Quesnel Cariboo Observer publishes pro Idle No More letter

February 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

[Editor's Note: the following letter was sent to the Quesnel Cariboo Observer  on Feb. 2, 2013 and appeared in full in the Wed. Feb. 6th edition on P. A9 "Feedback".]

_____________________

Letters to Editor
Autumn Macdonald <editor@quesnelobserver.com>
Quesnel Cariboo Observer
188 Carson Ave,
Quesnel, B.C.
V2J 2A8

February 2, 2013

Arthur Topham
Editor <radical@radicalpress.com>
4633 Barkerville Highway
Quesnel, B.C.
V2J 6T8

Dear Editor,

Re: Ignore, Idle No More, Observer, Jan. 30, 2013

Wright is wrong on all the claimed assumptions and prejudices contained in his criticism of the Idle No More movement.

His advice to MP Dick Harris to ignore the issues brought forth by the movement is short sighted and based upon ignorance of both the Harper government’s intent regarding their recent Omnibus bill (designed to destroy Canadian sovereignty over our resources) and the history of land claims in the province of B.C.

Wright is also dead wrong in attempting to portray the INM movement as a strictly partisan effort on the part of Canada’s grassroots First Nations as his assessment clearly overlooks too many historic facts surrounding the reasons why Idle No More has finally and suddenly burst forth and has been taken up by nations around the world.

In many ways INM has become a touchstone and symbol of the ongoing repression and exploitation of indigenous peoples everywhere whose lands and rights have been ignored, abused, exploited and illegally extinquished without any due process of law, all the while being tacitly approved of and covered up by a vested corporate media complicit throughout the whole unjust process.

For thousands of years the First Nations people of B.C. subsisted in a land of plenty. Matthew Baillie Begbie, the first Chief Justice of the United Colony of British Columbia and the Province alluding to this matter once stated, “All Indians in B.C. are entirely self-supported and self-supporting.”

When the European settlers arrived here the First Nations economy was boundless and booming. There were no government “hand outs”; nonspecified federal budget percentages allotted to First Nations, no government created “band councils” and definitely no “620 something reserves in this land” as Wright rightly remarks.

Truth be known there was only one reserve when James Douglas established a settlement at Fort Victoria for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843 and that reserve was a territory vaster than the combined land mass of California, Oregon and Washington and known today as British Columbia.

The First Nations, being the actual civilized people of the day, and also believing that there was more than enough land and resources for everyone to share in, were respectful and generous enough to welcome the white settlers to establish their settlements within their inherent territory. Today of course, looking back, we can see the results of their misplaced faith and good will in the colonialists of their day.

Rather than touting the corporate agenda of the “red apple” Chief Louie who, like Wright and countless others, is in denial of the facts surrounding First Nations land claims, honest people earnestly seeking the facts would be well advised to listen to the words of Chief Arthur Manuel of the Sushwap nation who, in a recent talk on the Idle No More movement spoke about the obvious discrepancies that exist due to the lack of good faith in any government, be it provincial or federal, in resolving the vital land question issue. (Chief Manuel’s talk is on Youtube and can be googled)

Chief Manuel tells us that in the beginning prior to the arrival of the white settlers the native people possessed 100% of the land base. Then, after the colonial governments, both provincial and federal, illegally forced the First Nations onto minute portions of the land base they ended up with 0.36% of the land and the settlers with 99.64%. To go from 100% ownership to less than 1% was the colonial governments’ way of dealing with land claims which first began in 1866.

Bearing in mind what the First Nations unwittingly and unwillingly gave up to the colonialists and considering the fact that the federal goverment was responsible for the creation of the “band council” system that so many non-natives are now accusing of financial mismanagement, I find it difficult to sympathize in any way with Wright’s misguided assertions about how “his money” is being spent on First Nations.

