The Dominion - Ontario

Reporting as Resistance

Sandra — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:18:46 +0000

Prisoners shed light on conditions by blogging from the inside

TORONTO—Across Canada people with mundane, everyday risk factors for police repression—poverty, race, being Indigenous, working as a sex worker—face criminalization as part of their daily lives.

Prisoners' Justice Day is annually held in August, but the struggle for solidarity with prisoners is every day. On the inside, Prisoners' Justice Day was recognized by one-day hunger strikes by prisoners themselves, and 150 prisoners from Joyceville Institution, a federal prison in Kingston, have since filed suit for the right to wear Prisoners' Justice Day t-shirts.

On August 10, 2012 in Toronto, about 100 people gathered outside The Don Jail(formally The Toronto Jail, a provincial prison) to read a statement that had been written by prisoners themselves. Many in the crowd were directly affected by the prison system through their own personal encounters or through the imprisonment of those they cared about. Last Friday in Hamilton 50 protesters marched against lockdowns and poor conditions at the Barton Street Jail (formally the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre) as a result of a work-to-rule action on the part of the guards. Just this week, early the morning of Wednesday September 12, only hours after correctional officers returned to work, a 42-year-old inmate was found dead.

In such conditions, simply communicating about conditions on the inside to people on the outside becomes a form or resistance.

If the Conservative government has their way, conditions in prison will get much worse. US style mega-prisons are coming to Canada. The Conservative government's recent omnibus crime bill introduced mandatory minimums for pot growing and other drugs and is widely expected to increase the number of prisoners in Canada. Twenty-two new provincial and territorial prisons and 17 prison expansions are being built across the country. Federal prisons are expected to absorb cuts while adding more people—a situation that will increase crowding and make prisons even more dangerous.

This is all part of an austerity agenda that was protested in Toronto during the G20, when over a thousand people were suddenly acquainted with some of the realities of imprisonment. Some of those who are currently doing time related for G20 protest organizing or participation have been keeping blogs—serving as a connection between inside and outside of the prison system in order to demystify the prison experience. Mandy Hiscocks has been writing from inside the Vanier Centre for Women; Alex Hundert was writing from Toronto West Detention Centre and now the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene and Kelly Pflug-Back, also at Vanier, has recently started her prison blog.

Prisons are total institutions and they control not only the minute details of daily life but also communication inside and out. Combined with social stigma, the marginal social position of prisoners and fantastical television portrayals, many people who are not directly affected by the prison system have no idea what goes on inside. Together, these blogs have been helping make prison life seem less obscure.

Hundert has been writing on conditions inside jail, as well as recounting untold older stories fellow prisoners have shared with him, such as what is now known as the "Ramadan Riot" of 2010 at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex. During the Ramadan fast, meals are supposed to be served before sunrise and again following sunset. Evening meals to break fast were being served cold or late and were not providing enough food to fasting prisoners. Many of the inmates complained to the guards that they were being starved and their official complaint forms were ignored. A peaceful protest was planned where prisoners would refuse to go back to their cells but on one of the blocks a riot started as prisoners there said that they were too upset to protest peacefully. Non-Muslim prisoners also joined in a show of solidarity. Hundert writes, "One of the things that stands out for me [was that] it was not just Muslims who were rioting...guards were beating people who weren’t themselves actually participating, as well as those who were. When I ask [my fellow prisoner] about this further, he tells me that 'people were rioting because jail is bullshit; people understood that Muslims were getting mistreated.'"

From women's prison, Mandy Hiscocks writes that for many women prisoners, being separated from their families, even newborn babies, is one of the most painful parts of their incarceration. "While they're here they can't hug, hold or kiss them because the visits are 'secure.' Prisoners and visitors are divided by glass and speak through the phone...I've been told by people who've experienced it that labour is induced on a pre-determined day and the women are not allowed to refuse this. During labour she's handcuffed to the bed."

She also has written about the fate of those in immigration detention. One woman applied for political asylum at the airport, thinking she would be able to buy a ticket back if necessary and instead found herself in handcuffs. Mandy wrote: "I once asked her if she'd be in danger if she went back. 'Yes. But danger is better than jail.' So what will she do? 'I'm looking for another country now. Because I can't stay in Latvia.'"

While it's generally assumed that jail is a good time to catch up on reading, Hundert and Hiscocks have both written about issues with access to books and newspapers. Currently in some men’s jails books are almost impossible to access, cannot be mailed to prisoners (officially they can but most are censored) and library programs are either inadequate or non-existent. Three of Hundert's blogs entitled "No books in prisons" have resulted in media attention that has led to some attempts to rectify the situation, but the situation with access to books in many men's prisons is still abysmal. The provincial women’s jail has a limited selection of books and highly gendered magazine choices. Although the quality of the books has improved since 2010, when only romance novels were available, books can't be mailed to inmates unless they are for specific educational courses.

For many, Prisoners' Justice Day is a reminder that for people pushed to the margins of society, simply living and surviving can be an illegal act. As Kelly Plug-Back reminds us, "Every prisoner is a political prisoner."

To read more about life in Canadian prisons visit Alex Hundert's blog at alexhundert.wordpress.com, Mandy Hiscocks’ blog at boredbutnotbroken.tao.ca and Kelly Pflug-Back's blog at supportkellypfl.wordpress.com.

A version of this article was first published in the Ryerson Free Press.

