FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION - After opening for one day during a 24-hour curfew on Fort William First Nation, First Class Gas is once again closed after police issued a warning that customers and employees would be served with a trespassing notice.
“We made the decision to shut down this morning based on some information we received late from the (Anishinabek Police Service) on the direction of Fort William First Nation,” said Roy Pelletier, general manager of First Class Gas. “They warned us if our non-native workers came into work this morning, they would be issued trespass notices and charged. So we had to close down.”
Fort William First Nation first issued a band council bylaw on April 10 to limit access to the community and ordered all vendors to close in an effort to keep COVID-19 from entering the territory. The bylaw, which was to be in place for two weeks, was extended to May 1.
Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins said council directed Anishinabek Police Service to put people on notice and give them an opportunity to abide by the law and if not, there will be charges.
“Our mandate was not to charge anyone,” Collins said. “It took us years and generations to build a relationship with the city of Thunder Bay and the residents of Thunder Bay and I want to continue on that path of good working relationships. Charging people wasn’t the mandate of our council, but if people fail to abide by the rules our council put in place, that was our next step, but we didn’t want to go there.”
First Class Gas initially closed for the two weeks following the first order but decided to open on Monday after the extension was announced. There was a long line of cars in the morning, which then slowed throughout the day.
Anishinabek Police Service officers greeted customers on Chippewa Road who were doing an information picket advising people of the bylaw but no trespass notices were issued.
“I want to apologize to the community of Thunder Bay,” Pelletier said. “I think they are being treated terribly. They have opened their doors to our community, they are serving everyone at their grocery stores, and all other essential services in Thunder Bay, and I don’t think they should be treated this way.”
Pelletier’s Auto Body remains open and it is now only family members working as 18 employees are not members of Fort William First Nation.
“We’ve been deemed an essential service. Our workers are essential workers,” Pelletier said. “We closed down the first two weeks out of solidarity. We never agreed to the closure fro the beginning obviously, but we wanted to try and be as fair as we could to our competitors, which is why we decided to close the initial two weeks.”
Pelletier added that because his business is located at the edge of Fort William First Nation territory and outside of the blockade that remaining open poses no risk to customers or the people in the community.
Collins has maintained the actions taken by council were done so to protect the community and people of Thunder Bay.
“We all want to be around when this thing blows by,” he said. “Look at the small community north of us. Seven infected cases just from one coming into the community. That’s problematic for a community of our size.”
“I hope they all understand because we are doing it for the protection of us and all of them too.”
For Pelletier, closing down businesses in the community and not allowing customers into the territory is damaging the relationship between the First Nation and the city.
“The big message is how we are treating the people of Thunder Bay and how when this pandemic is over, and it will end at some time, when it’s all over, what kind of relationship will we be left with with the city of Thunder Bay, which I think is vital for the success of our community here on Fort William,” he said.
The relationship between the two communities will not be affected in anyway, Collins said, adding he hopes people understand why the decision was made.
“We truly respect you, we truly honour your business in Fort William First Nation, please honor and respect and the laws of the land chief and council have put in place,” he said. “We will get through this together.”
Pelletier said he will be seeking legal action but did not go into any details. Collins said no one wants to see legal action taken because no one will win.
“We don’t want any legal action and that’s why we continue to work through this problem,” he said. “At the end of the day, who wins in a legal action, not us, not him.”
