It can't be easy being Grand Chief Phil Fontaine this week.

As the Assembly of First Nations gets ready for its official national day of action Friday, Fontaine is to meet reporters in advance to talk about what he hopes the day will achieve and what he expects might happen.

What he wants and what may happen may be worlds apart.

The national day of action is supposed to be a day of peaceful demonstration and protest to draw attention to the concerns of aboriginal people. Poverty. Social strains. Bad water.

But in the last few months there have been unsanctioned calls for more than just protest. Some native leaders have called for blockades of both road and rail. One Manitoba chief famously declared that the "only way to get the white man's attention is to get between him and his money and that is what we are going to do."

He's since backed off. So have those who earlier this week were talking about blocking major routes in Ontario on the kickoff to the Canada Day long weekend.

Fontaine has to carefully balance the frustrations that produce these comments against the goal of winning the general Canadian public's support for native issues. And so he will be asked tomorrow if he knows of any plans to cause chaos, what has he heard, and what is he doing about it.

He will likely say what he's said all along: he's never advocated blockades or violence. Friday is all about Canadians and First Nations people joining together to call for change.

The truth is no one knows for sure what to expect. Police, RCMP and other officials have contingency plans in case anything gets out of hand. They have their eyes on certain potential "hot spots." And, like Phil Fontaine, they are being both cautious and careful about what they say.

For a look at the calendar of planned events go to http://www.afn.ca/nda/es.htm