Several protesters were given tickets by the RCMP after allegedly blocking a bridge and backing up traffic on Highway 2, about 20 kilometres north of Prince Albert, on Canada Day.
According to the RCMP, officers got six separate 911 calls about the group at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, and “several reports from the public” said the protesters hit their vehicles as they drove past the group.
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The RCMP said the group consisted of two women and five men.
“Officers tried to get them to move off the roadway and when they refused, all were ticketed under the Traffic Safety Act for unlawfully walking on a highway,” the Saskatchewan RCMP said in a statement.
“One of the adult females refused to leave the highway and for safety reasons she was arrested without further incident and remains in police custody. No charges have been laid at this time and none of the other people were arrested.”
Police said the highway was cleared of protesters and an investigation into the group’s actions “remains ongoing.”
The protestors were reportedly carrying signs reading “Obstruction of Treaty Rights” and “Say No to Bill C-5.”
Bill C-5 is the Liberal government’s major projects bill. The controversial piece of legislation gives Ottawa the power to fast-track projects designed to boost the national economy by sidestepping environmental protections and other legislation.
An early draft of the bill gave Ottawa the ability to sidestep the Indian Act, but that portion was removed from the bill before it passed.
The bill has angered some Indigenous and environmental groups, who criticized the federal government for rushing to grant itself sweeping new powers in order to speed up development.
Several Indigenous leaders have called on MPs and senators to slow the bill’s passage, in order to give Indigenous communities more time to suggest amendments and review the legislation.
–with files from paNOW and the Canadian Press