We must never forget that the bulk of the 99.64% of First Nations territory has never been conquered by war or ceded to any subsequent government be it provincial or federal. A such, by natural law, it still belongs to the First Nations and until that fundamental problem is resolved in an amicable and just manner all other suppositions surrounding fiduciary costs to taxpayers is pointless and unproductive when discussing either land claims or fiscal mismanagement of taxpayer monies.

In conjunction with all this is the grim reality that these federally created bands in B.C. are now in debt to the banking cartel to the tune of 500 million dollars thanks to these prolonged and ongoing land claims negotiations that have been dragging on for the past 147 years.

Wright’s family may have been here for the past 225 years but relative to the past 10,000 years of uninterrupted occupancy by First Nations it pales into insignificance and serves no useful purpose in any serious discussion of First Nations land claims or the Idle No More movement.

Maybe, instead of subtle bashing of the First Nations, a little extrapolation is in order here so that those who feel so hard done by via their tax dollars can visualize the problem better. Imagine if we, the settlers, were to exchange places with the First Nations and all the newcomers to this land went to live on that 0.36% of reserve land and all the original inhabitants relocated to their former holdings. How well would Mr. Wright and the rest of the settlers fare in terms of economic survival? Would that 0.36 % provide for all their wants and needs?

The Mayan calendar has ended and a new beginning is upon us. I suggest to all the Wrights of the world that the Idle No More movement is just the start of an initiation process that will see both Indigenous First Nations and people of all races from around the world coming together and working to advance a way of stewardship and ownership and respect for our common Earth Mother that will allow us all to live in peace and harmony and plenty.

Arthur and Shastah Topham
Cottonwood, B.C.

Filed Under: Chief Arthur Manuel, Chief Louie, Editor's Zone, First Nations, First Nations Issues in Canada, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fort Victoria, Hudson's Bay Company, Idle No More Movement, James Douglas, Matthew Baillie Begbie, Mayan Calendar, Quesnel Cariboo Observer

Canada’s Controlled News Media and the Vilification of the Idle No More movement by Arthur Topham

January 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Canada’s Controlled News Media and the Vilification of the Idle No More movement

by

Arthur Topham

January 28, 2013

For those writers, publishers and artists working in the alternative news media in Canada it comes as no surprise that the mainstream media (msm) would eventually begin attacking the grassroots movement known as Idle No More. It was a foregone conclusion.

For decades past this same media has been attacking any and all individuals and movements who dared to espouse or act upon views be they on the ground, in publications or on the Internet. Examples abound but in the case of First Nations and the current Idle No More movement two prime illustrations of this predictable reaction on the part of the msm are the Oka Crisis of 1990 in Quebec and in BC the Gustafsen Lake stand off in 1995. As well are numerous other examples of environmentalists and natives battling with multinational forest and mining companies over clear-cutting and protection of habitat be it air, water or otherwise. In all of these instances it has always been the case that when push came to shove the government of the day could always count on their number one ally, the mainstream media, to come to their defence with their usual phalanx of sycophantic journalist shills and pundits (talking heads) leading the charge all in the name of a prevalent mindset that had already been instilled in the minds of the average Canadian by their very own news media. In term of attitude the msm always presumes that its interpretation of events is the only gospel in town.

I ought to know. Having been on the receiving end of their media smear campaigns for the past fifteen years for publishing articles and opinions related to crimes against First Nations and for having committed the unpardonable sin of criticizing the Zionist Jewish state of Israel for its racist ideology and its supremacist, apartheid terrorist attacks upon the indigenous Arab people of Palestine I’ve been dragged through the Canadian court systems, both quasi and Crown, again and again in a vain effort to silence their planned agenda of global governance and the destruction of all democratically elected nation states.

