PAINT BALL GAME GONE WILD! SECRET MILITARY EXERCISES NEAR MOHAWK COMMUNITIES? [In-depth Report]

MNN. Nov. 19, 2008.

If Canada is such a peace loving country, why is it saber rattling and playing war games like "Vigilant Shield 09"? Huge military exercises are taking place on Turtle Island this month. These are being run by “NorthCom” and “NORAD” [North American AeroDefence Command]. NorthCom works with “Canada Command” and coordinates civil incidents through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security DHS. This has nothing to do with Afghanistan. It has to do with “civil” control, not democracy. The Canadian part is called “Determined Dragon, Trillium Response”. [What bunch of jerks made this one up? Sounds like some kind of teenage fantasy video? These guys are scary!]

In the U.S. during a "disaster or emergency" JTF-CS operates within a Department of Defense chain of command that begins and ends with the President of the U.S. Canada is on this dog chain. In other words, it gave up its independence. Civilian agencies, including "State, local, territorial, and tribal [band] governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure," would be controlled by the military. They define the “disaster” that will lead to world domination.

What’s going on here? Details are scarce, especially on the Trenton Air Force Base aspect which is near the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga. Another exercise is going on in Hamilton, near Six Nations. Another in Thunder Bay. Are there others? Is it a coincidence that these are mostly next to Ongwehonwe communities?

The main focus is "Communications Interoperability" to coordinate various agencies: the military, Joint Task Force JTF, army, navy and air force; all police agencies, RCMP, OPP, CBSA, “Aboriginal” police, municipal police; emergency responders, ambulances, fire trucks, rail security and select government bureaucrats; and the effected private sector such as nuclear reactors. “Interoperability” means coordinating all their goons and thugs to have “Joint War Games”.

It looks more like an exercise designed to set up the infra structure needed to impose “martial law”. Communications and radio frequencies will come under one command. The new device called the "Incident Commanders” Radio Interface looks like a cigar box, about 5" x 8" x 2". It can be held by one wired-up adolescent to receive and send messages to all these agencies during an emergency, natural or man-made disaster, including a "terrorist attack". But who and where are the terrorists? The only scary guys in the neighborhood is them!

NORAD is the North American AeroDefense Command, a U.S.-Canada control center based in Colorado, that is supposed to warn of an attack by aircraft or missiles. Project HAARP is the Pentagon-run “High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program” with plans to heat the earth’s ionosphere, using high frequency radio waves. How do we know they haven’t already been doing this? The military can send signals to nuclear subs and spy deeply underground [www.haarp.net]. This is based near Anchorage Alaska where military exercises are going on too. E Systems which is owned by Raytheon has the defense contract to run this. [They’re the biggest arms makers and dealers in the world.]

It’s all scripted. The U.S. has a “Hollywood Style” National Training Center NTC in California and Joint Readiness Training Center JRTC in Louisiana. They’re not teaching peace. They’re teaching warfare against Iraq and Afghanistan and whoever else gets in their way. Hi fi simulations are created, complete with mock towns and actors portraying natives and insurgents. One actor even dresses like a “tribal sheik”. Bombs are exploded and rockets stream in from the countryside. Civilians scream and scatter. The victims wear gory make up to simulate bloody wounds and morbid deaths. Injured civilians are left behind by the soldiers. The soldiers secure the town before going in to meet with the “regional governor”, supposedly “to win over the locals” but actually to get information from him in exchange for money. The young natives are taken away to Abu Graib for questioning. [It has already been established that the methods used there include torture and death]. Observers judge and grade each performance. Our question is who are the “traitors” who help them set up these scenarios? [www.worldpoliticsreview.com] Are these same guys writing the script for Bin Laden and Al Qaida too? Meanwhile the Taliban will just have to keep on improvising!

In Canada in the 1990s, after the Mohawk-Oka Crisis, a mockup of the Mohawk community of Kahnawake was created at a New Brunswick army base to help soldiers practice warfare on us. Who played the Mohawks? Who played the cowardly treasonous band council? It gets worse! In Saskatchewan the target at the police shooting range was a stereotypical Indigenous woman.

Doing so many exercises in our communities is meant to desensitize us to the presence of armed soldiers over, around us and in our back yards. We forget the danger. We’ll be close targets when the guns are turned on us.

Even more sinister is that these exercises can act as a cover for "real"/pretext events such as 911, the London bombings and the Oklahoma City bombing. It was hard to sort out what was real and what was an exercise. Cities where exercises have taken place such as Seattle are considered as being "prepped" for martial law.

These exercises involve hundreds of people, dozens of vehicles, boats, UAVs, helicopters and planes. Thunder Bay is the furthest inland port where large ships can load and unload and where rail and truck lines meet. Right now nuclear reactors are arriving here on their way to the Alberta oil sands. Rumors abound that these exercises will involve a simulated nuclear attack. At the same time US exercises are taking place in Alaska near the HAARP weather modification installation and in California where wild fires are now raging.

The Thunder Bay exercise will combine a severe weather event and emergency situations to create various scenarios. The first part will be an incident with a container ship along the federal port. Simulated will be collapsed buildings, human casualties, and toxic spills. The second will involve a rail incident. Simulated will be a response to a train fire/explosion and resulting toxic spill. Of course, they’re trying to recruit Ongwehonwe for the military because they want “expendable” people to do their dangerous work.

