Affirm Indigenous People’s Hereditary and Treaty Rights

Dartmouth Rally Against Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Racist and Inhumane Treatment of Mi’kmaq Fishers

Tuesday, April 2 — 9:00 am
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Regional Office,
1 Challenger Dr.
Bring drums, wear your ribbon skirts/shirts;
some will be without shoes to illustrate
DFO’s inhumane actions.

On March 27, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) targeted Mi’kmaq fishers with racist and inhumane treatment. A press release from Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn (Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative) the following day stated that the harvesters’ gear and clothing were seized and DFO’s Conservation and Protection Officers (C&P) left them without footwear or phones, hours away from home.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) condemns this egregious assault on the fishers. Not only is it part of ongoing attempts by the Canadian state to deprive the Indigenous Peoples of their hereditary and treaty rights to make a living but the methods used by DFO officers are designed to humiliate and harm the fishers in the most inhumane way. The DFO should be made to account for themselves and penalized for their treatment of the Mi’kmaq fishers.

The Friendship Treaty that the Crown signed with the Mi’kmaq in 1752 states that they “have a right not to be hindered from and have free liberty to hunt and fish as usual, and to sell the skins, feathers, fowl or fish or any other goods.”

“The way these individuals were treated was absolutely unacceptable and inhumane,” said Chief Wilbert Marshall, Co-Lead of Fisheries for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs. “DFO understands our people’s distrust with their department and these appalling interactions between DFO and our harvesters will not be allowed to continue. This is not an isolated incident and shows how the systemic racism within DFO and the federal government must be addressed.”

“Under no circumstances should a government representative endanger the lives of the people they serve. The Assembly is demanding that the officers involved in this incident be immediately terminated from their positions,” the press release adds.

“Canada speaks of reconciliation and then employs people who treat our people like this,” continued Chief Marshall. “The job of C&P is to maintain safety and order. These actions did not have anyone’s safety in mind.”

The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs is trying to deal with the matter on the political level as quickly as information becomes available. The Chiefs encourage community members who are harassed or impacted in similar ways to always make those incidents public.

“Keeping quiet on these situations only leads to officers like this feeling like they can get away with their actions. We need to put a spotlight on these disgusting behaviours, so they stop,” said Chief Marshall.

The Assembly is also calling for an emergency meeting with the Minister of DFO to address these actions and to express their frustrations with how her staff is behaving.

CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians and Quebeckers to stand with the Mi’kmaq in the fight to affirm their rights, including their treaty right to fish. These actions of the DFO bring to mind the racist “starlight tours” carried out by police against Indigenous people for decades. After being picked up by police, people were driven to the outskirts of town and abandoned without shoes or winter clothing, with several freezing to death as a result. It must not pass!