Most recent of course (in my case), was my May, 2012 arrest and imprisonment while on my way to work where I was charged by the RCMP’s “B.C. HATE CRIME TEAM” for willful promotion of hatred against “people of the Jewish religion or ethnic group.” Using Canada’s sec. 319(2) of the criminal code these same Zionists, hiding within their lobby front groups like B’nai Brith Canada, are now testing out the waters of Canada’s criminal court system to see whether or not it will serve them in their personal vendetta to relentlessly censor free expression on the Internet and thus allow their own mega-corporate media monopoly free rein to vilify whomever they so choose with impunity. Yesterday it was me. Today it’s Canada’s First Nations. New day, same old horse feathers as the saying goes.

Even the msm’s foot soldiers are the same. After six months of being relieved of all of my computers, firearms and my fundamental right to post my writings on the Internet or operate my website, a formal indictment was finally handed down by the assistant deputy minister for BC’s Attorney General on November 5, 2012. When I made my first appearance in court in Quesnel, B.C. on the 8th the Zionist run msm was Johnny on the spot with their smear and fear campaign vilifying my name, my website and my motives for printing the truth about Israel across the country’s news media, both print and television. No sooner was I out of the courtroom than Ezra Levant was beaking off on the Sun News media’s “The Source” with his belittling epithets and lies accusing me of endless misdeeds all of course in the interests of freedom of speech. Finally, unable to restrain himself (again, in the interests of free expression) he blurted out to the world “I HATE ARTHUR TOPHAM!”

Years of litigation and battling with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and its attendant Canadian Human Rights Tribunal over the issue of freedom of speech on the Internet has only reinforced the fact that Canada’s so-called mainstream media is in truth a cold-blooded, lying, mendacious mechanism of mind control whose sole purpose is to keep the vast sea of Canadian viewers and listeners misinformed and prejudiced against any individual or any group who might at some point attempt to assert their sovereignty, be it over their basic human rights or, as in the case of First Nations, their legally instituted treaty rights, signed, sealed and delivered to them by the federal government of Canada.

Now that First Nations across Canada have finally been backed up against a brick wall of prejudice, deception and endless legal wrangling in the federal courts over their treaty rights (for what appears to be the last time), who but the Custer-style msm mercenaries should come riding to the rescue to reinforce the Harper government’s sleazy, disingenuous political agenda, one that would see their fundamental, inherent human and treaty rights cast aside in favour of a corporate, free-for-all land and resource grab. After all, to allow such open and honest refusal to this “business as usual” approach to First Nations issues by the people thus affected to go beyond their acceptable norm not only poses a direct threat to the Harper government as a tool of the corporate elite but also to their own decades long complicity in colluding with each and every former federal party that has prolonged and perpetuated any final resolution to the age-old treaty problem.

Too many Canadians today still suffer under the misconception that the msm is somehow an independent, unbiased, and as SunNews media would have you believe, a “free enterprise” communications corporation that presents only the facts and both sides of any issue of importance. This sort of myth-information being passed on to Canadians via the msm’s radio, tv and newsprint media is as far from the actual truth as First Nations treaty rights are from being resolved.

Sun News network, with their flagship “CanadianTvFirst.ca” which they are currently pushing like hell to get implanted into every living room across the nation so they can continue to misinform and brainwash Canadians into believing all the Zionist propaganda that comes to them straight from Israel and the Mossad is a prime example of how deliberately deceptive Canada’s msm truly is. More to the point would be the spoof ads below adapted from their own propaganda site which would show their honest agenda if they were in the least truthful to their viewers and listeners.

Fortunately those within the movement were quick to twig on this media approach and are already going on the counter attack. The must. They literally have no choice left if change is come in a peaceful, meaningful way. Like all the other underhanded, surreptitious, slight-of-hand gestures and broken promises that the Harper Conservatives have been meting out to First Nations the time has come when these fabrications and falsehoods need to be exposed and those who are perpetrating them via their media cartel need to be call to task for their glaring, prejudicial approach to resolving First Nations issues.