For this, National “Defense” [offense?] will transport the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue group to Thunder Bay on a Globemaster aircraft: between 400 and 550 military personnel from the Immediate Response Unit (IRU) and 63 Domestic Response Company to arrive on 22 Nov. 2008 and leave by 25 Nov. 2008.

Involved may be the local civilian authorities such as “primary responders”, provincial authorities, imbedded media, the Coast Guard (to provide fire fighting and power generation), the RCMP and Navel Reserve divers. Included are “personal development activities”! [Steve Carroll, National Defence, 416-633-6200 ext. 5808, Fax: 613-631-5349 Carroll.SL@forces.gc.ca refer to CEAR 08-01-39685]

Our Haudenosaunee territory includes many "strategic infrastructures" such as nuclear reactors, nuclear waste stockpiles, chemical factories, rail hubs and harbors. The Great-Lakes St. Lawrence is a major industrial area. The military needs the nuclear stockpile. By the way, whatever happened to the 500 tons of yellowcake that was dumped off in Montreal harbor last July 2008? It was in the papers. Then we never heard about it again.

Government agencies and actors roped into this “war movie” include Public Safety, Health Canada and Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Guess what? Indian Affairs is in there like a dirty shirt? Why? This is coming right out of our budget for desperately needed clean water, housing, education and medical care. The “chain of command” starts at the Pentagon. Peter “Flat-Foot” Fisher of the Aboriginal Policing Directorate at Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada is the link to the “aboriginal police” involved in the exercise [613- 990-2666 fax: 613-991-0691].

The recent horrific crash that killed three non-natives at the Cornwall Ontario border checkpoint in Akwesasne last week was a similar multi-“service” operation, by the Canada Border Services Agency CBSA, the Ontario Provincial Police OPP, the RCMP and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police. The guys on steroids with guns and fast cars are obviously trying to take control.

The Mohawk Police were chasing and ramming the van driven by the 21 year old non-native youth that ended in a dramatic fiery fatal crash. The cops created the kind of catastrophe they say they are protecting the public from. Two days later, while military exercises were going on in Hamilton, there was another strangely similar high speed chase of a non-native into the 6 Nations community which ended up in a crash and shoot out. Is this coincidence or was it planned?

We’re still waiting for answers at Akwesasne. Why didn't ambulances and nearby fire trucks take action immediately? Why did the Mohawk cops go straight for the load of cigarettes and not help the victims? Why were witnesses told to stop talking to the media about anything they saw? Was this staged to make an excuse to bring in the outside colonial agencies that don’t have jurisdiction but we can’t seem to get rid of? Watch out! They might be installing surveillance devices everywhere, like they did in Kanehsatake, or planting weapons to come in and raid us.

What’s going on? Are these lunatics trying to bring martial law into our communities because the colonists are saying we can’t handle the bedlam they’re creating? The fascist method is to isolate and eliminate the source of greatest resistance to their plans. Let's face it, folks, right now one of the main resisters is the freedom loving Ongwehoneh. The military interest in us could have something to do with the fact that all the land and resources of Turtle Island belong to us. In the US militant groups are getting more scared and more armed. Frightened people with guns is a dangerous scenario! Nobody wants that.

Iako’ha:kowa & MNN Staff – Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com kittoh@storm.ca
Katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

THE OTTAWA CABAL. Public Safety [Danger]: Minister Peter “Pumpkin-Eater-and-Trough-Licker” Van Loan; Suzanne “Hurts-to-be-Herself” Hurtubise DM 613- 991-2895; Myles “Away-from-Reality” Kirvan ADM 613- 990-2633, 613-949-0322; Chantal “Dirty-Fingers-in-Every-Pie” Bernier ADM Community Safety [Endangerment] and Partnerships (613) 993-4325; Scott “ODB” Broughton Sr ADM Emergency [Mis]Management and National [In]Security (613) 991-2820; Lynda “Useless-Forked-Tongued-Drone” Clairmont ADM, same as “ODB” (613) 990-4976; Daniel “Pepsi-and-May-West” Lavoie DG Communications (613) 990-2743; Elisabeth “Botox-from-Head-to-Toe” Nadeau ADM, Corporate Theft (613) 990-2615; Kristina “Fingers-Getting-Itchier-and-Itchier-to-push-the-Trigger” Namiesniowski ADM Strategic Policy (613) 949-6435; Eva “Nosey-Nit-Picker” Plunkett Inspector Field “General” of CSIS (613) 949-0675; Richard “Diarrhea-Mouth” Wex ADM Policing, Law Enforcement & Interoperability (613) 990-2703. The biggest safety risk for us Ongwehonwe is this ADM cabal of agents; Health Canada, partners with the US through the Canada-US Joint Radiological Response Plan, under the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan; Foreign Affairs Lawrence “Chinese-Food-Glutton-at-Taxpyers-Expense” Cannon 613-992-5516 Fax 613-992-6802; 819-441-2510 Fax: (819) 441-2680; (819) 281-2626 Fax: (819) 281-2755 Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca; Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway Stockwell Day.

