Mounties intent on violence

RCMP bring 60 drawn guns, dogs, assault rifles, to serve injunction on the wrong road

After van, main blocker, removed the night before, RCMP seem hell-bent for violence in early dawn encounter with Warriors

by Miles Howe

Halifax Media Co-op,

26 January, 2013

Moncton, New Brunswick – I have been camping at the current blockade along highway 134 since the inception of the encampment, filing almost daily reports for the Media Coop. During June and July of this year, when protests against shale gas exploration in New Brunswick were of far less national interest, I was doing the same.

Around 6am yesterday morning, October 17th, RCMP forces again blocked off both sides of the anti-shale gas encampment along highway 134, this time with an as yet unseen amount of police force. For numerous days prior, RCMP were allowing first walking traffic, then one lane of automobile traffic, to pass freely through the blockaded area. Anti-shale activists, as a measure of good faith, and in deference to emergency vehicles in particular, had days earlier removed two felled trees that had completely blocked off vehicular traffic.

The move, of course, allowed traffic flow to resume to near normal. It also allowed unhindered access to RCMP, who as it will be made clear were scouting out the area and making plans for an ultimate take-down of the traffic-slowing, but completely peaceful, protest.

Yesterday, I first heard that the roads were blocked off by someone screaming in a tented area near the entrance gate to the compound that housed SWN Resources Canada's seismic testing equipment, in the vicinity of where I was camped. At the time, I was asleep.

I could hear police beginning to identify themselves, and a rustling through the trees that suggested numerous bodies moving around. RCMP, I surmised, were everywhere, and the always possible event of the RCMP serving SWN's injunction against blocking their equipment was upon us.

SWN, the Texas-based gas company, had earlier been given a ten day extension to their injunction against the encampment, due to expire on October 21st. We had heard that the injunction had been printed in Irving-owned newspapers. Due to Irving's collusion with SWN (the compound in which SWN's equipment was housed, for example, is Irving-owned), there had been something of a ban on Irving newspapers. We had also been advised by various sources that peace would remain at the encampment until at least Friday, October 18th, when a public hearing against the injunction was set to occur at the Moncton courthouse.

Clearly not.

I grabbed my car keys and ran the 100-odd metres towards the Mi'kmaq Warrior encampment.

What I saw was surprising.

The ditch opposite me was already filled with 20-odd police in tactical blue uniforms, pistols already drawn. Three police officers dressed in full camouflage, one with a short-chained German Shepherd, were also near the ditch.

In the far field, creeping towards the Warrior encampment - which was comprised of one trailer and about ten tents - were at least 35 more police officers. Many of these wore tactical blue and had pistols drawn. At least three officers were wearing full camouflage and had sniper rifles pointed at the amassing group. The Warriors, for their part, numbered about 15.

Through a police loud speaker towards the highway 11 off-ramp, an officer began reading the injunction against the blocking of SWN's seismic equipment. This was all before dawn.

Still in the pre-dawn dark, about seven molotov cocktails flew out of the woods opposite the police line stationed in the ditch. I cannot verify who threw these cocktails. They were – if it matters - lobbed ineffectively at the line of police and merely splashed small lines of fire across the road. A lawn chair caught fire from one cocktail. Two camouflaged officers then pumped three rounds of rubber bullet shotgun blasts into the woods.

Shortly after, three so-called warriors with a journalist in tow – who claim to have arrived two nights ago from Manitoba – appeared to have determined that the situation was too extreme for them. Two of them have since been identified as Harrisen Freison and 'Eagle Claw'. They promptly ran down the road towards the far end of the police blockade. Until last night no one had ever seen these individuals before.

About ten minutes later, with tensions now becoming highly escalated between the encroaching line of police in the field adjacent to the encampment and the Warriors now on a public dirt road, two officers approached Seven Bernard, chief of the Warrior Society. They attempted to serve Bernard with SWN's contentious injunction. Dozens of guns from all angles were pointed at all of us.

Seven Bernard began to walk away from the officer attempting to serve him the injunction. If it matters, the officer in question was the same Sergeant Rick Bernard who had earlier in the summer arrested me on charges of threats and obstruction of justice – both of which amounted to nothing and were subsequently dropped.

Sergeant Bernard threw the injunction at his namesake, saying: “Consider yourself served.”

I could hear the RCMP surrounding us speaking about someone having a gun. I did not see any Warrior carrying a firearm. I can say with certainty, however, that no live round was ever fired by the Warrior side. If, as the RCMP are now claiming, that a single shot was discharged, it was not from this altercation.

Before continuing, it is important to note that the Warrior encampment was on government – or Crown – land. Crown land, legally, is being held for Canada's indigenous people, in this case the Mi'kmaq people. Through negligence of the Crown, this is often forgotten, especially by Canada's non-indigenous populations.

