Sydney rooftop protester arrested in Cape Breton

Cape Breton Regional Police have arrested a protester who spent much of Tuesday on the roof of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada building in Westmount, near Sydney.

Police received a call at about 9 a.m. saying a man was on the roof. Police arrested him at 4:30 p.m. when he came down. Charges are pending.

Paul Fraser, the New Waterford man who climbed the roof, had a sign asking federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea to review his request for a snow crab licence off Louisbourg. The request was made more than 10 years ago.

Fraser believes he was unfairly turned down for the licence and says his appeals over the years have been based on faulty information.

"The ministers, in all due respect, were taking information from their lower ranks, the bureaucrats, who had the information all wrong, dates all wrong, different things all wrong," Fraser told CBC News by phone on Tuesday.

"They can't go by the previous minister because they were in error, they didn't know what they were talking about."

Fraser said if he doesn't hear back from Shea, he will plan a bigger protest.

"This is my last resort — civil disobedience. I don't want to go this route but this is something I have to do," he said.

"If the minister doesn't want to respond this way, I'll go bigger. I'll go to Halifax or somewhere and I'll make it national news."

Police say there is no threat to public safety.