With the likes of all the Ezra Levants and the National Post and the Sun News media and the CBC talking heads coupled with Zionist lobbyists like B’nai Brith Canada spearheading the “hate crime legislation” that penalizes open and honest debate it doesn’t take too much head scratching to realize that the issue of the controlled mainstream media along with its pro-Harper propaganda campaign of hate against First Nations is one that is bound to grow bigger and longer and hairier legs as the days go by.

What the alternative news media has been attempting to alert mainstream Canadians to for decades has now suddenly, with the advent of the Idle No More movement, been given an incredible boost. Let’s hope that we can all learn to work together for the betterment of the nation as a whole and for our common right to speak our our minds and defend our common ground, common air and water and our common principles, values and rights that will allow us all to live in peace and harmony with each other and the Earth Mother.

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Filed Under: Abrams/B'nai Brith Canada v. Arthur Topham and RadicalP, Alternative Media, anti-Semitism, Anti-terrorism Act, Anti-Zionist Canada, B'nai Brith Canada, BC HATE CRIME TEAM, Bill C-38, Bill C-45, C.B.C./Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Conservative Party of Canada, Delgamuukw decision 1997, Det-Cst Terry Wilson BC HATE CRIME TEAM, Editor's Zone, Ezra Levant, First Nations, First Nations Issues in Canada, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake/Teztan Biny, Free Speech on the Internet, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Protest, Gaza, Gaza Flotilla Massacre, Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en people, Gustafsen Lake Standoff, Harper Omnibus Bill, Idle No More Movement, Indigenous Nations, Internet Freedom, Jewish Lobby Groups, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Mainstream News Media (msm), Mohawk Nation, Mohawk Nation News, National Post, National(Zionist)Post, Native Land Claims, Oka Crisis, Palestine, PM Stephen Harper, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, Radical Press, RadicalPress.com, RCMP Corruption, Section 13 of CHRA, Section 319(2) CC, Sun Media Corp, Sun News Network, SunTVNews Network

Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear the “William case” for title over traditional Tsilhqot’in territory

January 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court of Canada has just agreed to hear the “William case” for title over traditional Tsilhqot’in territory. 

In the original “William case” for rights and title in 2007, Judge Vickers ruled that the Tsilhqot’in people had proven rights to the territory claimed in court and also a right to claim title to a large part of that land, including the Nemiah Valley; citing a technicality, he stopped short of granting title.  This ruling was appealed by both levels of government  and plaintiff, Roger William (i.e. Roger William, on his own behalf and on behalf of all other members of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government and on behalf of all other members of the Tsilhqot’in Nation).  After hearing this case, in 2012 the B.C. Appeal Court upheld the rights judgement of 2007 to hunt, trap and trade in their traditional territory but said that title could be claimed only to areas that were specifically occupied or used “intensively” and not to the broad lands between those areas that, to a “semi-nomadic” people, are integral to those very hunting, trapping and gathering rights. This is the “postage stamp” approach to aboriginal title that the William case opposes.

“For us, the Court of Appeal denied the legitimacy of our laws, our ways of life, who we are as Tsilhqot’in people,” said Chief Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chair and Chief of Tl’etinqox-t’in community, “We’re grateful to have the opportunity to present to the Supreme Court of Canada a different path to reconciliation. And we are honoured to stand with the support of First Nations across British Columbia and Canada.  Together, our voices will be heard at last”.

This is likely the most important aboriginal land claims case since the Delgamuukw decision in 1997.  That decision recognized that such a thing as aboriginal title existed and continues to exist in theory but did not declare that the  Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en peoples had title to their claimed territory in that case. In the intervening 18 years there has been no recognition of what First Nations have been asserting all along, the recognition of aboriginal title on the ground.

“We never gave up our rights or title and further proved our Aboriginal rights and stopped forestry in that critical part of our homeland.  That is something to celebrate,” said Marilyn Baptiste, Chief of Xeni Gwet’in.  “But this is not complete for our people. At the Supreme Court, we will continue to tackle the most important issue for us and for ALL First Nations – our Aboriginal title to the land”.

