Archive - nov 24, 2008

Barriere Lake, QC: Barriere Lake Algonquins face riot squad again


On 19 November 2008, for the second time in as many months, the Barriere Lake Algonquin community blockaded Provincial Highway 117, a busy resource distribution route used by Canadian logging companies and other industries.  The Quebec Provincial police—Suerte Québec (SQ)—again responded with excessive force. 

Starting at 7:00 a.m., approximately 100 Algonquins and twenty settler (non-indigenous) supporters constructed with downed trees a series of four blockades over a fifteen-kilometer stretch of Hwy 117, which includes the entrance to the Barriere Lake Reserve.  Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) maintained a human rights observer presence at the blockades and on the road leading to the reserve from Highway 117.