Federal officials expected nationwide protest from RCMP action at Wet’suwet’en camp

Toronto protesters block a roadway in solidarity with Unist’ot’en in response to RCMP raid. Photo: Facebook

Government Operations Centre conducted risk assessment in 2015

by Jorge Barrera, CBC News,  Jan 12, 2019

Federal officials have long expected a nationwide fallout of protests from an eventual RCMP action against the Wet’suwet’en nation over the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline, internal documents show.

Canadian police spied on Indigenous protesters on Parliament Hill

By Hilary Beaumont, Vice News Canada, Nov 10, 2017

Documents obtained by VICE News show the RCMP watched closely as Indigenous protesters erected a teepee on Parliament Hill this summer, with the force’s national protective intelligence unit believing activists could disrupt Canada Day celebrations, and that the ceremony attended by communists “may not remain peaceful.”

Criminalization of Indigenous Communities

Voices-Voix, August 1, 2017

In January 2017, Public Safety Canada (PS) disclosed that the Government Operations Centre (GOC) gathers information on Indigenous rallies for the purpose of “maintaining awareness” of events that may impact the safety and security of Canadians and events effecting the national interest. According to PS, the information gathered consisted generally of the date, location and purpose of the protests and rallies, including in relation to missing and murdered Indigenous women. Natural Resources Canada also reported that they monitor publicly available information such as Twitter, Facebook and media reports regarding protest activities that may impact the department, its employees or facilities.

Injunctions, RCMP deployment “classic pacification”: Professor

RCMP protect equipment brought in for construction at Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, July 2017.

By Justin Brake, The Independent, August 3, 2017

Nalcor’s use of court injunctions and the government’s approval of RCMP deployment to quell resistance to Muskrat Falls are common tactics used to remove Indigenous people from their lands and facilitate resource development, says Shiri Pasternak.

Winnipeg Transit gave Peggo card travel history to police without warrants

The Peggo card system allows bus officials to track the exact daily travel habits of thousands of passengers. (CBC News )

City officials confirm police requested data 4 times since March

By Jacques Marcoux, CBC News, June 7, 2017

Winnipeg Transit has handed over the private travel history of bus riders to law enforcement without requiring a warrant, CBC News has learned.

City officials confirmed that on four occasions since March of 2017, Winnipeg police have requested the data generated through the use of Peggo cards for a specific passenger to assist with an investigation.

Leaked Documents Reveal Counterterrorism Tactics Used at Standing Rock to “Defeat Pipeline Insurgencies”

Police arrest a protester against the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannonball, North Dakota, December 2016.

by Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, and Alice Speri, The Intercept, May 27, 2017

A shadowy international mercenary and security firm known as TigerSwan targeted the movement opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline with military-style counterterrorism measures, collaborating closely with police in at least five states, according to internal documents obtained by The Intercept. The documents provide the first detailed picture of how TigerSwan, which originated as a U.S. military and State Department contractor helping to execute the global war on terror, worked at the behest of its client Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, to respond to the indigenous-led movement that sought to stop the project.

Spies in our midst: RCMP and CSIS snoop on green activists

This is the first installment in a two-part investigative series on governments, spies, and the oil and gas industry to be published by the National Observer

By Bruce Livesey, National Observer, May 5 2017

 

“Mr. Tremblay, do you remember me?”

Ron Tremblay was just walking out of the Lord Beaverbrook hotel when a young woman in a dark-blue pantsuit approached him. The Lord Beaverbrook is a beige, unremarkable edifice that sits in downtown Fredericton, kitty-corner to the New Brunswick legislature. On this summer morning last August, a panel of Canada’s federal energy regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB), was holding hearings at the hotel about the proposed Energy East pipeline – which is designed to carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta to New Brunswick’s port city of Saint John.

The FBI Likes Your Water Protectors Post Too: The Do’s and Don’ts

Fellow water protectors should think carefully and act responsibly when posting any information about themselves or others – because the authorities are watching

by Tara Houska, Indian Country Media Network, April 17, 2017

The fight against Dakota Access is not over. Court battles continue, divestment efforts have pulled billions from the company, and resistance all over Turtle Island is ongoing. But while we, water protectors, stand up for the future generations, a massive strategy by state and federal law enforcement seeks to repress and destroy us.

RCMP defends use of secretive cellphone surveillance technology for the first time

An IMSI catcher pretends to be a cellphone tower to attract nearby cell signals. When it does, it can intercept the unique ID number associated with your phone, the International Mobile Subscriber Identity, or IMSI. That number can then be used to track your phone. (CBC)

Unprecedented briefing with reporters comes in wake of CBC investigation into illegal spying in Ottawa

By Dave Seglins, Matthew Braga, Catherine Cullen, CBC News, April 5, 2017

The RCMP for the first time is publicly confirming it uses cellphone surveillance devices in investigations across Canada — but at the same time says the potential of unauthorized snooping in Ottawa, as reported by CBC News, poses a threat to national security.

Canada’s spy agency was watching Standing Rock

People moving to confront and stop work on the Dakota Access Pipeline, Sept 3, 2016. Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

CSIS believes the protests have implications north of the border

By Hilary Beaumont, Vice News, March 15, 2017

Two secret reports on Standing Rock obtained by VICE News show the Canadian spy agency has been monitoring the protest camps and acts of pipeline sabotage in the U.S. and believes they have Canadian implications.