The importance of the William case cannot be overestimated as it raises one of the most central issues of indigenous rights  that exist in Canada:  what land rights do First Nations hold today over the lands they controlled before the Crown asserted sovereignty? The way this question is answered will determine the place of First Nations in Canadian society, the extent to which they will control their own future and the shape of Crown-First Nations relations for decades to come.

“We are truly grateful for the many Tsilhqot’in Elders that showed the courage to share their knowledge at trial, in our Tsilhqot’in language,” said Councillor Roger William, the plaintiff in the case, “Many of them are no longer with us today. They would be proud and honoured to know that their case will be heard by the highest court in Canada.”

It is expected that this case could take a year to get to trial.

It is important to note that the proven rights area found by Justice Vickers and upheld by the BC Appeal Court, includes the right to hunt, trap and trade right where the “New Prosperity” mine is proposed.  There should be no further disenfranchisement of native land while this is before the courts.

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For further information on this and other stories related to the Tsilhqot’in people:

Phone: 250.592.1088

www.fonv.ca

Pat Swift, Director

info@fonv.ca

 

 

Filed Under: Chief Joe Alphonse, Chief Marilyn Baptiste, Chief of Tl’etinqox-t’in community, Chilko Lake, Delgamuukw decision 1997, Editor's Zone, First Nations, First Nations Issues in Canada, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake -Chilcotin Territory, Fish Lake/Teztan Biny, Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en people, Justice Vickers, Prosperity Gold project, Roger William, Taseko Mines Ltd, Taseko Mining Company, Tsilhqot'in Nation, Tsilhqot'in Territory, Tsilhqot’in people, Xeni Gwet'in First Nations Government

WHY ARE VIRTUALLY ALL MAINSTREAM MEDIA IGNORING OUR INDIANS? by Merv Ritchie

January 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

IdleNoMoregraphic

 

WHY ARE VIRTUALLY ALL MAINSTREAM MEDIA IGNORING OUR INDIANS?

by Merv Ritchie

www.terracedaily.ca

The Cree, the Mohawk, the Apache and the Iroquois have nothing to do with the descendents of Demalahamid, Temlaham. Nor does; the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), the AFN (Assembly of First Nations), the Idle No More Movement or Attawapiskat Chief, Teresa Spence.

None represent the Tsimshian, the Gitxsan, the Haisla or the Tahltan. It would be difficult to find anyone in Ottawa, Indian or otherwise, speaking for any of the Nations of Northwest BC, the Sacred Circle.

Indians living elsewhere in Canada, or anywhere else in BC outside of the Northwest, have virtually nothing in common with Damelahamid.

The Northwest Coast was, and is, an identity all to itself. The first explorers and traders, followed by the missionaries, all described these people as having a unique, but similar ‘Tsimshian’ language. This unifying tongue is still spoken and taught today.

The general population, except for those living directly in Northwest BC, reference the totem culture only with the Haida Indian and Haida Gwaii; the islands most still call the Queen Charlottes. They think Emily Carr and the group of seven! Almost none know of the peoples residing on the land west of the Omineca Mountain range through to the Pacific Ocean; the people of Damelahamid.

Most do not even know where the Nisga’a territory is yet there has been a signed modern day treaty for twelve years.

The area is so remote if you were to ask residents of B.C. about a lava bed from a volcano anywhere nearby, 99 percent would laugh and excuse this as a ridiculousness notion. This stands true even for some living within 100 miles of the Nisga’a Lava Memorial fields.

As this location is a full eight hour drive west-northwest of Prince George, remote is almost an understatement. The highway into the territory is named the Highway of Tears after the numerous accounts of missing and murdered women from the Nations of Damelahamid along this often deserted stretch of road. To add to the tragedy for these people it was primarily the women of the Sacred Circle who were taken off the streets of Vancouver by Willie Pickton to be murdered on his Pig Farm, Piggies Palace.

