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Don't Ignore the Red Brigades!

Posted: 01/14/2013 11:47 am

Tim Knight writes the regular media column, Watching the Watchdog, for HuffPost Canada.

Minutes from the meeting as imagined by Tim Knight:

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS


INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE
ON ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES


Minutes of Meeting held at the Ministry
of Administrative Affairs, March 1, 2015


In the Chair: REDACTED

Present: REDACTED

Secretary: REDACTED


1. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and REDACTED.

2. Matters arising:

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection REDACTED of Section D of Clause 228 of the Administrative Procedures (Canada) Act, 2001, it has been agreed that, insofar as the implementation of the statutory provisions is concerned, the resolution of anomalies and uncertainties between Her Majesty's government by right in Canada and the Red Brigades (formerly Idle No More) has reached REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED

The official report on yesterday's top-level meeting concerning treaties signed between the Crown and and First Nations has been released by the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

Almost all of it redacted, as is the Harper government's custom. However, reliable sources inside the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) have leaked some details of its contents.

Here is a summation:

The first matter before the meeting, according to the sources, was this week's decision by the United Nations to offer peacekeeping troops to help contain and put down the First Nations' uprising, known as the Red Brigades, now in its second year.

Prime Minister Harper was reported to have angrily turned down the U.N. offer in spite of the fact that increasing numbers of RCMP and military are refusing to report for duty if it means confronting the Red Brigades.

Instead, the Prime Minister wrote to the Queen (once again bypassing the Governor General), requesting that two brigades of her Household Guards and the Black Watch be deployed to Canada as soon as possible, to be placed under the command of the Chief of the Defence Staff.

Harper was quoted by one source as saying: "Maybe we can get some real soldiers from the Brits instead of those army clowns who've done nothing since Afghanistan but parade around in fancy uniforms and bitch about funding cuts."

However, another source denied this, citing the prime minister's famous adulation of all things military.

Meanwhile, the Red Brigades main force, already numbering thousands, is massing around the Kanesatake Mohawk reserve in Québec.

Kanesatake was the scene of the 1990 Mohawk rebellion that ended with the sacred burial ground, The Pines, remaining under Mohawk jurisdiction instead of being turned into a golf course for Oka, the nearby settler town.

It was at Kanesatake that the paramilitary Warrior Society became famous when it stood against the Sûreté du Québec and the army and refused to tear down barricades.

Today, Kanesatake is headquarters for the Red Brigades' high command, more than half of whom are believed to be women.

From there, guidelines go out to units deployed or training in every province and territory. Usually they're in Cree or Ojibwe, the two most widely spoken aboriginal languages in Canada. Since few settlers understand either language in spite of 145 years of European settlement here, protests, blockades and raids can happen without warning anywhere at anytime.

The month-long blockade and closing of Vancouver port, fourth largest in North America, and the brief occupation of Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, are examples.

Around the country, the Red Brigades are believed to be gaining dozens of new recruits every day.

Most are young indigenous men and women whose fathers and grandfathers told them of the proud record of Canada's aboriginal warriors in both world wars and Korea.

The past wars, the Kanesatake rebellion and the legendary Mohawk chief Joseph Brant -- who fought alongside the British during the Seven Years War with France and the American Revolutionary War -- are inspirations.

But recruiting is no longer confined to First Nations. Dozens of sympathetic young settler men and women are joining the revolt too. They are placed under the command of indigenous officers and most given menial duties such as cooking and cleaning. But a few white Afghanistan veterans who pass the qualifying tests do join regular field units.

And all the while, growing ever closer, is the Red Brigades' high command ultimatum delivered to the Queen earlier this month:

"The time for talk is ending. The drums of war are already sounding. Unless we talk nations to nation, as equals, and all our treaties are respected, we will close down this country."

And they quote Georges Erasmus, then leader of the Assembly of First Nations, who 24 years ago warned that something like the Idle No More revolt was certain:

"We want to let you know that you are dealing with fire. We say, Canada, deal with us today because our militant leaders are already born. We cannot promise that you are going to like the kind of violent political action we can just about guarantee the next generation is going to bring to our reserves."

A generation ago, the chief warned us.

And it's come to pass.

Because we didn't listen.