FEDERAL PARLIAMENT STARTS NOV.18. EMAILS FOR MP'S:
VanLoan.P@parl.gc.ca, clabchuk@greenparty.ca, Baird.J@parl.gc.ca, Clement.T@parl.gc.ca, leader@greenparty.ca, Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca, Barbot.V@parl.gc.ca, Sorenson.K@parl.gc.ca, Dewar.P@parl.gc.ca, Khan.W@parl.gc.ca, Patry.B@parl.gc.ca, ThibaLo@parl.gc.ca, ChongM@parl.gc.ca, TrostB@parl.gc.ca, BigraB@parl.gc.ca, CardiS@parl.gc.ca, LafraM@parl.gc.ca, CulleN@parl.gc.ca, GallaC@parl.gc.ca, HawnL@parl.gc.ca, McTeaD@parl.gc.ca, AlghaO@parl.gc.ca, AnderDa@parl.gc.ca, BevinD@parl.gc.ca, DebelC@parl.gc.ca, OuellCh@parl.gc.ca, CrowdJ@parl.gc.ca, ChowO@parl.gc.ca, LunnG@parl.gc.ca, BerniM@parl.gc.ca, StrahC@parl.gc.ca, MilliP@parl.gc.ca, Hill.J@parl.gc.ca, MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca, Bell.C@parl.gc.ca, Kramp.D@parl.gc.ca, Brown.G@parl.gc.ca, DelMastro.D@parl.gc.ca, Dewar.P@parl.gc.ca, Coderre.D@parl.gc.ca, DionS@parl.gc.ca, Comartin.J@parl.gc.ca, Oda.B@parl.gc.ca, OConnor.G@parl.gc.ca, Solberg.M@parl.gc.ca, Atamaa1@parl.gc.ca, blackd@parl.gc.ca, Black.D@parl.gc.ca, Ambrose.R@parl.gc.ca, Toews.V@parl.gc.ca, Emerson.D@parl.gc.ca, Blackburn.J@parl.gc.ca, Hanger.A@parl.gc.ca, McDonough.A@parl.gc.ca, Paradis.C@parl.gc.ca, Moore.J@parl.gc.ca, Mulcair.T@parl.gc.ca, Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca, Barbot.V@parl.gc.ca, Layton.J@parl.gc.ca,
LINKS:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/410779.html
http://tinyurl.com/4x8o8p
http://www.topix.com/forum/source/eureka-times-standard/T3SKIPLLRMPUSTFAC
http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/110508.html
Monday, November 10, 2008, US NORTHCOM Exercise Vigilant Shield 09
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/13-0
http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1162&issue_id=42007
CAP (Civil Assistance Plan) at www.canadacom.forces.gc.ca/docs/pdf/cap_e.pdf
Joint Task Force-Civil Support (JTF-CS) http://www.jtfcs.northcom.mil
Exercise Trillium Response 08 http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/Viewer_e.cfm?CEAR_ID=39685
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Canada-to-Spend-C-500-Million-on-CFB-Trenton-05059/
http://www.reach.net/~bqac/ The Bay of Quinte Aeromodellers http://www.defensetech.org/archives/cat_training_and_sims.html
http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-products/communications/interoperability/press-releases/240205-Army-National-Guards-Civil-Support-Teams-Gain-First-Response-Interoperability-with-Other-Agencies/
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/northern-edge-2007.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/ex.htm
US Military Exercises: The Mindset: The more you sweat in peace time, the less you bleed in combat.
National Response Plan; Civil Assistance Plan; Canada-U.S. Combined Defense Plan (CDP); C-AT's "Incident Commanders' Radio Interface" Equipment; Communication interoperability, IACP State and Provincial Police Division (S&P); Canada Command Direction for Domestic Operations;

ASK THE POLITICIAN ABOUT: rerouting 401 traffic in Toronto; evacuations; Lake Ontario ships, subs and planes, UAVs; dangers of fires and smoke; how many soldiers? how many US?; how many cops and others?; telecommunications: controlling the airwaves, radio "Incident Commanders”; Radio Interface from a “cigar box”; are the Mohawks a “trial run” or something bigger like martial law?; what are the “terrorist” scenarios?; are they part of the weather, hurricane or earthquake scenario?; what are “Critical Infrastructure Protection”, like nuclear reactors, oil refineries, etc.; What do drugs & cigarette busts have to do with it?; do exercises demonstrate US flexing, resolve and capability to protect U.S. military power & national interests?; how do they feel about complaints to try to prevent a “false flag” or “pretext” event like 911 or the London bombings?; "Exposure to live ammo so that the participants handle it with a fear and reverence..." http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/Viewer_e.cfm?CEAR_ID=39685

Activism: More on the symmetry of resistance: MNN newsflash

Symmetry Of Resistance: Stop the G8 and the SPP

Symmetry of Resistance: G8 in Germany 2007 is now online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg66Ssmp0k4. In 2007, the G8 met in Germany.
Symmetry of Resistance connects the campaign to stop the G8 in Germany with
organizing to stop the G8 and the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership)
when they return to Canada in 2010. The video also accompanies the ACTivist
Magazine article below.

