A nominal toll booth on a busy northwestern Ontario stretch of highway is slowing down long-weekend motorists, but has been a peaceful incident so far, OPP said Saturday.
Members of the Couchiching First Nation set up on Highway 11 on Friday afternoon, stopping motorists to collect a $1 toll and hand out literature explaining why they were there.
The toll booth is located near a stretch of road known as the Noden Causeway. The causeway is on the east end of Fort Frances, Ont., and is one of three entrances into the community.
Leaders of the First Nation say efforts to resolve long-standing grievances over land use issues are behind their actions.
The community wants compensation for land lost when the highway was built. It also wants the federal government to clean up soil contaminated by former sawmills in the area.
The route through the First Nation is usually busy, especially in the summer months as it leads to popular cottage country in the Fort Frances area.
A wooden structure served as the toll booth and band councillors and other volunteers were collecting loonies from motorists before allow them to proceed.
At times on Friday there were as many as 50 vehicles waiting to continue their journey.
John Rafferty, the local member of Parliament, was caught in the lineup as he headed into Fort Frances.
"For some people it's going to polarize them and it's going to be unfortunate," Rafferty, the NDP MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River, said. "It will take some years to get that goodwill back."
Rafferty said he has tried to get Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl to help the band with the cost of cleaning up soil contaminated by sawmills decades ago.
On Saturday, the OPP issued a news release to say they were monitoring the situation.
"Participants have been peaceful and co-operative with police," said the release from Insp. John Kendrick of the Rainy River District OPP.
The OPP suggested motorists may wish to consider alternate routes to avoid delays associated with the toll booth.
Police estimated motorists were waiting for about 25 minutes to get through the area on Friday.
Only traffic heading east was affected, but police expected the toll booth might move and affect westbound traffic as the long weekend came to a close.
"OPP recognize that this is a complex issue that is being addressed by many involved provincial authorities," the release said, asking that people be patient.
The area is a popular tourist destination for American travellers. It is also a getaway spot for many Manitobans.