 

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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:33 AM on 01/16/2013
“WAR DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS” RUN BY RCMP - Lock-up Plan

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.ca/2011/06/mnn-war-department-of-indian-affairs.html

MNN JUNE 10, 2011. According to internal Indian Affairs files, in 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper set up Indian Affairs as a policing agency, run by the RCMP and other security forces. This chamber includes CSIS, Fisheries, Government of Canada, Natural Resources and Transportation.



It’s called the “Hot Spot Reporting System”??? Since the 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis, Canada, security, police agencies and the army have coordinated their forces to spy on us.



The old assimilation policy of chasing us into the cities to be absorbed out of existence did not work. They’re also concerned about “splinters” [or thorns in their side] who live outside of Indigenous communities and can't be watched by this upgraded and reorganized “war department”.

So-called “Aboriginal extremists”, Warrior Societies and non-Indigenous support groups are currently outside their surveillance web.


Reference:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57561401/First-Nations-Strategic-Bulletin-Jan-May-2011
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:29 AM on 01/16/2013
Based on Internal Indian Affairs documents: FIRST NATION UNDER SURVEILLANCE – Harper Government Prepares for First Nations “Unrest”. Russell Diabo and Shiri Pasternak. www.mediazcooper.ca/story/first-nations-under-surveillaznce/7434
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:25 AM on 01/16/2013
Restigouche, Burnt Church,Kanehsatake - Oka, Caledonia, Deseronto Rosseau River and numerous similar conflicts have been the fault of your governments. Escalation to violence are the direct result of police and military provocation in the name of "law and order".

The police are the thugs. Every inquiry has said so. Here's a link to this specific one:

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/report/index.html
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:25 AM on 01/16/2013
We used such a simple story to make the point that First Nations have many problems dealing with their past grievances.

First Nations have the onus of identifying the problem, and then they have to go to Indian Affairs. Indian Affairs has to decide whether the grievance is just and should be dealt with. Eventually, it goes to the Department of Justice and it can stay there for years and years waiting for their opinion.

READ MORE...

http://sen.parl.gc.ca/nsibbeston/2007.htm
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:23 AM on 01/16/2013
Imagine your new neighbour comes into your backyard and fences off half of it. Then he sells it to someone down the street. This new neighbour tells you he got a good deal but he won't say how much he got. Then, he says that he'll take care of the cash — on your behalf, of course.

Maybe he even spends a little on himself. You complain. He denies he did anything wrong. What would you do?

Go to the proper authorities? Turns out that the authorities and their agencies work for him.

Sue him? He tells you that none of the lawyers can work for you — he's got every one in town working for him. When he finally lets a lawyer work for you — it turns out that he can afford five of them for every one you can afford.

Finally he says: Okay, I'm willing to discuss it. But first you have to prove I did something wrong. Oh, and I get to be the judge of whether you've proved it. And, if you do prove it, I get to set the rules about how we'll negotiate. I'll decide when we've reached a deal and I'll even get to determine how I'll pay the settlement out to you. Oh, and I hope you're in no rush because this is going to take about twenty or thirty years to settle.

This little story exemplifies the difficulty of First Nations in dealing with past grievances.

con't,,next post
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
08:13 AM on 01/16/2013
Given the current economic circumstances, all three levels of government in Canada will have to engage in significant and meaningful negotiations, or all development can be stopped, and no injunction-and-force-of-police can be used against Indigenous Peoples defending their land rights.

The alternative, as pointed out by a Senate report: Negotiation or Confrontation: It's Canada's choice.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/abor-e/rep-e/rep05dec06-e.pdf
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Colin Speth
A Claymore for your thoughts
04:40 PM on 01/15/2013
Awesome. I love a good comedy piece. Especially the part about the military refusing to do their jobs. If anything recruitment for the forces would skyrocket if this was ever to happen, much as it did during the Afgan war. And the part about the Oka natives refusing to tear down their barricades is good too. Last time I checked they weren't there anymore, and I remember the militant natives scattering pretty fast after the 155mm artillery showed up. And yeah your scenario could happen, and I could win the lottery and marry Kate Upton. Odds are about the same for both. Thanks for the laughs.
Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
Seamus OMalley
My micro-bio is no longer empty.
06:26 AM on 01/15/2013
Unlikely.
photo
HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Tim Knight
09:00 AM on 01/15/2013
But certainly possible!