Megan Kinch is writer and editor with the Toronto Media Co-op. follow her on twitter @meganysta

Don Jail vigil

"What They Call Development, We Call Destruction"

Dalia Merhi — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:18:20 +0000

Grassy Narrows resistance to corporate logging continues

WINNIPEG—In December 2011, Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) released its “Long Term Management Direction,” a ten-year “development plan” for the Whiskey Jack Forest. Located in Treaty #3 territory of northwestern Ontario, this forest is critical to the economic and cultural survival of Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek, also known as Grassy Narrows First Nation.

“This document was developed without our participation or consent and is entirely outside the good faith negotiations we have undertaken with MNR since the 2008 Process Agreement,” said Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister in a release. “It sets the stage for more clearcutting throughout our traditional lands, contrary to our Treaty and inherent rights. And we have not given our consent.”

The 2008 Process Agreement was created to guide forest management discussions between MNR and Grassy Narrows after the previous license-holder, Abitibi-Bowater, withdrew in 2008 due to community resistance and public pressure.

Grassy Narrows has struggled for decades with the destruction of the Whiskey Jack Forest from logging, while facing the legacy of residential schools and mercury poisoning in the English-Wabigoon river system.

In 2002, Grassy Narrows’ residents established a blockade of a logging road into the Whiskey Jack Forest. Initiated after years of protest and petitions, the blockade became the longest standing in North American history and an inspiring site of learning, empowerment, and self-determination.

In the Rainforest Action Network’s report, American Dream, Native Nightmare, Roberta Keesick, a blockader, trapper and grandmother, explained the necessity of the blockade: "The destruction of the forest is an attack on our people…The land is the basis of who we are. Our culture is a land-based culture, and the destruction of the land is the destruction of our culture; we know that…they want us out of the way so they can take the resources. We can't allow them to carry on with this cultural genocide."

Before the blockade began, a group of trappers—Andrew Keewatin, Joe Bill Fobister, and the late Willie Keewatin—sought a judicial review against the paper giant, Abitibi-Bowater, and MNR. They argued that their treaty rights to hunt and trap were being infringed by decreased animal habitat and population. Eleven years after the trappers first presented their case, JB Fobister summarizes the 2011 court ruling: “[The Province] could not interfere with [their] right to hunt and trap.”

Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., MNR, and the Attorney General of Canada have since appealed this ruling. Pending the outcome, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently ordered that MNR not authorize the harvesting of wood in the Whiskey Jack Forest north of English River without the consent of Grassy Narrows.

Fobister illustrates the conflict between the interests of industry, the provincial government, and Grassy Narrows: “We are in the way of what they call development. What they call development, we call destruction,” he said. “Whatever happens on the land,” he added, "Grassy should get all the benefits.”

In July 2011, KBM Forestry Consultants Inc. released an audit they conducted of forestry management in the 964,000 hectare Whiskey Jack. Validating concerns of forest mismanagement, the report produced 21 recommendations based on “observations of material non-conformances” to a law and policy as well as ineffective planning and execution.

Some forest product manufacturers, such as Boise Inc. and Domtar, have publicly agreed not to harvest or purchase wood from Grassy Narrows' territory until the MNR obtains community consent. In 2009, Calvert Investments removed Weyerhaeuser from its social index of sustainable and responsible companies due to Weyerhaeuser’s failure to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.

With only 30 per cent of the forest remaining intact, the Weyerhaeuser mill in Kenora, ON, continues to create a demand for wood harvested from the Whiskey Jack; since 2002, the forest has supplied at least 40 per cent of the mill’s wood, accounting for 42 per cent of the total timber harvest from the forest. The mill produces Trustjoist Timberstrand product, an engineered lumber used for home building.

In 2010, Weyerhaeuser pressured the MNR to approve “contingency” logging areas in the Whiskey Jack Forest without the consent of Grassy Narrows. Chief Simon Fobister issued an open letter to logging companies, retailers, contractors, and investors at the time, calling “for the boycott and divestment of Weyerhaeuser Corporation due to their violation of our human rights as Indigenous Peoples.” With approximately 70 per cent of the mill's product being sold in the United States, a successful boycott would require increased support.

Since the beginning of the blockade, local organizations, such as Winnipeg Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement (WIPSM, formerly Friends of Grassy Narrows) and Boreal Forest Network, have stood in support of the blockaders to stop logging in their territory. Together with other allies, they are petitioning Weyerhaeuser and approaching home builders and retailers for a boycott “until they cease all logging and sourcing in the contested traditional territories of Grassy Narrows First Nation.”

“A 'no' from Grassy means, no, stay off their traditional territory—no logging and no resource extraction," said Thor Aikenhead, member of WIPSM.

Damage to the community by corporations and the provincial and federal governments over the decades has taken a great toll, but the determination of Grassy Narrows and its allies could force this corporate giant out. “Grassy's demands must be respected," he adds.

News items and suggestions for supporting Grassy Narrows can be found at freegrassy.org. To sign the petition for Weyerhaeuser to stop sourcing wood from Grassy Narrows First Nation territory, visit: borealforestnetwork.com.

Chuck Wright was a Christian Peacemaker Team delegate to Grassy Narrows in the fall of 2011. He lives in Winnipeg, MB, where he teaches literacy and studies radical adult education. He may be contacted at polepole_w@yahoo.ca.