Equally as forgotten is the fact that none of Canada's Maritime provinces are ceded land. The Crown is tied to the original indigenous inhabitants – and their land - through treaties of peace and friendship. Nothing more.

It is also important to note that the entire encroaching police formation was focused on a group of about 15 Warriors, all of whom were now on a public dirt road, away from SWN's so-called blockaded equipment.

The injunction was meant to focus on protestors blocking access to SWN's equipment on highway 134. All of the subsequent arrests at this end of the altercation were made on Hannah Road.

With RCMP forces having entirely overwhelmed any remaining activists at the compound gate, the question must be asked:

Why focus on a small band of Warriors, clearly away from all of SWN's equipment and entirely incapable of reforming a blockade, with over 60 guns of various calibre drawn on them?

Indeed, a van belonging to one Lorraine Clair from Elsipogtog First Nation had the evening before been removed from the compound gate. It was the main blocking factor to SWN's – or anybody's, really – access to their equipment.

Tensions at this stand-off further escalated when a group of Elsipogtog youth began running up the dirt road towards the Warriors, and police. It is unclear how the youth, on foot, had managed to come up a back road towards a highly volatile situation. The police attempted to halt the approaching youth, for what reason is unclear.

Mi'kmaq Warrior Suzanne Patles, in a last ditch attempt to defuse a situation now spiralling into a screaming match with police guns pointing in every direction, ran into the middle of the field screaming: “We were given this tobacco last night!”

Now crying, in her hand she held a plug of tobacco, provided to her by RCMP negotiators wrapped in red cloth as a traditional token of peace the night before.

Skirmishes then broke out in every direction. From the highway side, District War Chief Jason Augustine was being chased by numerous police. In front of me, everywhere really, Warriors were being taken down by numerous RCMP officers in various clothes. Rubber bullet shots were fired by the RCMP, and both Jim Pictou and Aaron Francis both claim that they were hit – in the back and leg respectively.

I continued to try photographing what had quickly become a chaotic scene until one officer in camouflage and assault rifle pointed at me, saying: “He's with them. Take him out!”

I was taken to the ground and arrested.

Myself and approximately 25 individuals then spent a varying amount of time at the Codiac detention centre. Some of us, apparently on a haphazard basis, were provided blankets and mattresses. Others spent about 20 hours on hard concrete.

At about 12am, I was taken for fingerprinting and told my charge would be obstruction of justice, for running at an altercation (taking photographs all the while, mind you). I was refused release when I could not procure a $500 note of promise.

An hour later, I was brought back to the release desk. My charge was now mischief, with conditions to stay 1 kilometre away from SWN's equipment and personnel.

I refused to sign these documents at this point, preferring to see a judge the next day. At approximately 3am I was told that all charges against me had been dropped and that I would be read SWN's injunction and then released.

I refused to sign the injunction, and at 3:15am was released into the Moncton night.

I can only assume that my ever-reducing charges were due in no small amount to a public outcry over once again arresting me while covering the ongoing seismic testing story in New Brunswick.

I give thanks for this continued support.

Again, one must wonder at the RCMP's pre-sunrise, decidedly violent, means of attempting to enforce an injunction against blocking SWN's equipment. Again, one must reiterate that neither members or the Mi'kmaq Warrior Society or anyone else was anywhere near the newly-unblocked compound gate. Nor were they at all capable of reforming any blockade style formation.

Again, it must be reiterated that Lorraine Clair's van the main impediment to accessing the equipment had been removed the night before.

Instead, with guns drawn, the RCMP appeared intent on provoking a violent climax on the near three-week blockade.

I say in no uncertain terms that it is miraculous that no one was seriously injured yesterday, indeed killed. The RCMP arrived with pistols drawn, dogs snapping, assault rifles trained on various targets, and bus loads of RCMP waiting from across the province and beyond.

As solidarity actions spring up across the country, yesterday's actions have perhaps invited a far greater climax to New Brunswickers fight against shale gas.

Finally, while the mainstream media will go far to paint this as a “Native” issue, it is vital to remember that the blockade, until yesterday, had been supported by various allies from across the province. It is also key to note that an original 28 groups, representing New Brunswickers from all walks of life, had demanded an end to all shale gas exploration or development.

This all occurred long before images of bandana-ed Indigenous people, who veracity as true grassroots activists and not provocateurs is now being closely examined, ever set fire to a single RCMP squad car in Rexton.

RCMP abandon post in Elsipogtog and take the Canadian flag with them. It has been replaced with the Warrior flag

Report warns of ‘catastrophic’ aboriginal uprising

OTTAWA — Canada faces a potentially “catastrophic” uprising unless aboriginal Canadians become full participants in natural resource extraction, a prominent think-tank warned Wednesday.

For video GO HERE

Canada.com,

26 January, 2013

Former Canadian senior military officer Douglas Bland, who is now professor emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., pointed to a “direct action” threat this week by a B.C. First Nation to block a copper mine’s expansion as a small sign of the kind of backlash he’s suggesting.

