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December 2, 2010 - No. 207 Indigenous Sovereignty Oppose Harper Government's Plans to
Extinguish
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 Bertha Williams |
Bertha Williams gave the example of how the Campbell Liberal Government of British Columbia, working with the federal government, bribed members of the Tsawwassen First Nation, especially those not living on their hereditary lands, into accepting a "fee simple" arrangement. In exchange for $16 million to be divided amongst the band members and other concessions, the Tsawwassen First Nation gives up all future land claims in their traditional territory. The Tsawwassen treaty negotiations were initiated in 2002 and the Treaty came into effect in 2009. Williams pointed out that the entire treaty process was forced through by the BC government despite being opposed by many people. She pointed out how the government's bribes and subsequent treaty process have sown division in the community, causing a great deal of strife. She added that she has sent letters to the federal government and other agencies to no avail because all levels of government collude in this criminal activity. She said that she and others in the community are still fighting, noting that she has taken her people's case to the United Nations.
Professor Palmater noted that Conservative ideologues like Tom Flanagan have been preparing the ground for the Harper government's policies. She pointed out how Flanagan has written that First Nations peoples must abandon their "socialistic, communist outlook of collective rights" and join the "modern world." According to Flanagan's colonialist notion, Palmater noted, the way forward for First Nations in Canada is to abandon the collective stewardship of their traditional lands and become individual property owners with the "security" to be able to do what they wish to do with their title. In other words to adopt "fee simple" as a "choice."
 Prof. Pamela Palmeter |
Palmater pointed out that "fee simple" ownership of reserve lands has been introduced in some parts of the U.S. with disastrous consequences by opening the way for outside businesses and monopolies to take over reserve lands. She stated that there are strong indications the Harper government is planning to introduce legislation in the spring session of Parliament dealing with "First Nations property ownership." This legislation will be aimed at introducing private ownership of reserve lands. This will open the door for resource extraction monopolies, such as those in the mining and forestry sectors, to buy land on the reserves from impoverished First Nations families who have to sell their property in order to survive. In addition, such legislation opens the door to the federal government further abrogating its fiduciary responsibility to the First Nations on the grounds that the latter have now been given the means to ensure their own economic security.
Armand MacKenzie noted that Indigenous peoples derive their very being in relation to the land and that their relationship to the land is not based on capitalist property relations, i.e., land cannot be "owned." He pointed out that Aboriginal peoples number about 1 million in Canada and lay claim to about 70 per cent of its land mass. Therefore, it is not accidental that the federal and provincial governments have tried since 1867 to assimilate Aboriginal peoples into "Canada" in order to facilitate the exploitation of the land and resources that are in this large territory. He pointed out that it is vital for Canadians to stand with Indigenous peoples who are fighting for their very survival and underscored the fact that the future of Canada and Canadians are linked to these struggles and together Canadians and Indigenous peoples must fight as one to ensure a bright future for all.
 Armand MacKenzie |
A vigorous discussion followed. People pointed out that privatization of reserve lands may negate Aboriginal land claims, because those lands in most, if not all, cases are part of traditional lands. The schemes of the Harper government were opposed by all present with the participants articulating in various ways that the struggle of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples for their hereditary and treaty rights is bound up in the struggle of Canadians for political renewal -- for a new Canada that recognizes the rights and claims of all, including those of the Indigenous peoples. One speaker pointed out that Aboriginal peoples cannot expect any solutions from those in power: "No one will give us sovereignty -- sovereignty is something we have to assert for ourselves, that is its nature."
The question of opposition to the racism and colonial policies of the Canadian government was further developed in a presentation by Arthur Manuel (Secwepemc) on Saturday, November 27 at a session on "Mobilizing Support for Canada to Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." Manuel pointed out that the social conditions of Aboriginal peoples in Canada are directly related to the racist colonial policy of the Canadian state which seeks to exterminate the rights of Aboriginal peoples. He pointed out that after four years of foot-dragging the Canadian government finally endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but noted that this endorsement does not mean that the Harper government or any provincial government is actually going to work with the Aboriginal peoples in a new way.
The Canadian state and its governments, he said, are "stuck" in protecting "vested interests" and it is the responsibility of Canadians to fight for political changes that will bring about a new relationship with Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
Fighting for Rights
Canadians Rendered to Torture Continue
Legal Action
Against Government
Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, three Canadians who were rendered to torture abroad between 2001 and 2004 and whose mistreatment by the government and its agencies was the subject of the Iacobucci Inquiry are pursuing their $180 million lawsuit against the federal government. The three men contend that the government, knowing it could not legally nor successfully prosecute them in Canada, facilitated their arbitrary detention and torture in Egypt and Syria. None of the men, who are all back in Canada, was ever charged either in Canada or abroad.
