This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Shawn Atleo, appeared to condone the blockade of a busy VIA railway corridor on Wednesday, which is predicted to have interrupted the travel of more than 4,000 people. Addressing the audience at the Ottawa mayor’s breakfast series on Thursday, Atleo stated that his understanding of this most recent blockade revolved around “calls for a full, national, public commission of inquiry on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.”
In his speech, Mr. Atleo affirmed that “the AFN stands strong that we are calling for a national public inquiry,” adding that “the chiefs in the assembly have also stood firmly behind such a call and will continue to press this government to heed such a call.” The Tyendinago Mohawks set up a blockade of the VIA railway line, halting all trains on way to east from Toronto in what some protesters were reportedly calling a “national day of action.” Addressing the issue, Atleo alleged that the international community, provinces and territories are all supporting calls for a national inquiry but that support, however, that support has not reached the federal government.
In a statement issued last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper disliked the idea of commissioning an inquiry, as he stated that “often the recommendations prove to be of limited utility.” Similar stance was repressed by the Justice Minister Peter MacKay in the House of Commons, stating that “with the greatest respect, the biggest mistake that we could make on this issue would be to spend more time studying it.”
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