The Trusjoist Timberstrand plant in Kenora, ON

Fight the Fires that Be

Martin Lukacs — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:42:29 +0000

Women struggle to make fire-fighting profession more inclusive

LONDON, ON—Chelsea Merkt-Kit leans back casually in her chair. Her surroundings are calm. For the moment, she’s without her team, a group of men she calls her “brothers.” Her long blonde hair is pulled back into a neat and tidy ponytail. Her navy blue uniform is oversized and engulfs her petite frame.

The crest on her uniform reads the same as every man’s in the building: “Be caring, be safe, and prevent harm.” At 400 Horton Street, London, Ontario’s central fire house, these are words by which men and women alike live and die.

But Merkt-Kit isn’t who you would usually picture climbing a ladder into a burning building. The 27-year-old Waterloo native is 5’7 and 125 pounds.

“People are always surprised when they hear what I do,” she says. “Especially when I’m in a dress and heels.”

She’s one of only eight women currently working as a professional firefighter in London, a city that boasts a force of almost 400.

“Of course, it’s a male dominated profession,” Merkt-Kit admits. She cautiously explains that you need to be a certain type of woman to survive as a firefighter.

“You have to get along well with men, and allow them to be themselves,” she says.

Yet the small number of female firefighters in Canada paints a picture of a service still dictated not simply by personality, but by the sturdy persistence of gendered labour roles.

Women account for only three per cent of professional firefighters in Canada, says Paul Laffin, a data dissemination officer at Statistics Canada. In Ontario, women in firefighting are paid on average $13,500 less than their male counterparts.

Nevertheless, Merkt-Kit is among the first generation of female firefighters to benefit from earlier steps toward equality in the workplace, says Karen Simpson, an International Trustee with the International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services (also known as I-Women), in a phone interview from Chatham-Kent. She’s been a professional firefighter in Ontario for seven years.

She hopes that women like herself, and Merkt-Kit, can create another wave of change in the service, one which will make firefighting increasingly open and safe for women.

Over the last decade, Simpson says, training to become a firefighter in Canada has become more accessible and standardized. Women are entering the workforce with more confidence, having proved themselves physically and mentally against the men in school.

And while these systemic changes speak volumes, it’s the women who blazed the trail for the “new generation” who know best how far firefighting has come.

Women such as Kim Harrison. The team captain of the Medical Response Unit at the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department in Kearney, Ontario, Harrison has been fighting fires for 26 years.

Forty per cent of Harrison’s team are women.

“A lot of women assume they can’t join, that they don’t have enough strength,” Harrison said over the phone from Kearney. “We are trying to open doors for them.”

She does so by serving as a role model herself. Harrison gives tours of the fire station to women interested in the service, and often speaks at local schools. She urges children to use the word “firefighter” rather than “fireman.” For almost three decades, she’s been slowly working to change people’s attitudes.

“This is not a male place anymore,” Harrison says proudly.

Fire Chief Rick Phillip is thankful for her presence. For Phillip, whose wife and grand-daughter are also firefighters, women in firefighting is only natural. “They are far more compassionate,” he adds.

Overcoming the systemic difficulties that prevent women from joining the service is also necessary if Ontario hopes to keep both professional and volunteer fire squads full, says Carl G. Pearson, president of the Fire Fighters Association of Ontario.

“Half the population is female,” he said in a phone interview, adding that the assumption that female firefighters are less capable than their male counterparts is simply incorrect.

A department such as Chief Phillip’s in Kearney is a glimpse into a promising future, says I-Women’s Simpson. Yet, she says, there is much more work to be done.

“It doesn’t matter if women are as fit or better trained. If the administration is not prepared to accept women, there is going to be a struggle,” says Simpson.

Only a few weeks ago, Simpson and the I-Women organization demanded that the concerns of women in firefighting be heard at the US National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s 2nd Annual Research Symposium.

Right now, Simpson explained, there is no data exploring the relationship between fighting fire and reproductive health, and specifically how chemicals produced in a fire can affect a woman’s ability to have healthy babies.

I-Women managed, for the first time, to get the questions of reproductive health discussed as stand-alone issues at the conference.

Simpson hopes that within the next three to five years, with adequate funding and research, the fire service will start to properly address these concerns. While the spark of change has been ignited, it’s going to be up to the “next generation” to keep “pounding their fists and stomping their feet.”

It’s probably going to depend on women like Merkt-Kit, who was married last year. Her husband is a professional firefighter in Waterloo. And while she is a face for how far the service has come, she may soon be affected by where firefighting, for women, has not yet gone.

When asked if the two had yet started a family, she smiled.

“No, not yet, but soon.”

Lisa Laventure is a graduate student in journalism at the University of Western Ontario.

Firefighter illustration

Honouring Unfree Friends

Martin Lukacs — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:31:11 +0000

Prison solidarity for man charged in RBC arson

TORONTO—It’s two days before Christmas, and it's Matthew Morgan-Brown’s birthday. It’s hard for him to celebrate, however; his friend, Roger Clement, is being transferred to Millhaven Institution, where he will begin serving the rest of his three-year, six-month sentence for the firebombing of a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) branch in Ottawa in May 2010. No one has heard from Clement for over a week, which isn’t unusual during transfers, but that doesn’t make it any easier for Morgan-Brown.

“It’s that time of year,” Morgan-Brown says. “It’s difficult to be separated from family and friends.”

Clement, a 58-year-old retired civil service employee, is well known to local activists from years of social justice organizing. He was sentenced on December 7, 2010, having pled guilty to the RBC arson, as well as breaking windows and ATMs at a different branch in February 2010. It’s an unusually harsh sentence for property damage crimes, given that both the defense and Crown attorneys acknowledged he took great care to eliminate any possible injury to people.