It is difficult to unite in common purpose as the wounds are still raw, the emotions still at the surface.

Less than a generation has passed since some lived without roads or electricity. Yes, even in BC, Canada, not 30 years ago some tribes had no direct link or contact routes. It was only 150 years ago when this region was even entered to explore.

Maybe this is why the Tsimshian, Haisla, Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, Tlingit, Haida, Tahltan and Nisga’a are ignored; as long as no one knows this special place exists their territories can still be quietly stolen.

It is specifically about these peoples lands the Canadian Government passed its recent legislation, Bills C38 and C45. They did this to justify their continued assault which began with the deliberate genocide of these peoples by germ warfare.

READ THE UNCHALLENGED DETAILS HERE and read an extensive historical record HERE.

The Canadian government wishes to conduct a final genocide on these people for the Mining and Petroleum industries.

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While the Cree, Mohawk, Sioux, Apache, Iroquois, with the AFN, the UBCIC and others achieve media prominence, the Sacred Circle genocide and social dysfunction continues.

Still today these people are relegated to the shadows, their tragedies ignored. While Indians across Canada stand up and demand recognition for the harm done over the course of the last 300 to 400 years, the harm in the Sacred Circle is so fresh it remains difficult for the surviving elders to speak of it. Those who had their children abducted, their villages burned, their daughters raped and murdered, are still alive living with the pain right now.

It remains an ongoing tragedy which the efforts of the Idle No More movement east of the Ominica Mountain Range does not come close to addressing. The genocide continues today. These are not; Cree, Sioux, Apache or Iroquois. They are the people of Demalahamid, Temlaham. They are the; Nisga’a, Tahltan, Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, Haisla, Haida, Tlingit and the Tsimshian. The once most respected and admired traders in the Pacific Northwest. A unique totem culture based strictly on a Matriarchal, Matrilineal hierarchy with government structures based on feasting and decency. Something the British and Canadian governments abhorred and continue to destroy today.

The only reference to address the source of the women in the recently released Government report on the missing and murdered women from the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, was encouraging a transit bus system along the highway of tears. These women were the potential authority, the matriarchs. A bus? The government offers these women who had their children ripped from their arms, their communities burned, their ancestors graves disturbed, a bus?

The systemic tragedy continues as the government leaders continue to claim there is no money, even for the bus. It seems alright, still today, to not only rape pillage and plunder the land and resources, but also the people.

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Filed Under: Apache Nation, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Bill C-38, Bill C-45, Blackfoot Nation, Chief Theresa Spence, Conservative Party of Canada, Cree Nation, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake -Chilcotin Territory, Fish Lake/Teztan Biny, Friends of Nemaiah Valley, Haida Gwaii, Haisla Nation, Highway of Tears, Hopi Nation, Idle No More, Idle No More Movement, Indigenous Nations, Iroquois Nation, Justice for Aboriginal Peoples, Lakota Nation, Merv Ritchie, Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, Missing Women Task Force, Mohawk Nation, Nisga'a Nation, Palestine, Picton Pig Farm, Political Zionism, Tahltan Nation, TerraceDaily.ca, the Sacred Circle, Tsilhqot'in People of Xeni, Tsimshian Nation, Turtle Island, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Wet'suwet'en Nation

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip speaking at Idle No More Rally in Penticton, B.C. Dec. 22, 2012

January 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Dear Reader,

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip presents one of the best overviews of what the Idle No More movement is all about in his address to the people of Penticton, B.C. on December 22, 2012. This video needs to be spread across the nation and the world so that all nations will see and understand what this new phenomenon is truly all about.

Please pass it on to everyone you know whether on Facebook or the many alternative blogs that are waiting to send this earth changing message to others around the globe. The time to act is now.

Peace and Justice for all!