The Iacobucci Inquiry into their
cases was set up in
December 2006 on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety.
The public report of the closed hearings was released in October 2008.
It found that the three had been tortured in Syrian custody and, in the
case of El-Maati, in Egypt as well,
based partly on "faulty information" received from Canadian Security
Intelligence Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Justice Iacobucci concluded that Canadian diplomats failed to act
swiftly to
aid the men or to properly assess the possibility that they would be
subjected to torture and improperly passed information to CSIS.
The three men launched their lawsuit four months after the release of Iacobucci's report. The facts established in the closed hearings of the Iacobucci Inquiry, now have to be re-established in the public courtroom.
In the first major ruling in the case, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley last week ruled that a CSIS document erroneously sent to the lawyers of the three will remain in the public domain. The Harper government sought the return of the document, claiming its release would endanger national security. The judge ruled that the government failed to establish this claim."The public interest in holding government accountable for the alleged actions and omissions of its servants is an important consideration in this case," Justice Mosley said.
Lawyers for the three men argued that the document is critical to the court case. The document in question is a February 2003 letter from CSIS to RCMP Cpl. Rick Flewelling about a "will/martyrdom certificate," written by Ahmad El-Maati, then a Toronto truck driver being held in an Egyptian prison. In the letter CSIS asked permission to pass on a translated version of the will to another intelligence service, the name of which is blacked out. El-Maati says the document referred to in the letter was a standard will prepared in advance of his pilgrimage to Mecca.
Mosley's ruling also requires the government to remove blacked-out sections from a series of documents turned over to the torture victims' lawyers as part of the legal disclosure process. The federal government has served notice it will appeal the decision.
The government denies legal responsibility for the torture of the three men in spite of the findings of the Iacobucci Inquiry and, based on that inquiry, the June 2009 Report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, which recommended the government apologize to the men, compensate them and correct their security files.
Proposed Internet Laws Increase Police Powers
and Infringe Right to
Privacy
The Harper government has introduced three bills that affect the right to privacy in Canada. Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (interception of private communications and related warrants and orders) (Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act)) was introduced for First Reading in the House of Commons on October 29, 2010. Bill C-51 An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act) and Bill C-52, An Act regulating telecommunications facilities to support investigations (Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act) received first reading in the House of Commons on November 1, 2010.
The three bills affect information disclosure and mandated surveillance technologies and would introduce new police powers. Under current privacy laws, providers may voluntarily disclose customer information but are not required to do so. The new system would require the disclosure of customer names, street addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, internet protocol addresses and a series of device identification numbers, without any court oversight.
The legislation would require that internet service providers (ISPs) re-work their networks to allow for real-time surveillance, which would require investments in new technologies that have the power to intercept communications, isolate communications to a particular individual and engage in multiple simultaneous interceptions. The cost of installing these technologies would be borne by the ISPs, despite the fact that many will not require it for their commercial needs. ISPs would also be mandated to provide assistance in testing their surveillance capabilities and to run security checks on their employees.
The proposed bills would create several new police powers designed to obtain access to the surveillance data. New transmission data warrants would grant real-time access to all information generated during the creation, transmission or reception of a communication including the type, direction, time, duration, origin, destination or termination of the communication.
According to Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, the government has attempted to institute new surveillance technologies within Canadian networks along with additional legal powers to access internet and subscriber information since 1999. He states there is no evidence that existing laws impede police work.
Mass Action in Toronto Opposes Criminalization of Immigrants and Refugees
On November 20, Torontonians participated in a mass leafleting at Dundas Square to oppose Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act and the Marine Transportation Security Act, also known as the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act. This proposed legislation is the latest development in Canada's racist immigration system, which is being used to criminalize immigration, attack the people's rights and divide the people on the basis of targeting those who immigrate to Canada through less than conventional means. Organized by No One Is Illegal , the action provided information about this retrogressive bill, demanded that it be scrapped, and specifically called for the release of the 492 Tamil refugees who arrived in Vancouver this summer on the MV Sun Sea and who are being held in custody as "criminals and terrorists."
Besides the information leaflet handed out by the hundreds by No One Is Illegal, activists from the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) joined the action and provided additional information on this bill. Amongst other things, Party activists pointed out that Canada must end its activities of war and exploitation in places like Haiti and Afghanistan and take responsibility for the poverty and displacement inflicted on people in these countries and elsewhere by making reparations or enabling them to immigrate to Canada where they should be accorded full rights.
Hundreds of people passed by the action, taking
leaflets or stopping to express their opposition to Bill C-49 and its
racist
outlook and their outrage at the treatment of the Tamil
refugees now in jail in Vancouver. Many pointed out how it is the
Harper government which is brutally attacking rights and
expressed the view that this government must be defeated.
