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In Kahnawake, where activists continue to block a Canadian Pacific rail line in support of the Wet’suwet’en protest, Grand Chief Joe Norton predicted the national blockades could soon be over thanks to the federal government’s decision to withdraw RCMP officers in British Columbia.

But he reserved harsh judgment for Quebec Premier François Legault’s handling of the situation.

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“He has to be brought onto the carpet for his approach, in (advocating for the use of) armed force, demanding that there be a co-ordinated effort between police forces to set in motion an action that would be disastrous,” Norton said in an interview with the Montreal Gazette at his Mohawk Band Council office Thursday.

“If you think things are bad now, that would be even worse. Because I know where that could lead to. To loss of life and changing the whole face of the country.”

The Sûreté du Québec’s intervention during the 1990 Oka Crisis resulted in the death of one police officer and a 78-day armed standoff that closed down the Mercier Bridge in Kahnawake and poisoned relations between Indigenous groups and the government