Morgan-Brown’s own arson and mischief charges in the May 18 RBC firebombing were stayed due to lack of evidence. He is now taking an active role in Ottawa Movement Defense (OMD), a group originally formed to support the three people arrested on June 18: himself, Joseph Roger Clement, and Claude Haridge. Haridge, who was never charged with arson but with careless storage and handling of ammunition, had his final day in court postponed in December 2010.

In addition to returning to his job at Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG)-Ottawa and devoting his spare time to OMD, Morgan-Brown says he is grappling with the psychological scars of the arrest and months of uncertainty. “I often put my emotions on hold, and then try to find time to deal with them later,” he says. “It’s just not a skill that I have. I don’t know how to deal with what happened. I know that it was a traumatic experience.

“It was also a learning experience. It was the first time I’d ever been in prison...other than two or three days when I challenged some conditions I’d been given. That was scary in itself, not knowing what was going on, what it would be like. I’d be a lot more prepared if I had to go to prison again.”

Morgan-Brown spent two months inside, including the addition of a 20-day sentence for participating in a Barriere Lake First Nation blockade on Highway 117 in 2008. Algonquins from that impoverished community in north-western Quebec are struggling to protect their land and environmental resources.

Morgan-Brown has long been an active member of Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement (IPSM)-Ottawa, a grassroots organization that directly supports Indigenous peoples in diverse struggles for justice. “Not being able to organize was really shitty. It’s very important to me,” says Morgan-Brown, who had limited communications with colleagues due to his bail conditions. “The day they lifted my conditions I started organizing again.”

His number one priority these days is supporting his friend Roger Clement. Morgan-Brown encourages activists to write to Clement and connect with him, as a way of showing support. “[Clement is] quite limited about what he can say,” he says. “I expect that he feels he can’t comment about his politics, which I know are super-important to him.”

One way to honour Clement, Morgan-Brown says, is to learn about and discuss subjects that are important to him. As a communist, he is passionate about the Cuban revolution. “I know that he’d like to see people becoming engaged, learning about different issues,” says Morgan-Brown. “He’d be happy if people were finding out about what’s going on in Cuba now and how to support [the Cuban people].” In this way, supporters can keep Clement involved in everyday organizing and dialogue.

As with writing to any prisoners, it’s extremely important not to speculate about illegal activities, or to act on behalf of a prisoner without their guidance. “He’s got a parole board hearing coming up,” Morgan-Brown cautions.

Complicating matters, the issue of police infiltration in Ottawa activist groups has been a source of rampant rumours. "As far as we know from the disclosure the lawyer saw, and from what we heard in [our] bail hearing, there’s no evidence he was involved in either of the actions Roger pled guilty to,” says Morgan-Brown.

Meanwhile, Morgan-Brown still finds it challenging to speak freely, although a publication ban on the case has finally been lifted. He’s on a relatively short leash, as his charges have only been stayed, not dismissed; the Crown still has a year in which it can reinstate them. “It’s definitely something I’m more mindful of than I usually am,” he says. “Hopefully I can find something positive in it, step back in certain situations where I would usually step forward, and encourage people to take on roles that I enjoy.” An avid public speaker, he is working to help other group members develop those skills.

Morgan-Brown was already familiar with prison issues through his activist work, but witnessing first-hand the ways in which imprisonment is so blatantly tied to race and class, he says, was eye-opening. “So many guys were in there just because they didn’t have the resources to get bail.”

Moving forward, Morgan-Brown aims to link his Indigenous solidarity and prisoner justice work more closely, starting with support for people arrested from Barriere Lake. “There are so many Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, and so many people being arrested for resistance,” he says. “I feel more emotionally connected to prisoners than I did [before], and I hope that Ottawa Movement Defense will find a way of connecting with other people who are supporting political prisoners, and the G8/G20 defendants.”

Sara Falconer is a Toronto-based journalist. She helps publish Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar and is a member of Toronto Anarchist Black Cross, which produces www.4strugglemag.org, a zine of analysis by and for political prisoners.

For more information about supporting Clement and Haridge, visit http://www.exilebooks.org/en/links/ottawa-movement-defense.

Solidarity for friends

The Need for Legal Empowerment

Paula LaPierre — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:22:17 +0000

The Need for Increased Legal Empowerment

We must avoid the trap of interpreting disadvantaged or poor strictly from a material paradigm.

Sincerely,

Paula LaPierre

Joint Efforts are the Key

Paula LaPierre — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:36:16 +0000

Concerns

Paula LaPierre — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:45:41 +0000

The Dialogue Denied Us

Appreciates Recent Correspondence

Paula LaPierre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:13:35 +0000

Important First Steps as Local Community Makes Plans

Paula LaPierre — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:00:47 +0000

Moving Forward in a Sustainable Process

Paula LaPierre — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:03:11 +0000

Imaginary Lines

Moira Peters — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:06:16 +0000

Mohawk grandmothers assaulted at border, refuse court charges

Based on an article by Nazila Bettache and Jaggi Singh, organizers and members of No One Is Illegal Montreal. The original version was published by No One Is Illegal Montreal.

A vehicle with two Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) women was stopped by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) at Akwesasne at 2pm on Saturday, June 14. The vehicle was crossing into Canada from the United States. Akwesasne is a Kanion'ke:haka Indigenous community that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec and New York, and residents, travelling within their community, routinely cross between states and provinces.

