasne resistance  
to armed Canadian border guards on the ONtario-Quebec-New York State  
border. One chief said violence woudl occur if the plan went ahead.


A potentially violent showdown between Mohawks and Canadian  
authorities looms after last-ditch efforts to delay Monday’s planned  
arming of border guards on a reserve straddling the Ontario-Quebec-New  
York state boundary failed, an Akwesasne Mohawk chief said Friday.

Chief Larry King said the situation was now in the hands of Akwesasne  
community members, who on Friday night began discussing whether they  
would allow armed border guards onto their territory Monday. The  
Akwesasne Mohawk Council Chiefs offered several compromise positions  
to senior Canada Border Services Agency officials during a meeting in  
Ottawa, but were rebuffed, said King.

The Mohawks say they don’t want armed guards at the border post  
because it would violate their sovereignty and increase the likelihood  
of violent confrontations between guards and Mohawks.

“(The) CBSA is a foreign oppressive force who occupies our sovereign  
community and territory. (They are) unwelcome, uninvited and now  
carrying firearms. For lack of a different description, that is  
considered by some an act of war,” said King. “We cannot be held  
responsible or control what could transpire. There is a real  
possibility of unrest.”

On Friday night, more than 50 community members began gathering next  
to the CBSA compound, King said. Then, around 8 p.m. local time,  
several of them presented officials inside the compound with a  
resolution banning the arming of border guards.

About half an hour later, U.S. Customs officers shut down the section  
of bridge from the U.S. to Cornwall Island, which is part of the  
Mohawk reserve, King said. It was reopened about 25 minutes later.

Calls to U.S. Customs were not immediately returned Friday night.

While King said he expected “thousands” to gather over the weekend in  
support of the Mohawks’ position, he insisted the gathering would be  
peaceful and would not involve any blockades.

“We’re not blocking anything,”_he said. “(The CBSA) are the ones who  
made the call to block the bridge.”

The agency would not respond directly to queries about the meeting or  
the situation in Akwesasne, about 100 kilometres southwest of  
Montreal. An agency statement said the issue had been discussed “a  
number of times” with the council.

“The CBSA is committed to ensuring that this initiative is implemented  
properly, safely, and without undue delay,” said the agency, which  
would not comment on any security plans for Monday.

During the Ottawa meeting, the chiefs unsuccessfully asked that the  
move be delayed for at least a year or until the end of the CBSA’s  
arming process in 2016, said King. The meeting ended with a  
declaration from CBSA president Stephen Rigby that “our position is  
what it is,” to which the chiefs responded, “whatever happens will  
happen,” said King.

The Akwesasne leadership has long warned against the move to guns in  
letters to federal politicians.

“We seriously consider your government’s actions in arming the (CBSA)  
guards as a direct assault on our sovereignty, which resonates into an  
act of war against our people,” wrote Grand Chief Tim Thompson in a  
2008 letter to Stockwell Day, tpublic safety minister at the time and  
now minister for international trade.

The Canada-U.S. border runs through Akwesasne, known on the U.S. side  
as the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. Residents often pass by the border post  
several times a day, but have recently complained of intrusive  
searches where once they could pass freely.

U.S. border guards are also armed, but their post does not sit on  
Mohawk land.

Those familiar with Akwesasne say the situation could escalate, with  
the erection of blockades or parallel armed Mohawk checkpoints a  
possibility.

Former Akwesasne grand chief Mike Mitchell said an already problematic  
situation had taken a turn for the worse.

“I don’t feel too good about this,” said Mitchell. “It is very  
serious. . . . Akwesasne has very strong character. You can go all the  
way back to the French-Indian wars. If you force them into a situation  
where they have to fight for their people, they won’t back down.”

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl’s office said it was monitoring  
the situation, but referred questions to the CBSA.

The Akwesasne council has called for the community to remain peaceful,  
although rallies planned for Friday and Saturday were still going  
ahead, said a council spokesperson.

Canadian authorities have long expressed concerns over the level of  
contraband smuggling — particularly tobacco — through the community,  
which is seen as a border-security weak point. Mohawks maintain the  
tobacco trade is linked to their sovereignty.

A Canadian law enforcement source knowledgeable of the area said there  
was some nervousness over what could transpire this weekend and Monday.

The Akwesasne Mohawk Police said they would be issuing a statement  
sometime Friday or Saturday.

The CBSA plans to arm 4,800 officers across the country by 2016 at  
land and marine ports of entry. There are currently 870 armed border  
guards across Canada, with the first group deployed in August 2007,  
the agency said.

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