SYMMETRY OF RESISTANCE: STOP THE G8 AND THE SPP

Seven years ago today, protests against the FTAA ("Free" Trade Area of the
Americas) erupted in Quebec City. Today the SPP (the so-called "Security"
and "Prosperity" "Partnership") is meeting in New Orleans to advance the
same agenda by other means. The SPP is being pushed forward, in combination
with a wave of bilateral trade agreements, without debate or approval of
parliaments, congresses, or the general public in Canada, the US, and
Mexico. One need only look at Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit
to Colombia last year to see the connections of the SPP to the original
agenda put forward through the FTAA.

For the full story >> http://www.ACTivistMagazine.com


playing with fire, for $

from Mohawk Territory, Deseronto,Ont., a microcosm of the elements at play globally as corporations use new powers under public-private rule to extort public money.

L

ANOTHER CALEDONIA –STYLE DEVELOPER "CASH-OUT" SCAM

MNN. April 21, 2008. Attacks on Indigenous people continue. Canada isn't
satisfied to waste billions of dollars a year on war missions overseas.
It's using the same armored fist at home. Today the town of Deseronto on
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory was surrounded by the armed forces of the
Ontario Provincial Police. Deseronto is an illegal non-native enclave.

With eyes wide open, Emile and his father Theodore Nibourg of Napanee
Ontario, who own the "Smiling Wilderness Restaurant" on the Trans-Canada
Highway, decided they wanted to build a $35 million condominium on Mohawk
land in Deseronto overlooking the Bay of Quinte. Never mind that they
don't own the land, Canada refuses to acknowledge Indigenous property
rights. The Nibourgs are real estate developers of commercial and
residential properties out of Kingston Ontario . They are fully aware of
the Culbertson Land dispute which has been the focus of negotiations
between the federal government and the Mohawks since 1995. [Nibourgs at
cell 613-561-0984 fax 613-544-7868 enibourg@sutton.com.

Last year the Thurlow Aggregates Quarry Site run by Tim Letch of
Intergrorup Finance of Kingston was shut down by the Rotiskenekete. There
was evidence of extensive illegal dumping including large amounts of
asphalt. Not only was the dumping illegal it also violated environmental
protection laws by contaminating ground water with toxic waste. Tim Letch
was involved in some way in the condo development. The Nibourgs appeared
to have pushed Tim Letch out of the picture.

In a press release from the Sadie's Lane Longhouse at Tyendinaga
supporting the occupation, according to the Two Row Wampum agreement, they
said that, "It's our land and we are prepared to help defend it". [Contact
Jan Hill 613-396-6742 janh@fnti.net].

A Rotiskenekete said, "We are prepared to stay as long as necessary to
defend our land. Mr. Nibourg or anyone else trying to develop our land in
Deseronto better think again". The peaceful encampment is on a large
grassy knoll, overlooking the Bay, surrounding a large tipi. The full moon
was glistening off the water. There was drumming, singing and good humor.
Flashing Rotiskenekete patrol cars ringed the encampment. According to the
OPP budget plan, they need to find some Mohawk fall guys to arrest to
illegally enforce their foreign laws. Everybody except us cashes in –
police doing overtime, justice system, Indian Affairs, bureaucrats, media,
the town, and maybe the developer. All because they know we will do what
we are supposed to do, defend our land!

This morning at 5:00 am an overwhelming force of armed OPP are "just
monitoring" the situation. The Mohawks of Tyendinaga camped on the
property last night. This morning they set up blockades on highway 2 just
east of Deseronto. "They've got East and West bound roads blocked", said
Constable Jackie Perry of Napanee provincial police. He said vehicles can
go north on Deseronto Road at the T-intersection.

On April 11th the Nibourgs had started cutting trees on the property. The
Rotiskenekete appeared on the scene, stopped them and told them to leave.
Nibourgs seem to think that the OPP is their private army. Ignoring the
legal rights of the Mohawks at Tyendinaga, they declared, "If you Mohawks
don't leave, we are going to call the OPP and have you kicked out". He
appeared to be setting up a confrontation.

A few days later Nibourg decided to apologize and asked for a meeting with
the Rotiskenekete. Obviously, he had his eye on the lucrative pay out
received by Henco Inc. for their illegal development at Six Nations
Caledonia. He was quite blunt about it. He offered to use them as pawns to
extort money from the Ontario Government. He asked the Rotiskenekete to
occupy the said land and block the roads in order to escalate the
situation. Then he would ask the government to pay him for the land, his
expenses and his forecasted profits. Then he would agree to stop the
construction. We understand he doesn't even need the money to build this
because he's planning to be bought off.

Regarding Deseronto, the government violated our lands rights by
fraudulently giving out permits for non-native people to build on our land
also referred to as the Culbertson Tract of 1873. The Rotiskenekete told
Nibourg, "No. There will never be a development on our land". We want our
land that Deseronto sits on returned to us. We demand that the government
deal with the non-native residents of Deseronto by compensating them and
paying for their relocation. They told Nibourg, "You will be the last to
be dealt with". The Rotiskenekete added, "We don't want to be used as a
tool for extorting money from any foreign governments, including the
governments of Canada and Ontario".

Then Nibourg said that he would be back with a construction crew on
Monday, April 21st, to start building. The Mohawks have stopped
construction, are occupying our land and have blocked the roads to keep
him and any of his co-conspirators away from creating another " Caledonia
" so they can cash in big! Supporters of the Mohawks are welcome.
Residents may pass through the occupation without hindrance. We are
anxious that everybody understand this issue from the Mohawk perspective.