One Elder, Katenies, who does not recognize the authority of the CBSA over Kanion'ke:haka land, was consequently arrested. At least four male guards forced her face-down onto the ground, handcuffed her, and took her into custody, where she remained for three days.

CBSA guards also demanded that the other woman – Kahentinetha Horn, an Elder of 68 years – leave the car she was driving. She refused, and she too was overpowered by at least four male CBSA guards. She suffered a heart attack while in handcuffs. Because of the intervention of her brother-–a lawyer who was crossing the border at that time-–she was eventually taken to the local hospital in Cornwall, Ontario, by ambulance, and spent four days in the Critical Care Unit.

The two women are Mohawk rights activists, grandmothers, and publishers of Mohawk Nation News.

Katenies was targeted for arrest by CBSA guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly running the border in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court. Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land, and feels that a court appearance would validate a colonial justice system.

The charges the CBSA originally indicated they would bring upon Kahentinetha were never brought forward.

Meanwhile, Katenies was jailed and was granted a bail hearing at the Superior Court in Cornwall three days later, on Monday, June 16.

Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake and Akwesasne attended court to act as witnesses to Katenies' continued refusal to recognize Canada's courts. Several Elders from the Akwesasne community referenced the bridge blockades undertaken in the 1960s and '70s to assert the rights under treaty law of free movement of Indigenous peoples at the border. They consider Katenies' current stance as part of the same ongoing and long-term struggle for sovereignty.

At the hearing, the federal Crown lawyer objected to Katenies' release on bail. A senior investigator with the CBSA testified for the Crown. He outlined the various warrants and court dates in the case, and Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to recognize the authority of the Court, or the jurisdiction of the CBSA over the border.

In the words of the CBSA investigator, Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial system." The investigator, who has lived and worked at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, admitted that it is "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case."

Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the court. Davis refused to tell the court whether she lived in the Ontario or Quebec part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She remarked with a smile: "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."

Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Davis stated, "We feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want. [The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not Mohawks."

Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court, Davis replied simply, "No."

Katenies also addressed the court, reiterating that she did not recognize its jurisdiction, and refused to accept all charges, declining to have them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies stated, "I can only tell what I know."

Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that the courts address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks? She stated, "I'm a passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward."

Katenies had already served the court with a motion to dismiss previous charges, and invoked the jurisdiction question, on January 18, 2007.

Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown lawyer if she would accept paying a cash bond. She replied, "That would be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt with." She added, "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question."

She refused the accusation of contempt, stating, "It is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and constitution?"

In his final submissions, the Crown argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete disdain for the laws of these courts,” adding, "Quite frankly, Your Worship, both mother and daughter don't recognize our jurisdiction."

The Crown asked the court to keep Katenies in custody.

Nonetheless, the presiding Justice of the Peace, Ms. Leblanc, decided to release Katenies under certain basic conditions: that Katenies reside with her mother and notify the Akwesasne police of any change of address (Katenies has lived with her mother for the past eight years, since the death of her father); that her mother post a surety (a $1,000 bond without a deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to appear in court for her. Her next court date has been set for July 14, 2008, at 9am at Cornwall's Superior Court.

Links to background articles and interviews can be found here.

The following is an excerpt from a recently released report by Mohawk Nation News (MNN), “written in consultation with family members and with direct witnesses to the events described."

On June 14, Katenies, Kahentinetha [two Mohawk grandmothers, both part of the MNN network and known for their outspoken criticism of US, Canadian and international power cartels] and Sakowaiaks [a companion] went through the [Canada-US] border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat peacefully for an hour, surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk Elders showed up to watch. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves.... A chief later told them that the gloves were for protection from blood. It was a sign they planned an attack.

Katenies was dragged...from the car...They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground and forced their knees into her back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement.

...She was imprisoned and held incommunicado. They would not let her mother see her or talk to her. She had heard her daughter was injured. She asked several times and was refused. Katenies asked to see her mother. The guards said she didn't ask for her. She was strip searched...

It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw...what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha had been beaten by police in the past...

She was handcuffed and imprisoned. Once in the cell...some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. They ignored her cries as pain shot up her arms. Flashes of light went off in her head and sharp pains shot into her chest. They yelled racial taunts and threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants...

The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition, Kahentinetha had a trauma-induced heart attack.

This attack took place three days after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology for the abuses that took place at the residential schools.

Akwesasne Territory II

Corporate Rights Trump Indigenous Rights in Ontario

Moira Peters — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

In attempts to skirt constitutionally required consultations with First Nations, mining corporations are seeking access to territory by dragging the process through the Ontario legal system long enough to bankrupt cash-strapped First Nations.

Situated about 580 km north of Thunder Bay is Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation (KIFN; Big Trout Lake). Despite winning an important legal victory on July 28, 2006, in the Ontario Superior Court – a victory that forced Ontario mining exploration company Platinex Incorporated to cease drilling operations in the territory claimed by the Cree community of 1,300 – KIFN eventually found itself, according to its press release of April 9, $700,000 poorer. Moreover, Platinex had been granted a court injunction permitting it to drill on KIFN land and forbidding residents to obstruct the company’s operations.

KIFN has withdrawn from the judicial route and stressed the necessity of a political solution. The First Nation is concerned about the impact mining operations will have on their treaty-guaranteed traditional way of life – hunting and fishing – which is dependent upon the health of the environment.