Arthur Topham

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rj2v6Zsa2k

GrandChiefStewartPhillip1

 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS POWERFUL PRESENTATION OF THE IDLE NO MORE MOVEMENT

Filed Under: Chief Marilyn Baptiste, Chief Theresa Spence, First Nations, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake -Chilcotin Territory, Fish Lake/Teztan Biny, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Hopi Prophecies, Idle No More, Idle No More Movement, Union of BC Indian Chiefs

The Power of Idle No More’s Resurgent Radicalism by Murray Dobbin

January 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The Power of Idle No More’s Resurgent Radicalism

Fifty years of federal money defusing revolt looks to be over.

By Murray Dobbin, Today, TheTyee.ca

DobbinINM

The remarkable Idle No More movement is the biggest and most important national outpouring of grassroots aboriginal anger ever seen in Canada. Not since the late 1960s when Indians (as they then referred to themselves) and Métis confronted governments with demands for justice has such a dramatic and passionate expression of resistance been seen. As the movement continues to grow we can only speculate on what its longer term outcome will be. Many movements begin with such spontaneous explosions of pent up anger and frustration. The successful ones find their feet quickly and are able, through collective leadership, to focus their energy and passion on a unifying vision and on some organizational form to press for its realization. Idle No More will be no different.

It is up against formidable odds: not just the normal difficulties of any new movement but a ruthless Harper government which responds only to power and an entrenched aboriginal leadership which is completely dependent on that same government. It is a leadership which long ago made a deal with the neo-colonial devil: you pay us and we will pretend to lead while you pretend to listen. It has been that way for over 30 years and those entrenched leaders in the national organizations — and many at the band level — will do everything in their power to sustain the status quo, notwithstanding all their radical rhetoric of the past 10 days.

In the late 1960s social movements of all kinds were at their peak — students, labour, anti-poverty, women, farmers, anti-war and “native” groups were organizing and demanding recognition from provincial and federal governments. A common message was that Canada did not have a genuine democracy because so many people had no voice in government. They also had in common a level of independence long forgotten — they raised their own money from their members and got virtually nothing from governments. But because of that they struggled to be effective voices for their causes (the exception being labour which did not lack for resources).

The government of Pierre Trudeau responded to the accusations of a flawed democracy with the Ministry of Secretary of State. I once interviewed Gerard Pelletier, the department’s long time head, and he said, and I paraphrase: “The Marxists said liberal democracy was a sham so we provided funding for marginalized groups so their voices could be heard.”

Managing the radicals

I think Pelletier was genuine in his motivation. But there were other elements of the state not so sanguine about handing radicals a bunch of money to be more effective. And for aboriginal groups there was a special, racially-based fear, rooted in past conflicts on the prairies. Here the money was to be used to deflect aboriginal radicalism and channel the movements into relatively harmless activities.

That wasn’t so difficult to do. The funding was targeted. With limited core funding there was money for salaries for the elected board members of Métis and Indian organizations but, for example, no money for the political education of their members or money to mobilize them. Then governments began to hand over housing money to groups to administer — effectively making them part of the state structure and setting them up to take the flak when things went sideways. The radicalism disappeared (though the rhetoric did not) in a few short years.

There were voices counseling rejection of any government largesse. One of those voices was Malcolm Norris (the subject of a book I wrote in 1981: The One-and-a-Half Men: The Story of Jim Brady and Malcolm Norris, Métis Patriots of the Twentieth Century.  Just days before he died in 1967, Norris was approached by an Alberta Métis leader seeking his advice on numerous issues. Norris told her: “I don’t want to talk about that. The only advice I have is to resist government funding. If you can do that all other issues will sort themselves out democratically.” It was prophetic advice from an exceptionally gifted and sophisticated leader. But the temptation was too great. The money began to flow in the early 1970s.

Reframing native issues

While all other social movement groups were under the purview of the Secretary of State, Treaty Indians were the responsibility of Indian Affairs. In the late 1970s their organizations were pressing the government on economic and social issues. They ran up against a Trudeau government which was preoccupied with constitutional questions. Increasingly, they were told to frame their demands in constitutional terms if they wanted to be heard. It was in taking this advice that First Peoples gradually became First Nations.