The Rotiskenekete will carry out the peace and the tenets of the
Kaianereh'ko:wa [Great Law of Peace].

Contact: Rotiskenekete: 613-849-1314; 613-827-4991; email -
davidrmaracle@aol.com


Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

ACTIVISM: NDN lands under threat in Canada

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and the Battle Over Northern Development in Canada

March 26, 2008 By Todd Gordon


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The recent jailing of six activists from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), a fly-in Cree community 600 Km. north of Thunder Bay, is an unambiguous warning to northern First Nation communities who dare stand in the way of governments’ and resource companies’ plans to develop the north.

On March 17, the six KI members were handed six month jail sentences for contempt of court by the Ontario Superior Court in Thunder Bay. The contempt of court ruling was made after the court ruled in the fall 2007 that junior mining exploration company, Platinex, can legally drill for Platinum deposits on traditional KI territory, despite the First Nation community’s long-standing opposition to Platinex’s plans. KI activists ignored the ruling, and physically stopped Platinex workers from commencing drilling on their land. Activists, including a KI Ontario Provincial Police Officer (OPP), threatened to arrest the Platinex workers if they didn’t back off (no doubt presenting to political and OPP leaders a potentially serious loophole in their aboriginal self-policing policy).

Unable to fund a legal challenge to the contempt ruling, KI activists were left at the mercy of the court, which took the opportunity to send a clear message to indigenous activists. In his decision, Justice George Smith declared:

“If two systems of law are allowed to exist – one for the aboriginals and one for the non-aboriginals – the rule of law will disappear and be replaced by chaos.”

Ontario’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Michael Bryant, commented that the government had tried hard to reason with KI and come to a just compromise around mining development on their land, but the First Nation community was simply too intransigent. Thus he washed his hands of matter, asserting that “the government did its best to avoid incarceration.”

Judge Smith’s and Bryant’s comments are designed to make it appear as if everyone, including KI, is equal before the law and can therefore get a fair shake if they’re willing to play by the rules – rules, for good measure, that keep us from descending into chaos. The reality, however, is that the one system of law that exists, rooted in colonialist history and imposed on sovereign nations by force, is designed to deny equality to indigenous nations and facilitate the ongoing appropriation of indigenous land. Equality before the law can never exist in a colonial context, and was never intended to. For the “chaos” the law is protecting us from is really only chaos in the eyes of big business and government: the assertion of indigenous self-determination, which stands as a major obstacle to corporate profits.

Unfortunately, the KI incident is not an isolated event. In April, Ardoch Algonquin First Nation leader, Robert Lovelace, was given a six month jail sentence for refusing to obey a judicial order to stop blockading Frontenac Ventures’ proposed uranium mine on his community’s land. The 550-person community, which has no government status and so receives no government funds, was also fined $10,000. Behind both of these events lies a major push to radically expand the frontiers of Canadian capitalism northwards.

Neoliberalism, Northern Development and First Nations

The emergence of neoliberalism in Canada has brought with it an intensification of the state’s and corporations’ focus on indigenous lands. Neoliberalism involves sharp cuts to social programs, privatization of public assets and workplace restructuring – all aimed at dramatically increasing corporate profitability by strengthening the hand of business vis-à-vis the public. But just as central to the neoliberal agenda in Canada, though less discussed, is indigenous land and labour. Because of their resistance to the Canadian state project, large layers of the indigenous population have not been fully integrated into market relations, and considerable portions of their land, much of it resource rich, have not been subject to capitalist development. The frontier of capitalist expansion, in the eyes of the state and business leaders, still has significantly further to go in Canada.

It’s worth noting here, too, that the creation of a larger indigenous working class, and indigenous peoples’ resistance to this project, is a key concern of the state’s policy towards them. It is expressed clearly in the policy documents of the Ministries of Indian Affairs, Industry and Natural Resources. Reserves were organized in part, and are still viewed by government, as a pool of cheap labour to be drawn upon when needed. Labour force issues relating to indigenous people, including their consistently lower participation rates than non-indigenous Canadians, has become a very consistent theme in Indian Affairs’ studies since the 1980s. These studies commonly note the significant growth rates of the indigenous working-age population, while observing with frustration indigenous peoples’ reluctance to join the capitalist labour force.

The mining, oil and gas, and pipeline industries are central to the agenda of northern expansion. Over the last decade, for instance, mining companies have been expanding their activities into regions of the country where capitalist development has hitherto been limited. Exploration has been increasing significantly in northern and interior British Columbia; the northern prairies, Ontario and Quebec; the Yukon; Nunavut; and the Northwest Territories, particularly since diamond deposits were discovered there in the early 1990s. Major finds of diamonds, gold and other subsurface minerals are expected in the artic in the next two decades.

As mining expands geographically in Canada, indigenous land and labour has become absolutely central to the success of the industry. The Mining Association of Canada notes that, “[m]ost mining activity occurs in northern and remote areas of the country, the principal areas of Aboriginal populations.” Natural Resources Canada reports, meanwhile, that approximately 1200 indigenous communities are located within 200 kilometers of an active mine. This figure will only increase as exploration intensifies. The Prospectors and Developers Association’s recent memorandum of understanding with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), is aimed at drawing young First Nation members and their lands into the mining industry via the government-funded mainstream aboriginal political organization.