In a letter to James Trusler of Platinex dated November 2, 2007, leaders from KIFN cautioned:

“Be advised that even as we write this letter there are Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug persons on those Customary Lands carrying out their trapping, hunting and fishing activities. Any other land use activity will be an absolute interference in their pursuit of their livelihood.”

No response has been forthcoming from Platinex to confirm whether the community’s “no entry” position will be respected. Platinex had not responded to an email inquiry prior to publication of this article.

Attempts by Platinex to enter their traditional territory were denied by KIFN, and six leaders from the KIFN community – chief Donny Morris, deputy chief Jack McKay and four councilors: Samuel Mckay, Bruce Sakakeep, Darryl Sainnawap and Cecelia Begg – were sentenced on March 17 by Ontario Superior Court justice Patrick Smith in Thunder Bay to six months imprisonment for contempt of court.

The same sentence was meted out on February 15 by the Ontario Superior Court in Kingston to the former chief of the Ardoch Anishinabek First Nation (AAFN), Robert Lovelace, who defied a court order giving privately owned Frontenac Ventures Corporation access to unceded AAFN territory at a potential uranium mining site near Sharbot Lake, about 30 km west of Perth in Ontario. KIFN and AAFN say they stand in solidarity along with other First Nations against unwelcome corporate intrusion on First Nation territory.

In its February 19 press release, AAFN described the sentencing of Lovelace as “a travesty of justice.” The sentence had a chilling effect on indigenous protest: co-protesting Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation subsequently ended its protest, and AAFN chief Paula Sherman – a single mother of three, wanting to avoid jail time – ended her protest against the mine. For AAFN, it is one in a series of struggles against interference by the province of Ontario in AAFN affairs.

In 1979, AAFN fought the province of Ontario to preserve indigenous rights to manomin (wild rice) in the Ardoch area. In 1995, the First Nation clashed with Ontario over restricting indigenous rights to hunting. The jurisdictional struggle continues. Ontario refuses to recognize Anishnabek law.

University of Victoria Law School professor John Borrows, who teaches Anishinabek Law, holds that Canada is a multi-juridical country where “Indigenous legal traditions shape and are embedded in our national legal structure.”

At the Fifth John C. Tait Memorial Lecture at McGill University in 1996, Borrows identified a “real crisis in the rule of law in Aboriginal communities. And it is not a crisis because Aboriginal peoples don’t have the rule of law; it is a crisis of legitimacy about the rule of law and Aboriginal communities. If Aboriginal peoples were able to start to see themselves and their normative values reflected in how they conduct their day-to-day affairs, I believe that would go at least some distance to diminishing some of the problems that we have.”

Since 2007, Anishinabek chiefs representing 42 First Nations in Ontario have begun to develop Anishinabek law through the incorporation of grassroots principles. Grand Council Chief John Beaucage stated, “The principles contained in the Anishinabek Nation law will have come from our engagement and consultation with our leadership and citizens.”

The AAFN claims that Lovelace is being punished for upholding Anishinabek law on AAFN territory. On top of imprisonment, the Ontario Superior Court judgment applied additional fines of $2,000 for each day that Lovelace continues to obey AAFN law rather than the court order. The AAFN community was fined $10,000 and Chief Paula Sherman $15,000, and, according to AAFN, their statement of defense, in which they challenge the constitutional validity of Ontario’s Mining Act, was ruled out. KIFN accuses Ontario Aboriginal Affairs minister Michael Bryant of actively colluding with mining corporations against First Nations: “Contrary to what Minister Bryant has been saying in the media, Ontario did not support KIFN in any way. On virtually every issue they support Platinex.”

In a March 31 prison interview with Nation Talk TV, KIFN chief Donny Morris said, “Something is definitely wrong when Ontario sits back while their [treaty] partner is to be thrown in jail.”

Uranium mining is the source of another conflict between Anishinabek, the Province of Ontario and private interests. Isadore Day (Wiindawtegowinini), elected Chief of Serpent River First Nation, situated between Sault Saint Marie and Sudbury on Highway 17, frets over the pace of private-sector development compared with the government-required consultation with First Nations: “It poses real challenges between industry and First Nations when government moves slower in First Nation negotiations than it does when pushing through proponent approvals for expropriation of Crown lands." Even worse, according to Day, “is that Consultation and Accommodation requirements are not even in the form of mutually agreed policy between the Crown and the First Nations, and yet government is approving land expropriation in favor of development in traditional lands.”

The KIFN actions, while confrontational, are hardly radical. The financially debilitating court system has required that KIFN instead call for First Nation-to-government talks.

First Nations in Ontario identify the source of the dissension as lying within Ontario government legislation. Ontario has a “free entry” system to mining claims, opening all lands claimed by the Crown – including those subject to Indigenous title claims – to staking, exploration and mining without any required consultation or permission. In other words, anyone with a prospector’s license may stake and record claims and prospect for minerals on any Crown land.

KIFN seeks talks and has offered proposals to end the confrontation, stating, “Although Mr. Bryant has not yet responded to the proposal, both communities have told him that we are still prepared to work with Ontario to set up the Joint Panel, as soon as all of the prisoners are released from jail and a moratorium on mining and exploration in the disputed territories is implemented.”

No reply was forthcoming from minister Bryant before publication of this article.

