[jeromegv]

Blocking a street for many days is typically considered illegal.

I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

[laughingpine]

While this is just one part of the protest, but what is happening in Coutts is illegal. Alberta passed an act recently (2020) restricting where you can protest - https://www.alberta.ca/protecting-critical-infrastructure.as...

The Coutts border crossing and highway is currently blocked. This is in contravention of the Critical Infrastructure Act as highways are included.

[klyrs]

IIRC, bill C-51 defined this as an act of terrorism. Wonder how that's going to play out. When it's indigenous people blocking a pipeline, the SWAT teams come out.

[meragrin_]

> When it's indigenous people blocking a pipeline, the SWAT teams come out.

After how many court proceedings?

[throwawaylinux]

What law is it typically considered to violate? Does blocking the street for an hour break that law, or does it have to be "many days"?

[favorited]

Do you not think there are laws everywhere about blocking traffic? When you reach a destination in your car, do you just park in the middle of the street?

[vba616]

I don't, but I think of it as normal, because commercial vehicles including delivery trucks do it all day every day in the area that I live in. They do it in the right lane of city streets that have two lanes each way, and they do it on streets where you have to cross over a double yellow to get around.

Aside from that, I have lived in the approximate center of a moderate sized city (metro area of ~1 million) and noticed that there are occasional, authorized events that take over and prevent any and all traffic. Bicycle races for instance.

Assuming one isn't vehemently against a protest in the first place, debating blocking traffic boils down to the technical requirements for permits and coordination with authorities. It's only a shocking breakdown of public order if people strongly oppose the underlying cause.

[throwawaylinux]

I'm asking you since you brought it up. And the question was not a hypothetical about someone parking in the middle of the street but specifics about what laws have specific people broken here.