Meanwhile, much of the oil-rich regions of Alberta, fuelling that province’s booming economy over the last decade, are on unceded Cree territory. Alberta’s oil boom, in other words, is predicated on stolen land.

Perhaps the largest single infrastructural project planned in Canadian history, the much-vaunted (for political and business leaders anyways) $16.2 billion Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, can only proceed by cutting through several Dene communities in the Northwest Territories. While some communities have come on board the project in the desperate hope that it will, unlike so many resource projects that have come before it, provide real sustainable benefits to First Nation people without completely destroying their lands, other indigenous people are far more skeptical about such a possibility. Moreover, once it’s online, exploration for oil and mineral deposits along the pipeline’s 1,350 Km. route from Inuvik near the Arctic Ocean to the oil fields of Alberta is expected to increase.

These projects are the large, visible tip of the iceberg. Many more are being planned, including new hydro-electric dammning schemes in Manitoba. The location of the major resource development projects brings Canadian (and foreign) corporations squarely into conflict with indigenous land rights. But not only do First Nations claim much of the land resource companies seek to exploit, even if not directly on their lands such massive projects involve infrastructural inputs (access roads, river diversion, power lines etc.) that will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the surrounding environment, which indigenous people rely on to sustain traditional subsistence and cultural practices.

KI’s battle with Platinex highlights the tension between northern resource development and indigenous rights. Until recently, resource development in Ontario above the 51^st parallel had been limited, and governments hadn’t aggressively sought to open the region up to multinational corporate predators. But corporations have been eyeing the region for some time, and now with government support are ready to move in. They see the Platinex situation as a test case for corporate rights in the area. KI signed a treaty with the government in 1929, in which it was granted 8,800 hectares of land. KI claims, however, that the calculation of the area of its reserve was improper, and in May 2000 filed a specific land claim with the federal government for 51,000 more hectares of its traditional land for its reserve – land that Platinex has mining claims on thanks to Ontario’s corporate-friendly mining code, which allows free claim staking on Crown land.

Given the glacial pace of the government’s official land claims process (in which First Nation claims to legal entitlement to traditional lands can take up to two decades, and with no guarantee of success), KI felt it had no choice but to take matters into its own hands. Much to the frustration of the Ontario government and Platinex, KI activists physically blocked Platinex operations and the community declared a moratorium on mining development on its land. KI Chief, Donny Morris, asserted: “We have said it before and we will say it again. No exploration means no exploration. Which part of NO doesn’t the Ontario government understand?” Of course, the government and Platinex were not to be deterred so easily, and turned to the legal system, with its rank air of justice and impartiality, to help them out.

Legal Cover for Colonialism

While Canada has certainly not been above the use of military or paramilitary force in its efforts to subdue First Nations (Oka, Gustafson Lake, Ipperwash and Six Nations spring to mind), the legal system is its preferred choice. It has the appearance of neutrality, is less sensational than armed conflict and can demobilize activists by channeling their energy into lengthy and costly court processes. The formal land claims process mentioned above is one example of this stratagem. The so-called “duty to consult”, which was invoked in the KI case, is another.

Hailed by government and some indigenous leaders as a legal victory for First Nations, the “duty to consult” has been developed in a number of Supreme Court decisions, including Sparrow, Delgamuukw, Haida-Takhu River and Mikisew Cree. The duty arises from the principle of the “honour of the crown” with respect to its relationship to indigenous communities, as stipulated by the Supreme Court. According to the Court, this means that in historically recognizing some form of aboriginal rights (to hunt or fish on traditional territories, for instance) deriving from the Royal Proclamation of 1763 through to section 35 of the constitution, the state has a responsibility to accommodate indigenous interests in cases where things like development projects (establishing a mine, for instance) could negatively impact those aboriginal rights. The duty can be invoked in instances where development is to proceed either on territory that indigenous communities assert a right to but which right has not yet been formally recognized by Canada, or on territory in close proximity to treaty land. Canada, the Supreme Court argues, must commit to “a meaningful process of consultation in good faith.”

But what’s “good faith”, and why should a colonial government, with connections to the resource industry, ever be expected to meaningfully act in such a manner? The Court never makes clear what “good faith” entails. Further, the Supreme Court also placed clear limitations on the obligations of governments in following the duty. According to the Haida decision, “there is no duty to agree; rather, the commitment is to a meaningful process of consultation. As for Aboriginal claimants, they must not frustrate the Crown’s reasonable and good faith attempts, nor should they take unreasonable positions to thwart government from making decisions or acting in cases where, despite meaningful consultation, agreement is not reached.” So governments can undertake consultations that, as noted above, may not meaningfully exhibit real “good faith,” and if agreement is not reached by the indigenous party, then … too bad, and do not interfere further. Put more sharply, the Court asserts in the Haida decision, “This process does not give Aboriginal groups a veto over what can be done with land pending final proof of a claim.”

