Barricades are down

This is good news indeed: Aboriginal protesters remove Caledonia blockade. We should be happy, of course, that this was settled mostly — but not entirely — without violence. All the same, one questions whether this is a victory for the rule of law. I am not competent to judge the validity of the Six Nations land claim. Yet even if it is valid, the fact that this disruptive act was tolerated by the authorities for so long, to the detriment of the common weal, and that a court order against the protesters was ignored with impunity makes a travesty of the law. If the land claim is legitimate, it should be heard and negotiated in good faith by both sides. But taking matters into one's own hands is an obvious violation of public justice and inconsistent with the respect for the law from which we all benefit.