On April 30, delegates to the United Nations Seventh Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York emphasized the need for national governments to protect people over profits. Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was viewed as crucial to this end. The Conservative Party government of Canada has been excoriated by the opposition, Indigenous peoples, and supporters of Indigenous rights for its failure to sign on to the Declaration.

Grand Council Chief Beaucage argued that the jailing KIFN leaders iterates to the world that the rights of Original Peoples are not equal to the rights of other Canadian citizens. “This,” he said, “is precisely why Canada should have been a signatory to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

Assembly of First Nations Women's Council chair Kathleen McHugh deplored the arrests of Indigenous peoples:

What is being implied in this case? That economic interests trump First Nation rights? Or that economic interests trump constitutionally protected rights? This is a slippery slope, not only for First Nations but for all Canadians. This should never have gotten to the point where it went to court. The corporations involved can still do the right thing: sit down and negotiate fairly and openly with the community and their leadership. We also call on the federal government to end its silence and act responsibly by following its legal duty to ensure First Nations are properly consulted when development takes place on their lands.

On April 23, Anishinabek Nation leaders and citizens rallied at Queen's Park in Toronto to spotlight the deficiencies of the Ontario Mining Act.

Beaucage called for inclusion: "Our citizens do not want to block economic progress; we want to be part of it. However,” he added, “the rule of law in Canada – as outlined by the Constitution and the Courts – and Anishinabek Traditional Law indeed support our aboriginal right to protect our traditional territories, as well as our treaty rights to share in the wealth derived from them. As far as we're concerned, human rights will always trump mineral rights.”

On April 30, 2008, Anishinabek from Grassy Narrows First Nation began a 1,850-km Protecting Our Mother walk from Kenora to Queens Park. According to spokeswoman Chrissy Swain, the walk arose out of long frustration at the way “our people have been criminalized and imprisoned for protecting the Earth, our future generations and our rights as Anishinabek and First Peoples of this land.” The walkers hope to raise awareness of the ongoing theft and plunder of Indigenous lands and repression of Indigenous people.

The Ontario provincial government's agenda for traditional First Nations territory has maintained its allegiance to the "rights" of mining corporations instead of to the Indigenous People's millennial ties to the land. Yet, just as this article was going to publication, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in Ontario announced in a press release the release of KIFN leadership from jail on May 23, pending the appeal of their sentence. Also pending the appeal, Platinex, for its part, has agreed not to enter the exploration site, and the KIFN leadership has agreed to curtail it's protests of Platinex's exploration activities.

queens park protest

September in Review

dru — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:34:05 +0000

GM on strike, uranium mining, 1.2 million dead in Iraq

73,000 employees of General Motors (GM) went on strike, shutting down 82 facilities, to oppose cuts to wages, jobs and health care. After two days on the picket line, which cost GM an estimated $100 million per day, United Auto Workers announced a tentative deal with GM management. The strike also affected plants in Canada, which supply roughly 50 per cent of the parts used by GM. Initial details of the contract sparked anger among some workers, who say the agreement benefits union bureaucracy, but continues to roll back wages and jobs. "I’ve read the Wall Street Journal and they’re gloating over the agreement," said one auto worker. "The company wanted to outsource a lot of these jobs, but instead... they can keep them in-house and pay the same rate as they would to someone on the outside. The only difference is the union keeps these workers as dues-paying members. The UAW doesn’t lose, but the workers do." Before it is adopted, workers must vote to ratify the contract.

Algonquin demonstrators from the Ardoch and Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquin First Nations paddled canoes to Ottawa to protest a planned uranium mine near Sharbot Lake, Ontario. The canoers seeked to demonstrate that radioactive waste from the mine would potentially flow into the Ottawa River and subsequently Lake Ontario. Algonquin demonstrators have been occupying the mine site, which they say is Algonquin territory.

A proposed uranium mine near the Inuit community of Makkovik, in northern Labrador, has stoked debate. While the prospect of jobs appeals to many, a radioactive mine is not as appealing to others. Douglas Jacques, whose family has hunted and trapped near the mine site for three generations, told the CBC that he anticipates mining companies will "go off with millions and millions, and we won't get a thing out of it."

Nine protesters from Six Nations were arrested at a Caledonia subdivision construction site. The Six Nations demonstrators say the developer of Stirling Creek Estates does not have the right to build on the property, as it is Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) territory. The arrests occured after one of the developers was reportedly injured in an altercation with several Six Nations youth.

The UN General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The only countries to vote against the declaration were Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

The government of New Brunswick announced a $237 million budget surplus, more than ten times what was expected. The extra revenues are thought to stem from increased prices for metals mined in the province, such as zinc.

The government of Ecuador ordered Canadian mining company Ascendant Copper to suspend all activities at its controversial Junín project. Carlos Zorilla of DECOIN, a grassroots environmental group that has been fighting Ascendant, said, "It's a fine political balancing act... I see it as an attempt to close down Ascendant's operations in [the area] while at the same time trying hard not to provoke... the international financing institutional world, not to mention the wrath of the Canadian government." Ascendant has been accused of using bribes and paramilitary thugs to suppress local opposition to the Junín mining project, which Conservation International has called one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the world.

The levels of Arctic sea ice reached a record low on September 16, breaking the previous record, set in 2005, by 1.19 million square kilometres--roughly the size of Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined. Some scientists say that Arctic ice has reached a "tipping point," which will be followed by accelerated melting. "All models seem to underestimate the speed at which the ice is melting," one climate scientist told Reuters. The change is likely to result in increased exploration of oil, gas and other natural resources in the region.