The KI case suggests skepticism towards the “duty to consult” is well warranted. When KI’s battle against Platinex first made it into the courts, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that Platinex had a “duty to consult” with KI before it proceeded further with its exploration plans, and imposed a nine month injunction on the company’s activities. In May 2007, when the nine months were up, and KI still had not reached an agreement with the Crown over the use of the land, it sought to extend the injunction. This time, however, the judge refused, stating that the consultation was a “reasonable and responsible beginning of accommodating KI’s interest and, at this point in time, is sufficient to discharge the Crown’s duty to consult.” In other words, the government can claim it fulfilled its legal obligations to consult with the First Nation, and any KI activists taking action to stop Platinex would now be in contempt of court. The balance sheet of the “duty to consult” here is clear: Platinex suffered a brief delay in its plans but can ultimately proceed, while six KI activists are now in jail.

Open For Business

It’s not just Platinex that wins here, of course. The message for resource companies, and the governments in their pockets, is that constitutionally-defined aboriginal rights may have to be considered, but they ultimately will not interfere with plans develop the north. And should indigenous activists be stubborn enough to take matters into their own hands, the full coercive power of the state will be brought to bear on them.

This is a crucial time for the north and its indigenous inhabitants. Corporations and political leaders have clear designs for it, in which indigenous interests are of little importance. However, some indigenous organizations like the AFN and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents forty-nine communities in northern Ontario, have grabbed at the carrots industry and government dangle in front of them, in hopes that if they can’t stop corporate development, then at least they can get a piece of the pie. It’s a risky move, though, as traditional lands risk destruction while development benefits rarely trickle down too far past the indigenous leaders.

In the wake of the court’s heavy-handed treatment of the KI activists, NAN has suspended its talks with the province. While a step in the right direction, this ultimately will do little to stop the development agenda. The reality is that it is well-organized, collective and militant defiance – and the genuine solidarity of non-indigenous activists – that has been the most successful check on Canadian colonialism. Just ask the Six Nations members at the land reclamation in Caledonia.

Todd Gordon is the author of Cops, Crime and Capitalism: The Law-and-Order Agenda in Canada and numerous articles in New Socialist magazine. He is an assistant professor of Canadian Studies at the University of Toronto, and can be reached at ts.gordon@utoronto.ca.

Sharbot Lake UPDATE!!

an update of "Manhattan Project" at Sharbot Lake

MNN Update
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06.09.2007 14:27:12

OLD COLONIAL TRICK DRAGGED OUT AGAIN

FAR RIGHT TRIES TO TAKE OVER SHARBOT LAKE AGENDA MNN. Sept. 5, 2007. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Christian coalition has marched into Sharbot Lake to protect their investment. He thinks that the smoke that billows out his eyes and ears will get the Conservatives elected in Ontario on October 10th. Will he say something like what former Conservative Ontario Premier Mike Harris said about Ipperwash, “Get those fucking Indians out of the park” to end the resistance of the Algonquins at Sharbot Lake? Or will he be more polite? You can be sure the “Christian Peacemakers Team” are not there for religious purposes or to convert the savages. As in the past and as in the present, it’s all about money. As usual, they are hiding behind the bible and their flock of cops wearing their “St. Michael” medallions around their skinny little necks. Such misguided people need all the protection they can muster. Harper is away in Australia trying to get all those uranium tailings back to Canada so MREL can continue to make those “dirty bombs” for U.S. puppeteer, George Bush. Bill Bauer of MREL got chased out of Algonquin land and has found another location to do his dirty work. This tactic is a repeat of the old colonial strategy of sending in the bible thumpers to pacify the natives and then take over the agenda, i.e. let’s get the mine going and start making money! We hear them singing in the bushes, “Oh! Happy day! We’re gonna get rid of them injuns once and for all!” Wouldn’t it be nice to know how many shares the Christian coalitions have invested in uranium mining! The Christian peacemakers – made up of Mennonite, Quaker and Church of Bretheren have been infiltrated by the Catholics/Vatican. The cops are not there for peaceful reasons. They and the Peacemakers came with military issue satellite phones with an unlimited calling card. What else has been issued for this operation? The Peacemakers are headed by Jim Loney, the famous international hostage who was “saved” from a near death experience in Iraq where he was on a pacification mission. Because of his notoriety, no doubt, the corporate media will be flocking to Sharbot Lake to interview him. Doesn’t this look a bit like a setup to take over the agenda there? Why isn’t Loney there anonymously if he is so sincere about helping the Algonquins? It looks like the Peacemakers are being escorted by MELT, the Major Events Liaison Team, a new “hit squad” of the Ontario Provincial Police. Does this mean we are being taken seriously as we are now considered a “major event” in their lives? Brian Heslip, of MELT, bragged he learned a lot at Ipperwash, Six Nations and Grenada . He has gone to “Aboriginal sensitivity” school even though he does not appear to have developed any sensitivity to Algonquin sovereignty over their land. Heslip was wearing regulation white T-shirt, crisply pressed blue jeans and sneakers, trying to look like a regular guy. He pointed out that the warriors wearing camo and bandanas intimidated him. He said that his OPP “higher ups” [and he looked upward into the sky in reverence when he said this] wanted him to take down all license numbers of cars coming into the area. He told the Algonquins that he did not want to do that. However, he will monitor the arrival of any “radicals”, or “violent types” who might want to come to Sharbot Lake to defend the land. Does this mean he will be monitoring the OPP, the army and any of his armed colleagues who would be the only violent characters coming into the area? The defenders come only in peace. Heslip wanted to set up hidden surveillance cameras and mikes up in the trees across the road to watch and listen to the birds coming in and out of the gate. The Algonquins and the birds said “no way!” The Christian Peacemakers were eased out of Ipperwash. They went there to “plant a garden” for the Indians. Nobody remembers them being at Six Nations who frown upon anyone wearing black robes, especially judges. September 6, 1995 is the night of the invasion of the Indigenous unsurrendered land at Ipperwash when Dudley George was murdered by OPP sniper, Kenneth Deane. A communiqué has been sent to the PM that reminds him of this historic invasion and warns, “if there is any blood shed or assault of any of our people for standing up for our birthrights and land rights at Sharbot Lake , there will be recourse here at Six Nations. We have a right to protect our existence”. Back on April 19th 2006 at 4:00 pm. the OPP had met with the Chiefs and Clan Mothers at Six Nations. The OPP promised they would not come in during the dark, that they would give sufficient notice for all women and children to leave safely and they would not harm anyone. Without warning, twelve hours later they raided the encampment. One Six Nations woman who was there at the time recalled that just prior to that the OPP were trying to get close to the Indigenous people. Her 17 year old son had just died and two OPP showed up at the front line with a blanket and an eagle feather. As she put it, she told them where to shove it. Two days later the same OPP were part of the big raid of the site in the early hours of the morning. They beat up the women, elders, children and men. These same two OPP were some of the most brutal during the raid. They helped kidnap some of our people and put them into their colonial jail system. So much for OPP promises. Remember that our colonial opponents have two faces and two tongues. They tell you one thing out of one side of their face and another from the other side. If they really want to keep the peace the way they say they do, then they should just butt out and stay away. They don’t need to help corporate interests like Frontenac Ventures violate the law. Kahentinetha Horn MNN Mohawk Nation News

