Mi’kmaq First Nation files land claim for vast portion of New Brunswick

By Paul Cormier, Global News, Nov 9, 2017

The Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nation is laying claim to a large parcel of land in southeastern New Brunswick.

The land claim, filed in provincial court on Wednesday by first people’s lawyer Bruce McIvor, covers roughly one third of the province.

Elsipogtog facing overcrowding crisis due to housing shortage

Packed into living rooms and sleeping on sofas, people in Elsipogtog are crammed into two and three-bedroom homes, waiting for more housing to be built. (CBC)

Elders, councillors say First Nation is facing a housing crisis as families are packed into small houses

By Tori Weldon, CBC News, June 20, 2016

People in Elsipogtog are calling for immediate action on what they say is a worsening housing crisis, as many band members live in crowded and deteriorating homes while they wait for the council to assign them a place to live.

Elsipogtog roadblocks planned to keep drugs out of community

John Levi, an Elsipogtog warrior chief, plans to set up roadblocks in his community to stem the flow of drugs. (Ian Bonnell/CBC)

Warrior chief John Levi says ‘It’s about time we made a stand and got our community back’ from influx of drugs

By Tori Weldon, CBC News, Apr 28, 2016

John Levi, the warrior chief at Elsipogtog First Nation, is planning to erect roadblocks on the three routes into the Mi’kmaq community in an attempt to curtail what he says is a steady stream of street drugs entering the reserve.

“It’s been many years that we’ve had problems with drugs in our reserve,” said Levi.

Anti-fracking protesters say report won’t lessen their resolve

Amanda Polchies, in a famous image from the 2013 shale gas protests in Kent County. (CBC)

‘Are you kidding, are we up to do it again?’ says protester

CBC News, Feb 26, 2016

People involved in the Kent County anti-fracking protests of 2013 were watching the announcement of Friday’s shale gas report closely.

Dozens of people from First Nations and nearby communities in Kent County took part in barricades to block exploration equipment in the area.

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).

Elsipogtog land defender Annie Clair fights legal charges

Annie Clair, in centre wearing red jacket, during protests against SWN Resources and RCMP raid on Oct 17, 2013.

Sunday’s silent auction to help with lawyer fees

by Robert Devet, Halifax Media Coop, April 8, 2015

KJIPUKTUK (HALIFAX) – On April 20th, Elsipogtog First Nation band member Annie Clair will be heading to Moncton to face six charges related to the violent actions of New Brunswick RCMP against defenders of the land in Kent County, New Brunswick.

Clair intends to fight the charges. But she is looking to the wider community for help.

CSIS helped government prepare for expected Northern Gateway protests

Logo of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

Release comes amid heightened concern over new powers proposed in anti-terror bill

By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press/CBC News, March 17, 2015

Canada’s spy agency helped senior federal officials figure out how to deal with protests expected last summer in response to resource and energy development issues — including a pivotal decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service prepared advice and briefing material for two June meetings of the deputy ministers’ committee on resources and energy, documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show.

The issue was driven by violence during demonstrations against natural-gas fracking in New Brunswick the previous summer and the government’s interest in “assuming a proactive approach” in 2014, says a newly declassified memo from Tom Venner, CSIS assistant director for policy and strategic partnerships.

RCMP watchdog reviews police handling of shale gas protests

Colonial terrorism: RCMP Tactical Armoured Vehicle lurks in the background behind “Tactical Troop” riot cops, Oct 17, 2013.

Dozens of anti-shale gas protesters were arrested during months of protests in Kent County

CBC News, Posted: Oct 14, 2014

The independent Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP is investigating complaints about police conduct during the shale gas protests in Kent County.

Commission staff members are in New Brunswick as a part of the watchdog agency’s investigation, which was prompted following the violent clashes between the RCMP and anti-shale gas protesters in eastern New Brunswick last year.

A Close Look at Two Jailed Mi’kmaq Warriors Who Protested Big Oil in New Brunswick

Germaine Breau looks on during the RCMP raid of Oct 17, 2013, when he was arrested.

By Miles Howe, Vice,  Aug 5 2014

On Tuesday, July 29^th, after over nine months in custody and an extended trial which took place over the course of several months, Mi’kmaq Warrior Society members Germaine ‘Junior’ Breau and Aaron Francis were finally sentenced for their involvement in an RCMP raid of an anti-shale gas encampment near Rexton, New Brunswick in October last year.

Elsipogtog man says RCMP officers visited home with questions about Facebook comment

Brian Milliea of Elsipogtog.

Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, Aug. 1, 2014
A man from the Mi’kmaq community at the centre of intense anti-shale gas protests says he was visited Wednesday by two plain clothes RCMP officers who were asking questions about a Facebook post calling for a protest on New Brunswick Day.

Brian Milliea, a Mi’kmaq man from Elsipogtog First Nation, said the two officers showed up at his house at about 2 p.m. looking for him. Milliea was in his office at the Elsipogtog forestry department when he received a phone call from his wife saying two men wanted to speak with him. Milliea rushed home to find the two officers waiting for him.