Carpenters, roofers, pipefitters, plumbers and other tradespeople staged wildcat strikes in Alberta, demanding changes to the Alberta Labour Code. The contested legislation denies the right to strike after 75 per cent of the province's trade unions have agreed to a contract. Hundreds marched in Edmonton to protest the legislation, which dates back two decades.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers went on the offensive against a new report calling for Alberta to receive a larger share of revenues from tar sands mining, calling it "faulty" and "flawed." The Globe and Mail reported that the tar sands were facing a "capacity squeeze" due to insufficient pipeline space to carry increased production of oil.

A coalition led by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty held a "day of action" calling for the provincial government to "increase social assistance, raise the minimum wage and build affordable/social housing." "Welfare and disability rates have lost 40% of their real value, the minimum wage is still at sub poverty levels and the lack of decent housing in this City is a shame and a disgrace," the group said in a release.

The Halifax Coalition Against Poverty (HCAP) began a series of clinics aimed at educating welfare recipients on how to obtain a little-known "special needs" allowance of $150. The coalition is working with doctors and health care professionals to provide letters for people seeking the special needs allowance. The campaign "provides the possibility for people to win money they need from the government and to have that be a way to build the confidence and dignity needed to be part of broader political struggle," said HCAP organizer Cole Webber.

Hotel workers in Vancouver threatened to strike over wages and working conditions, diversion of tips, working conditions, medical benefits, workloads and other issues. They reached a tenative agreement on September 22.

Some Canadian postal workers refused to deliver addressed advertising mail to addresses that they knew no longer belonged to the addressee. Canada Post has ordered the delivery of mail, which postal workers say takes discretion away from workers, reduces professionalism, and could violate privacy rights, if the mail disclosed religious affiliation or other personal information.

Afghan protesters near Kandahar chanted "death to Canada" and called for foreign troops to leave after two men were killed in a military raid on a local house. Canadian officials denied involvement, and dismissed requests for compensation. "We don't want to be in a situation where we're seen as just bribing people who have a grudge against us because that puts us up against insurgents who can likewise bribe," said a military spokesperson.

About 200 protesters accused NATO of war crimes, and called for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan in Victoria, where NATO generals were meeting to discuss military strategy.

Maxime Bernier's first speech in Quebec as Foreign Minister was repeatedly disrupted by protesters calling for an end to Canada's occupation of Afghanistan.

Protesters picketed outlets of Indigo books in Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal on the 25th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon. The picketers called for Indigo majority shareholders Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz to end support for groups recruiting soldiers for the Israeli army.

According to a new study, an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have died since the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The study, published by Opinion Research Business, was almost entirely absent from North American media outlets.

The UK's Telegraph reported that the US was preparing to attack Iran. "Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran," the report said. "Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran." Many US and Canadian media outlets appeared to be engaged in a campaign to demonize the government of Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The government of Israel declared the 1.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip to be an "enemy entity." The move gives Israel the power to cut off power, water and other vital supplies to the impoverished, densely populated area.

Israel also carried out an unprovoked air raid into Iran. The government refused to comment on the operation, but some commentators have called it a test of Israel's capacity to attack Iran.

Sharbot Lake

Greenpeace

OCAP Video: Anti-Poverty Day of Action

Stefan Christoff — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:27:47 +0000

shelter.jpg

OCAP Promo Video.

OCAP Action on September 26:
Raise the Rates! Mass Panhandle!
11:30 A.M. METRO PARK
(Queen and Church)

City-Wide Demonstration converging @ Queen's Park
2 P.M.

On Wednesday, September 26, a broad coalition of community
organizations, trade unions, health providers and low income people will be challenging Queen's Park to increase social assistance by 40%, raise the minimum wage, build affordable and accessible housing, and implement a Don't Ask-Don't Tell policy .

There will be a rally at the Ontario Legislature under the name of ˜Toronto Anti Poverty". Many of the organizations participating in the event, will hold their own actions on that day before marching on the Legislature for the united event.

For more information about the Day of Action HERE.

Heather Reisman, Gerry Schwartz & Indigo/Chapters Supporting Israeli Military...

Stefan Christoff — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:37:06 +0000

EImtl1.jpg

An excellent article from THIS magazine concerning the growing national campaign to boycott Chapters/Indigo bookstore due to the support for the Israeli military from the company majority shareholders Heather Reisman & Gerry Schwartz...

----

Full Article at: This Magazine.

Imagination. Creativity. Inspiration. Three words to stir the soul crown the towering windows of Toronto’s flagship Indigo bookstore. At ground level, shoppers pass in and out of wood-framed glass doors, navigating planters and benches intended to create a friendly, front-porch sort of welcome. They take little notice as, on the sidewalk beyond, two women unfurl an off-white canvas banner. Printed on one side are another three words, less poetic perhaps than the store’s motto, but the intended effect is just as moving: Boycott Chapters/ Indigo.

No, the protest is not a last-ditch attempt by independent booksellers to draw the literate back into their fold. Rather, the activists—11 have turned up on this Friday in April, the first truly warm day of spring—are taking a page from a much larger book. They are members of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), a network of Palestinian rights, Jewish peace and socialist groups doing their part to promote an international boycott campaign against Israel. They compare themselves to the early voices against South African apartheid, and history, they believe, can repeat itself: If international pressure could help rescue South Africa from apartheid, the same can be true for Israel.