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Crook$, Liar$ and a lack of $ummiting in Montebello

Agent Provacateurs employed;
on whose orders ...?

There are those in Canada who want to stay in denial after the release of news that agent provacateurs were employed in the demonstrations in Montello at the 3 Amigos summitQAt thist time of posting, the RCMP AND the Surete de Qeubec are denying the 3 cops who were outted were working for THEM

I was on the national steering committee for the demonstrations. Okay, everyone, groan together now, but after 40 years of being active I thought I had something to offer. One thing I offered up was just what the White House Protocol on BuZh's apparences actually is . which is .. no signs or placards are encouraged. That is interesting to note is it not? And that explained why the security barrier was put up. That way the signs and placards and teeshirts cannot be seen. Interesting how the 3 cops CLEARLY have no issue evident on their clothing, or holding signs or holing signs or anything! I woulda been suspicious of them, just for THAT!!!

I felt, and continue to feel, that goverment agents were also placed inside the local organizing committees, as many of the places that the 40 supporting demonstrations took place made absolutely NO sense from a strategic point of view. WHY?

Now whether or not the FULL STORY of government involvement in wiping out the real issues to the maximum extent possible will ever get exposed .. I doubt it .. but I noticed that CTV ran the SAME clip of demonstrators over and over and over again . never showing how many people attended or showing any placards at the demonstration, instead ONLY focussing on those who took part that have an antiwar issue - not the job loss issue, the give away of gas, oil and water issue and so on. I took exception to CTV calling the executives inside "top" executives and being very elistist thoroughout the coverage. I tried to call to complain; they did not take calls and did not call back. So much for media transparency, too.

This issue was put front and forward today by maisonneuve.org's mediascout, a handy dandy roundup of Canadian news, as an item called THOSE ANARCHIST PUNKS IN THEIR POLICE BOOTS. The video was released on YouTube Tuesday can be found on th elink

And you can BET it will be front and forward tomorrow as well. There is nothing remotely POLITICAL to posting about this; the entire country is posting about, including some influential MPs.

Quebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis was made aware of the news, but a spokesman from his office said he will not comment on the matter either.

“Two hundred protesters went nose-to-nose with riot police outside Chateau Montebello’s main gate yesterday afternoon, but while serious violence was avoided, police employed tear gas and pepper spray.

In response, protesters in gas masks, goggles, and balaclavas hurled rocks, tomatoes, and bottles filled with stones at the police.

“I’ve heard it’s nothing,” shouted Prime Minister Stephen Harper over his shoulder to reporters as he waited for his U.S. counterpart. “A couple of hundred? It’s sad.”

Media coverage of this event was the WORST coverage I have ever encountered; I found out what was happening on a Chinese UHS channel!!

See:
CBC follow up article

CTV followup article


Very good article detailing how Washington lays down its’ law and deals with protesters.

See also: Consider what our Watchdog Agencies are being accused of:
AEUB spying case spills south of border
Jeff Holubitsky, edmontonjournal.com

The AEUB is the Alberta Energy & Utilities board and they are being accused of using paid private security to infiltrate public hearings and spy on land owners. Now Montana Public Service Commissioner Ken Toole is “concerned that Montana citizens were spied upon." The Public had to watch proceedings on closed circuit TV.

Water from THEIR point of view ..

again, thanks to Straight Issues

Alex Moens
SFU prof and senior fellow, Fraser Institute

"The logic of free exchange based on demand and supply benefiting both parties also applies to fresh water. Private ownership of water and free markets enhance both wealth and conservation. Given the large surplus of fresh water in Canada, a well-regulated trade in water is an opportunity and not a threat to Canadians."