Burns Lake police raid: ‘I thought they were going to shoot me’

By Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, April 8, 2013
Elder Ryan Tibbetts says the moment he pointed out the gun to his 12 year-old son, the RCMP officer raised the weapon toward them.

It was in the midst of a police raid Sunday at the Burns Lake band office, after Tibbetts and his son were allowed to re-enter the premises to retrieve some of their personal belongings, including his son’s Xbox game console, when he said he saw RCMP officers with their guns drawn.

Burns Lake Band members evicted from their blockade by RCMP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 7, 2013

RCMP at Burns Lake Indian Band offices, April 7 2013.

On day 14 of a non-violent protest held at the Burns Lake Band office, approximately 50 or more riot police, many with shotguns drawn evicted three adults and one 12 year old child. 92 percent of the eligible voters on-reserve had signed a petition in support of the protest despite claims to the contrary by the INAC chief councillor, Albert Gerow.

Contraband tobacco bill sets mandatory minimum sentences

New 50-officer RCMP anti-contraband force fulfils 2011 Conservative campaign pledge

Tobacco store in Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory.

CBC News, Mar 5, 2013

The Harper government has introduced legislation to set mandatory minimum prison sentences for trafficking contraband tobacco.

A new 50-officer RCMP anti-contraband force is also being created to target illegal tobacco sales.

Petro-state politics prompts CSIS to spy on citizens at alarming rate, FOIs reveal

Mike Chisholm and Jenny Uechi, Feb 25th, 2013

Police videotaping anti-Olympic protesters in Vancouver, 2008.

Environmental activist Rod Marining knows the feel of steel handcuffs on his wrists.

As co-founder of Greenpeace International, he sailed aboard Greenpeace ships campaigning against French atmospheric nuclear testing in French Polynesia, Japanese whaling in the Pacific and was thrown in jail for demonstrating against mahogany lumber imports to Europe.

“I am considered a national security risk,” he said, noting that the RCMP keeps a file on him, for his eco-warrior activities on the high seas.

But these days, activists can get on the security radar for a whole lot less: according to a Guardian report on documents released under freedom of information laws, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) are increasingly blurring the line between real terrorists and average citizens who organize petitions, attend protests and express dissent. 

Assembly of First Nations, RCMP co-operated on 2007 ‘Day of Action’

By Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs, The Star (Toronto), Fri Feb 15 2013

The Assembly of First Nations worked closely with the Mounties and provincial police to exchange information about protests and develop common stances before a national aboriginal day of action in the summer of 2007, according to RCMP documents.

The revelations are likely to provoke anger among Idle No More protesters and provide ammunition to aboriginal critics who have argued the AFN’s relationship with the federal government has become too cosy, with few gains to show for it.

Mounties raped, abused B.C. aboriginal girls, rights watchdog alleges in report

Mike Blanchfield, Canadian Press/NationalPost, Feb. 13, 2013

OTTAWA — A new report by a respected international human rights watchdog has accused RCMP officers of abusing aboriginal women and girls in northern British Columbia.

New York-based Human Rights Watch uncovered one allegation of rape and others of assault by Mounties against aboriginals in rural B.C. communities.

The Economics of Insurgency

Thoughts on Idle No More & Critical Infrastructure

Six Nations, 2006.

by Shiri Pasternak, The Media Coop, January 14, 2013

News reports are ablaze with reports of looming Indigenous blockades and economic disruption. As the Idle No More movement explodes into a new territory of political action, it bears to amplify the incredible economic leverage of First Nations today, and how frightened the government and industry are of their capacity to wield it.

Rights group calls for arrest footage after Terrace man suffers brain damage

 THE CANADIAN PRESS, November 6, 2012

Robert Wright in New Westminster hospital after his arrest by RCMP in Terrace, BC.

VANCOUVER — Rights advocates say the release of a five-page report from the Crown isn’t enough to explain how a First Nations man from Terrace, B.C., emerged from a confrontation with RCMP with severe brain damage.

Investigation urged after Native man disabled in RCMP custody

CBC News, Nov 2, 2012

Robert Wright in New Westminster hospital after brutal assault by RCMP in Terrace, BC, April 2012.

The BC Civil Liberties Association and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs are demanding a special prosecutor investigate why charges were not laid when a Terrace man was permanently disabled in RCMP custody.

The BCCLA says Robert Wright, 47, was taken into custody by Terrace RCMP in apparent good health, after his wife called police out of concern for his safety on Apr. 21.

Canada’s Spy Groups Divulge Secret Intelligence to Energy Companies

Documents raise fears that info on environmentalists, Indigenous groups and more shared with industry at biannual, secret-level, briefings.

Police conducting video surveillance of anti-2010 Olympics protest, Vancouver 2008.

by Tim Groves, The Dominion, October 10, 2012

TORONTO—The Canadian government has been orchestrating briefings that provide energy companies with classified intelligence from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and other agencies, raising concerns that federal officials are spying on environmentalists and First Nations in order to provide information to the businesses they criticize.