Still no word on the future of Quebec's remaining rail barricades - Action News
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Montreal

Still no word on the future of Quebec's remaining rail barricades

Two meetings were held Tuesday night to facilitate community discussion, but no news has emerged concerning a decision.

Blockades went up in early February in Kahnawake, south of Montreal, and in Gasp town of Listuguj

The barricade in Kahnawake, south of Montreal, was erected Feb. 8 to demonstrate support for Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Protesters in Kahnawakeand Listiguj are considering whether to maintain or dismantle the remaining rail barricades set up last month in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia.

Two meetings were held Tuesday night to facilitate community discussion, but no news has emerged concerning a decision either way.

InKahnawake, a Mohawk community south of Montreal, residents gathered at the site of the blockade, which crosses a Canadian Pacific Railway line used by both freight and commuter trains.

"There's no definite deadline. But people do feel that a decision needs to be made soon as to what's going to happen," said Kanen't:kon Hemlock, a traditional chief of the Bear Clan in Kahnawake.

"Whether the decision is going to be to stay on the tracks or to do something elsethat's going to be up to them."

InListuguj, Que.,Mi'kmaqactivists have also blocked a rail line that connects the Gasp Peninsula withNew Brunswick.

Both barricades went up in early February, amid the nationwide protests that followed the arrest of pipeline opponents inWet'suwet'enterritory.

Other barricades in the countryincluding one inTyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., that halted rail traffic in large parts of Eastern Canada havesince been taken down.

In Listuguj, Que., Mi'gmaq activists have blocked a rail line that connects the Gasp Peninsula with New Brunswick. (Isabelle Larose/Radio-Canada)

Proposed agreement reached over the weekend

TheWet'suwet'enhereditary chiefs have been leading a long-running battle against a natural-gas pipeline that is under construction in northern B.C. and slated to cross their ancestral lands.

Over the weekend, Wet'suwet'enchiefs and representatives of the federal and B.C. governments announced they hadreached a draft agreement concerning some of the issues involved in the pipeline dispute.

The traditional, or longhouse, leaders in Kahnawake have said they wanted to discuss with their Wet'suwet'en counterparts before deciding what to do with their own barricade.

Court orders have been issued against both barricades.The injunctions arevalid until Thursday.