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OTTAWA — The Harper government said Wednesday it expected the “rule of law to be upheld” as aboriginal activists called for rail and border crossing blockades, the same day a First Nations chief on a hunger strike suggested relations with Ottawa were becoming more “volatile” and strained.

The language from both sides came as Chief Theresa Spence, who has subsisted on fish broth and water for three weeks, called for unity between native chiefs and the grassroots movement that has blossomed into Idle No More.

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Spence’s spokespeople said Wednesday in a written statement that the situation “is becoming more volatile” with each passing day that Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t meet with Spence.

The statement added that chiefs who met in Ottawa last week plan to launch “countrywide economic disturbances” if Spence’s request for a face-to-face with Harper went unanswered.

Rail blockades have so far had little commercial effects, according to CN Rail, which owns much of the rail being targeted. A blockade near Seton Lake, B.C., north of Vancouver, ended over the weekend after demonstrators left a secondary rail line they had occupied for three days. A blockade in eastern Quebec has affected Via Rail passengers, who were also affected by a three-hour shutdown Sunday in eastern Ontario.