CORNWALL, Ont. — The Canada Border Services Agency is looking to call in third-party mediators to end the weeklong standoff with the local Mohawk community which closed the northbound span of the Seaway International Bridge in Cornwall.

If that doesn’t work, officials are considering moving the eastern Ontario border crossing off of the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve.

The Cornwall-Massena, N.Y.  border, which is located about 100 km west of Montreal, has been shut down since May 31, when the Mohawks began protesting the decision to allow CBSA guards to carry firearms like their American counterparts. 

So far, travellers are being diverted to the Prescott-Ogdensburg, NY port of entry or the Dundee, Que.-Fort Covington, border to enter Canada from the U.S.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan has said the border crossing would not reopen until native leaders accept the armed guards.

The Akwesasne Mohawks insists it would not allow the arming of border guards near their community.