Conservative MP asks if rail blockades constitute terrorism
Published February 27, 2020 at 4:43 pm
OTTAWA — A Conservative MP is questioning whether rail blockades in Quebec and Ontario constitute acts of terrorism, which could allow the RCMP to intervene.
Doug Shipley put that question to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair Thursday (Feb. 27) morning during testimony at the House of Commons public safety and national security committee.
Shipley said he was asking on behalf of a constituent who sent him in an email after a handful of protesters lit fires near and on railway tracks — actions that were denounced Wednesday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Blair says it’s not appropriate for him to make such pronouncements and that it is up to police to determine whether that conduct reaches that threshold, but added the activity was deeply concerning.
Blair says politicians shouldn’t interfere in the work of police and prosecutors.
A meeting between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, the federal government and the British Columbia government is set to take place later Thursday.