ST-LAMBERT, Que. – About two dozen protesters remain at a blockade south of Montreal in defiance of an injunction delivered Thursday ordering them to leave the site and stop disrupting rail traffic.
Police patrols passed by the blockade in St-Lambert, Que., regularly overnight but there was no sign of a mobilization to eject the protesters from the site on Canadian National Railway tracks.
The blockade in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia has interrupted rail service for suburban commuters and for Via Rail travellers between Montreal and Quebec City.
The injunction granted to CN by Superior Court Justice France Dulude authorizes “any police services or peace officers” to assist the company in executing the order.
But with a barrel fire going and supporters bringing coffee and muffins, the protesters didn’t seem ready to leave.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said today he will leave it to police to enforce the injunction, but he hopes the blockade will be removed “rapidly.”