Bland, in one of two reports on natural resource development and First Nations published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, argued that Canadians should take heed of the Idle No More movement that triggered cross-country protests earlier this year against federal government inaction on key issues.

“An idea that most Canadians would have seen as preposterous a year ago . . . is now very real,” he wrote.

“The possibility of a catastrophic confrontation between Canada’s settler and aboriginal communities, spurred not by yesterday’s grievances but by the central features and consequences of our national policies, have the potential to make such an uprising feasible if not . . . inevitable.”

Bland, a retired lieutenant-colonel and author of a 2009 book about a fictional armed aboriginal insurgency in Canada, said determined young “warriors” could cause huge economic damage by targeting pipelines, ports and key arteries.

“Unfortunately for Canada, the interwoven economic/national resources/transportation matrix is irreversibly vulnerable, as it presents targets that cannot be fully protected.”

He argued that the revolt, either “armed or unarmed,” could be far more organized and national in scope than sporadic and largely localized acts of violent resistance such as the armed standoff at Oka, Que., in 1990, the confrontation at Gustafsen Lake in B.C. in 1995, a clash between non-native lobster fishermen and the Burnt Church First Nation in New Brunswick in 1999, and the land dispute involving the Six Nations Confederacy in Caledonia, Ont., in 2006.

On Tuesday, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation threatened to shut down a $455-million expansion of the Huckleberry Mines Ltd. copper/molybdenum operation that’s located 123 kilometres southwest of Houston, B.C.

A news release didn’t cite its potential tactics, but did note that there is a travel access road and power transmission used by the company that crosses Wet’suwet’en reserve lands.

Chief Karen Ogen said none of the 230 full-time and 30 contract positions at the mine, nor any of the 70 new jobs to be created with the expansion, will go to members of her community despite numerous meetings with the company.

“The Wet’suwet’en chief and council were instructed by their members to take whatever action is necessary, including direct action and legal action, to stop further mine expansion,” the news release stated.

Huckleberry Mines Ltd. is 50-50 joint venture between Vancouver-based Imperial Metals Ltd. and a consortium of Japanese firms.

Huckleberry vice-president Randall Thompson said roughly 15 to 18 per cent of the company’s 270-person workforce are aboriginal, but they are primarily members of other First Nations communities near the mine. However, he said one recent contract involved members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.

He said the company was in negotiation with the band, but talks broke down after company was asked to give them “first right of refusal” on future contracts.

“The problem is, we have five first nations we have to deal with,” said Thompson.

He added that if the access road is blocked the mine would likely have to cease operations.

Chief Ogen said her First Nation expects first crack at mine contracts because it is the only one of the five with a road and power line crossing reserve territory.

She said the band will likely set up a toll road to charge workers and contractors heading to the site, but if no resolution is found she vowed more drastic action. “If we have to, the hydro lines will come down,” she vowed.

Brian Lee Crowley, executive director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said the incident supports the concerns expressed in Bland’s paper.

“We think there are lots of examples of rail and road blockades, for example, that are potentially forerunners of much larger conflict if we do not get our act together,” he said Wednesday after presenting the papers at a news conference.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo welcomed as “timely” the two reports, but chose to focus more on the second paper, which stressed the need for First Nations to get better access to training, jobs and profit-sharing arrangements.

“I certainly welcome these reflections, it really helps put some focus and intention on the requirement for some bold and transformative action,” Atleo said.

“We should be learning from what happened in Oka, learning from what happened in Burnt Church, in Gustafsen Lake, in Caledonia.”

Despite the tension this week at the Huckleberry mine the think-tank’s authors portrayed B.C. as a model for the country because of the provincial government’s efforts to ensure that First Nations share in forestry and mining revenues.

But if more significant progress isn’t made Bland argued that key infrastructure from coast to coast is vulnerable.

SIDEBAR:

Former Canadian senior military officer Douglas Bland has listed potential targets across the country for a theoretical aboriginal uprising:

* Alberta: Oil and gas pipelines, pumping stations, refineries and coal-carrying railway systems;

* Saskatchewan: Pipelines, railways and key Trans-Canada Highway intersections;

* Manitoba: Any road and railway intersections would be vulnerable in Canada’s historic transportation hub, as well as hydroelectric facilities, transmission lines, and the pipeline that supplies Winnipeg’s entire fresh water supply;

* Ontario: The province’s major highways, including roads and bridges to the U.S.;

* Quebec: Hydro-Quebec power generating facilities and transmission lines, bridges near Montreal and Quebec City, highways along the St. Lawrence River, and highways to the U.S. border.

* Atlantic Canada: Road and railway approaches to key ports as well as hydroelectric transmission lines from Quebec.

“We've got to go further, faster”

“Sometimes you don't take no for an answer”

---Stephen Harper

The last 48 hours tell us a lot about the next 2 years in Canada