Emergency measures, military support: Documents reveal heightened concern about Muskrat Falls security

The last of seven transformers for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project rolls through at the gate in late August 2017. (Jacob Barker/CBC)

Military provided lodging, meals as police mobilized in the face of more Muskrat Falls-related protests

By Terry Roberts, CBC News, Feb 1, 2018

The Canadian military quietly assisted during a large deployment of police officers to Labrador in 2017 amid fears of more protests about the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.

Racism and discrimination “rampant” throughout ranks and elements of Canadian Armed Forces says report

Canadian Forces soldiers from 3 PPCLI train in urban combat in Poland, 2014.

by Dennis Ward, APTN National News, Jan 19, 2017

A report by the Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group says racism and discrimination “is a systemic issue” within Canadian Armed Forces that is “rampant throughout all ranks of elements of Land, Air Force and Navy” and the issue is serious enough that an external review is imminent.

Canadian special forces get new ultra light vehicles

Polaris will be providing its DAGOR vehicle to the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM.

by David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, December 15, 2016

Canada’s special forces will be receiving a fleet of new combat vehicles that resemble a dune buggy on steroids.  The vehicle, designed with the help of NASCAR engineers, will be able to carry up to nine commandos.  Polaris Industries of the U.S. has been awarded the $20 million contract to deliver 78 of what Canadian special forces are calling the Ultra Light Combat Vehicle or ULCV.

Indigenous military members endure ‘systemic’ racism, report claims

Indigenous youth recruits from all over Western Canada graduate from the six-week Bold Eagle basic training course in Wainwright, Alta. (CBC)

Draft report obtained by CBC News calls for investigation into allegations by Indigenous members

By Ashley Burke, CBC News, December 13, 2016

Indigenous members of the Canadian military face “systemic racism,” according to a draft report obtained by CBC News that calls for an external review.

“We strongly believe there is a systemic issue within the Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that is rampant throughout all ranks and elements of Land, Air Force and Navy and this issue is serious enough that an external review is imminent,” reads the document prepared by the Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group and handed to the former commander of the Canadian Army, Lt.-Gen. Marquis Hainse, in the spring.

Documents reveal Indian Act chiefs colalboration during 2013 New Brunswick anti-fracking protests

Mi’kmaq face RCMP riot cops on Oct 17, 2013, near Elsipogtog, NB.

Internal documents show repeated Warrior Society requests for negotiating assistance denied

by Miles Howe, Halifax Media Coop, July 29, 2015

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) — An Access to Information request has revealed that during the course of anti-shale gas protests in New Brunswick in 2013, 5th Canadian Division Support Base (CDSB) Gagetown, Eastern Canada’s largest military facility, was contacted on two separate occasions by high ranking members of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society. On each occasion, the Warrior Society – one of the key strategic groups involved in the on-the-ground protests that would ultimately see 100 activists arrested – requested negotiators from the Canadian Armed Forces, citing a breakdown in trust and an increasingly toxic working relationship with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Military’s aboriginal programs do little to bolster recruitment: report

Participants in Bold Eagle aboriginal recruitment program training in Manitoba.

Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen, June 29, 2014

Several programs that introduced hundreds of young aboriginal people to the Canadian military over the past few years have been well-received by participants, but they appear to have done little to bolster recruitment numbers.

The findings are contained in a government-commissioned study that comes at the same time as the Canadian Forces are pushing to slash recruitment targets for aboriginals, women and visible minorities. That move has prompted concern and criticism from opposition parties and others.