[Indigsol] PRESS RELEASE - Harper targeted First Nations for increased surveillance, fears Native “unrest,” newly released government documents show

[Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement -Ottawa]

FYI.

~~ Forwarding message ~~


Harper targeted First Nations for increased surveillance, fears Native
“unrest,” newly released government documents show

Money for housing on reserves slashed, money for surveillance of Natives
increased


For immediate release: June 13, 2011


Newly exposed internal documents from Indian Affairs and the RCMP show that
shortly after forming government in January of 2006, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper had the federal government step up intelligence gathering on First
Nations to anticipate and manage First Nations political action across
Canada.

Information obtained by the First Nations Strategic Bulletin through Access
to Information requests reveals that almost immediately upon Harper’s taking
power in 2006, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)
was given the lead role to spy on First Nations. The goal was to identify
the First Nation leaders, participants and outside supporters of First
Nation occupations and protests, and to closely monitor their actions.

To accomplish this task, INAC established a “Hot Spot Reporting System.”
These weekly reports highlight all those communities across the country that
engage in direct action to protect their lands and communities. They include
Tsartlip First Nation, the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Six Nations, Grassy
Narrows, the Likhts’amsiyu Clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, Tyendinaga
Mohawk Territory, and many more.

“Rather than listening to the needs of First Nations communities Harper is
making plans to use force to stifle the dissent that inevitably arises from
chronic poverty and dispossession in Native communities,” said Russell
Diabo, Mohawk policy analyst, in response. “First Nations education and
housing is chronically under-funded, but policing and surveillance of
legitimate Indigenous movements is always a priority.”

The documents reveal that First Nations are a closely monitored population
who are causing a panic at the highest levels of the Canadian government.

Says Gord Elliot of Tsartlip First Nation, “Obviously trust and good faith
are expected when working with INAC, the RCMP and other agencies of the
Government. We are outraged to discover these same Ministries are spying on
us. We were identified as a ‘hotspot’ because we had a roadblock
demonstration to voice our concerns about the Treaty process and
non-acknowledgment of Section 35 Constitutional Rights and Title. We felt we
had no choice because the Canadian Government won't acknowledge our
Constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights and Title.”


For more information and to obtain original documents, contact: Shiri
Pasternak, media spokesperson: 647-227-6696


Media Spokespeople:

Russell Diabo, editor and publisher, First Nations Strategic Bulletin:
613-296-0110

Gord Elliot, Councillor, Tsartlip First Nation: 250-883-3970

Shawn Brant, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory: (613) 813-2057


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