Impotent Response of the Office of the Civilian Review and Complaints Division of the RCMP
A press conference in Vancouver on February 20 by
the BC Civil Liberties Association, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and
the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs released and discussed the response
from Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson of the Office of the Civilian
Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the RCMP to their written
request for an investigation into what the organizations believe are
unlawful RCMP actions on Wet'suwet'en Territory.
The press conference was addressed by seven people
representing the organizations that have raised the issue: Harsha
Walia, Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association; Grand
Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs;
Molly Wickham Sleydo', Wet'suwet'en Gidimt'en Clan Spokesperson; Delee
Alexis Nikal, Wet'suwet'en Gidemt'en Clan, one of the complainants to
the CRCC; Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond Akikwe, Director of the University
of British Columbia's (UBC) Indian Residential School History and
Dialogue Centre and Professor at UBC's Allard School of Law; David
Suzuki, Cofounder of the David Suzuki Foundation; and Ta'Kaiya Blaney
of Indigenous Youth for Wet'suwet'en.
CRCC Chairperson Lahaie's nine-page letter was
summarized by Harsha Walia. She reported that the chairperson has
decided not to initiate a public interest investigation at this
time, because similar concerns have already been raised with
the RCMP about a 2013 case that is similar to what is happening on the
Wet'suwet'en territory. Walia reported that the Chairperson provided a
summary of the findings and recommendations on a range of issues
regarding enforcement of injunctions, use of arrest powers, the role of
RCMP in policing Indigenous land defenders, access restrictions,
exclusion zones and stop checks that are contained in an interim, not
yet public, report regarding the RCMP's response to anti-shale gas land
defenders in Kent County, New Brunswick in 2013. This interim
report, which includes 37 findings, has not been made public by the
CRCC and is waiting for a response from the RCMP Commissioner, who has
had the report since March 2019.
Among the CRCC's findings in the New
Brunswick case are that there was no legal authority to require
passengers to produce identification at stop checks, that the RCMP has
no legal authority to conduct stop checks for the purposes of
information gathering, that the concern for public safety that is
stated is related to unconfirmed information that is not sufficient to
justify an RCMP roadblock, that routine searches of vehicles and
individuals conducted by RCMP were not authorized by law, and that a
"buffer zone" or "exclusion zones" are only justifiable in specific
limited circumstances and with the least interference to individual
liberties. The CRCC found that certain arrests were made based on
misinterpretations of the conditions of the injunction and that RCMP
officers must have detailed and accurate interpretations of
injunctions.
Walia, in concluding her remarks raised the
concern that "what is incredibly disturbing about this letter from the
Chairperson is that again the RCMP has been aware of these very same
issues since March 2019." The events in New Brunswick happened in 2013,
so for seven years the people in New Brunswick who filed the complaints
have had no response and still do not have access to the report because
it is not yet public. The letter can be found here.
The entire press conference can be seen here.
The speakers addressed the issues involved in
relations between police and First Nations, historically and today in
the case of the Wet'suwet'en, and called upon the federal and
provincial leaders to end the police occupation and negotiate with the
Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip paid tribute to the
Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and matriarchs and to the Indigenous
youth across Turtle Island for standing in solidarity with the
Wet'suwet'en who have "forcefully spoken out against the paramilitary
tactics of the RCMP, the occupation forces that are taking place in
Wet'suwet'en territory, and the shameful and disgusting fact that the
RCMP actions are very mercenary in nature, acting on behalf of Coastal
GasLink as opposed to protecting the broad interests of all parties
involved in these very very volatile issues."
He said, "We are at a crossroads in this country
in regard to what this all represents and we need to move out of the
colonial, neo-colonial shadow of the notion of exploiting the land and
commodifying the land as opposed to caretaking and stewardship of this
beautiful place that we describe as Canada and British Columbia. We
need to understand that the UN Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples] is of utmost importance for what it represents, to bring
forward Indigenous law and Indigenous legal institutions to stand
alongside the other systems of law that exist in this country. It is
not a case of colonial law superseding Indigenous law or Indigenous
institutions. Indigenous law is enshrined in our Indigenous languages,
enshrined in our culture and traditions. It's taught to our children at
the very youngest age and that is our responsibilities to Mother Earth,
to the land and the waters, and Indigenous people are simply carrying
out our own laws and our own traditions as we are taught by our
knowledge keepers. And to have those activities criminalized by
governments and by the RCMP and suffer the brutal repression that we
have witnessed time and time again in this country is absolutely
unacceptable." Phillip concluded, "We call on the governments, and I
agree with Jody Wilson-Raybould where she suggested that Prime Minister
Trudeau hop on a plane, pick up Premier Horgan and go to Smithers and
meet with the hereditary leaders. This is going to be very protracted
volatile intense days ahead."
In their remarks and in response to questions from
the
press, speakers stressed two things. One is the necessity to put an end
to the unlawful activities of the RCMP. The second is the removal of
RCMP and Coastal GasLink from Wet'suwet'en territory as the necessary
condition for Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Horgan to respectfully
meet with their counterparts, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders, in
order to arrive at a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on
respecting Indigenous rights.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 5 - February 22, 2020
Article Link:
Impotent Response of the Office of the Civilian Review and Complaints Division of the RCMP
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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