Mad Mohawks suggest closing bridge

CORNWALL ISLAND, Ontario — Akwesasne Mohawks are getting fed up with the ongoing controversy over the Canadian customs checkpoint at the Seaway International Bridge, and some are suggesting the border crossing should be shut permanently.

This weekend, at least 20 cars were seized upon entering the city of Cornwall for failing to report to the temporary customs booth. It prompted tribal members to protest, and the bridge was shut down for several hours on Saturday.

"They closed it twice and we're thinking they'll probably close it again," said Nona Benedict, one of the women who has been organizing protests for several months. "This time, it may be a long, long time until the bridge opens again. Enough is enough."

"We're just fed up with all this yo-yo stuff back and forth. The next time they close the bridge, we'll just say, 'OK, keep it closed,'" she added.

Tribal officials were scheduled to meet Tuesday with officials from the Canada Border Services Agency, but the meeting was canceled because of this weekend's vehicle seizures, according to a statement by Grand Chief Mike Mitchell in the Cornwall Standard Freeholder.

Tribal officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday.

The bridge closed at the end of May because of a dispute over a Canadian initiative to arm customs officers on Kawehnoke, or Cornwall Island. Because the island is part of the Akwesasne reservation, the tribe contends that arming customs officers violates its sovereignty.

Since the bridge reopened the first time in mid-July, officials with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne have been meeting frequently with the CBSA to negotiate a solution to the battle over the checkpoint location.

Now that one meeting with the CBSA has been canceled, reservation residents are questioning whether they should continue, according to Ms. Benedict.

"They're losing much more confidence within the community. We feel that they are going to the table and they have 11 or 12 points. (CBSA's) only thing is they won't come back without the guns," she said. "What's the use in negotiating? You're banging your head against the wall."

The Mohawk Council spent $20,000 helping people pay the $1,000 fine to get their cars out of the impound lot as of Monday night, according to Ms. Benedict. There is no official record of how many cars were impounded over the weekend.

Since the customs checkpoint moved to the base of the traffic circle in the city of Cornwall, island residents have been warned repeatedly via signs and the media that they would have to report there every time they crossed the bridge from Massena to the island, according to the CBSA. The regulation was not enforced at first, however.

"The CBSA recognized it would take time for frequent travelers and members of the community to become familiar with compliance at the temporary port of entry," CBSA spokeswoman Patrizia Giolti said in an e-mail.

As a result of the threat to impound cars, the council is calling for residents to boycott the city of Cornwall, a request that the community is happy to comply with, Ms. Benedict said.

"Customs has left and they can stay out," she said. "They might as well just start building a permanent station in Cornwall."