A truck driver protesting with fellow members of the Ontario Dump Truck Association (ODTA) on Friday afternoon was stabbed at a construction site in Vaughan, Ont., and sent to hospital.

York Regional Police Constable Amy Boudreau said a suspect is in custody and the incident is being investigated. Boudreau said the status of the injuries of the individual was not known.

ODTA said in a press release that its members have been targeted by large construction companies over this job action with threats and intimidation. Disagreement on these matters should never result in violence, the association said.

“Members were peacefully protesting at the job site. It’s a shame on this industry for having something like this happen,” said ODTA spokesman Bob Punia. “We need to hold people accountable. These people are practising their right to protest, given to us under the charter, and to have someone stabbed and hospitalized, it is not something that we condone.”

Punia said the association will support the victim and his family and called on all levels of government to find solutions for the industry’s problems.

A video supplied by the ODTA shows someone lunging at the protester who falls to the ground. The man walks away with a knife in his hand and climbs into a truck. The victim then stands up and others around him point to his back and blood can be seen from a wound. The video ends with the suspect driving off in the truck.

The ODTA has been participating in job action this past week over stagnant wages while operating costs have increased, and issues around labour and safety regulations.

Hundreds of aggregate haulers have been protesting outside Ontario quarries over the past 12 days, demanding higher rates.

By Leo Barros