Chile
Rescue of 33 Miners from San
José Mine
Euphoria Covers Up Continued Exploitation by Government and Business Interests
 Rescue of the Chilean miners, October 13, 2010. (Xinhua) |
On August 5, Chileans received the horrific news that 33 miners were trapped 700 metres below the surface under tons of rock when a cave-in took place at the San José gold and copper mine. Seventeen days later, due in large part to their persistence, experience and strength, contact was made with the trapped miners. The government quickly used the happiness of the Chilean people at this good news and the euphoria at their eventual rescue on October 5 to cover up the real cause of the accident.
Various lessons can be learned from this near-tragedy. One lesson is that the working class is itself the embodiment of solidarity. Held together by bonds of loyalty and honour these workers were capable of overcoming the greatest obstacles without the help of owners who scurried away like rats when they learned of the mine's collapse. In the midst of adversity, the working class is able to find its bearings and collectively confront the difficulties that nature imposes. The trapped miners organized themselves and took responsibility for each other and facilitated their own survival despite the lack of resources and temperatures averaging more than 30 degrees Celsius. Another lesson is that it is clear that the main concern of the owners of this mine continues to be profiteering, without any hesitation to exploit the workers and trample their rights.
The San Estevan Mining Company is the owner of the medium-sized San José mine. It is a very old copper and gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert, the most arid desert in the world. This company has been in business for more than half a century and has amassed a large fortune.
For many years this mine has been denounced as unsafe. Between 2000 and 2004, workers made more than a dozen claims to various governmental authorities in the country. The majority of these public bodies did not act to protect the workers. Instead, they protected the interests of capital. There have been three fatal accidents in the last four years and two accidents which resulted in the injured workers having limbs amputated. The cave-in of August 5 was of such magnitude that it practically destroyed the galleries and the access ducts of the mine.
According to different specialists, this mine should never have been reopened in May 2008 (it was closed in 2007 due to a fatality). However, the mining company was able to continue its operation because of the legal and political authorities' disregard for people's lives. It has also now come to light that in order to increase their profits, the owners acted in a criminal and irresponsible manner. For example, despite the mine having unstable rock, they reduced the number of support beams. This included ordering the removal of beams that were in the way of mining machinery. Following the cave-in, the miners immediately tried to escape up the ladders in the ventilation shaft which was supposed to be the emergency exit. They discovered there were ladders only in part of the shaft, preventing their escape. Later, the entire shaft collapsed and there was no hope of using it. Without a doubt, if the mining company had ensured this emergency exit was in good condition, the miners would all have escaped within a few hours.
Why did these workers with so much experience work in this dangerous mine? Because for most there is only precarious employment. People are frequently forced to work in situations where fundamental rights are trampled and where the constitutional right to an eight hour workday is overlooked. Thousands of workers risk such dangerous conditions for lack of an alternative.
This cave-in was not an unforeseen and singular occurence; it is one of many that occur daily in the country. There are so-called accidents in almost all sectors of the economy and workers die because of the unscrupulous practices of owners trying to save money at the expense of the workers' health and safety. As a result of the deregulation of labour legislation, more workers are getting hurt in the construction, transportation, manufacturing and service sectors. This started under Pinochet's dictatorship and has increased under the post-Pinochet governments that have facilitated foreign investment and failed to establish any norms to protect workers.
Mining occupies the most important place in Chile's economy. Copper production was nationalized on July 11, 1971 under the government of Salvador Allende. At that time, all of the mines, which included some of the largest in the world, yielded more than 45 per cent of the gross national product. During the dictatorship, the process of privatization was started and today more than 74 per cent of copper extraction is in private hands, with generous conditions offered to foreign investors. Facilitating exploitive foreign investment has been the policy of all the post-dictatorship governments.
In the euphoria following the rescue of all the trapped miners, the message being put forward by the right-wing government of Chilean President José Piñera is for purposes of creating a false impression about its humanitarianism and contributions to national unity. Nothing is said of the criminal responsibility of the owners, who have declared themselves bankrupt. Who should assume responsibility for the well-being and livelihood of all the workers and their families who have now been two months without pay? Apart from the 33 miners, nothing is said about the fact that there are hundreds of others awaiting solutions and remuneration. Neither is anything said about the accidents which other Chilean miners have suffered as a result of these shameless policies that serve the private enterprises which profit from the most brutal exploitation.
Now the disinformation campaign begins in order to hide the true causes of this accident that once more has the workers and the companies as antagonists: the workers on the one hand suffering the rigours of a system founded on private property and the most extreme exploitation, and the companies becoming enriched at the expense of the workers and perpetuating a political system that benefits a small group of exploiters.
Today, more than ever the Chilean workers have to be vigilant. Under the smokescreen of new laws with the purported objective of increasing labour safety, the government persists in privatization and deregulating labour relations, always favouring private investment, both national and foreign, as an attack on the workers.
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