That decision, taken over a period of years, had several effects. The first was to effectively eliminate the need for a real social movement with politically active members, taking their fight directly to the government. Once the struggle was constitutionalized it became exclusively a matter of government lawyers sitting down with First Nations lawyers (paid for, of course, by the government). That 30-year process produced just what successive federal governments hoped it would: a largely quiescent (idle?) aboriginal population still marginalized and impoverished. The cost of funding aboriginal political organizations was a pittance compared to that of actually delivering social and economic justice to hundreds of thousands of aboriginal Canadian citizens.

The other effect was to separate the aboriginal struggle from that of other social movements. In the early days of the movements (at least in Saskatchewan) there was some co-operation and ongoing conversation between labour, youth and aboriginal leaders. But once Treaty Indians defined themselves as nations the potential for working with — and perhaps benefiting from — non-native groups gradually dried up. If you are your own nation, joining with people of a separate nation (especially one which you define as an oppressor) doesn’t make much sense.

Of course, in this case, the nations in First Nations were totally dependent on the nation they were negotiating with. While the government has constitutional obligations towards First Nations there is nothing in law that says they have to fund their organizations. That fact is never lost on AFN leaders and may well have been on Shawn Atleo’s mind when he decided to meet with Stephen Harper.

Why women are leading this

There are some fascinating similarities between the Idle No More phenomenon and the Occupy movement. Both reflect a political dualism: they are focused on the lack of democracy, justice and equality for ordinary people and they are implicitly (and with Idle No More explicitly) telling conventional movement organizations that are supposed to speak for them that they have failed.

And it should come as no surprise that most members of the leadership of Idle No More are women. By the late 1980s government funding had established a mutually beneficial relationship between governments and aboriginal leaders. Into this status quo of continued poverty came native women’s organizations which were genuinely radical (they had no big salaries to lose) and often critical of the totally male dominated aboriginal groups. They were the voices of aboriginal communities — but lack of resources and bullying by the government-funded “official” organizations eventually prevailed. That they are back in leadership roles is one of the most important and positive aspects of the movement.

Idle No More is the most exciting development in aboriginal politics in two generations. It has rightfully scared the hell out of the entire First Nations leadership — from Shawn Atleo down to the hundreds of chiefs, too many of whom do in fact live high on the hog while their band members suffer. And it has got the attention of Stephen Harper, a man who has dedicated his political career to the interests of the oil and other resource industries threatened by Idle No More. Remember that he cancelled the Kelowna Accord soon after he became prime minister. The only reason Harper met with First Nations leaders is because his intelligence gathering told him this could be real trouble. Let’s hope it is.

Read more: Aboriginal Affairs, Rights + Justice, Politics, Federal Politics,

Murray Dobbin contributes his State of the Nation column to The Tyee and Rabble every other Monday. His blog is here.

Filed Under: Aboriginal Issues Can/U.S., Editor's Zone, First Nations, First Nations of Turtle Island, Idle No More, Idle No More Movement, Murray Dobbin, Rabble, The Tyee

Rafe Mair: Why BC’s First Nations Should Refuse Harper Meetings…For Now

January 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

http://thecanadian.org/item/1895-rafe-mair-why-first-nations-should-refuse-harper-meetings

Rafe Mair: Why BC’s First Nations Should Refuse Harper Meetings…For Now

Written by Rafe Mair Tuesday, 15 January 2013 

 

RafeIdleNM

A recent Idle No More rally in Vancouver during Friday’s First Nations-Harper meeting (Damien Gillis photo)

I do not pretend for a second to know what is on the mind of First Nations leaders who have been skeptical of “Crown-First Nations” meetings such as took place this past Friday and the follow-ups currently being scheduled. Leaders like Union of BC Indian Chiefs’ Grand Chief Sewart Phillip and chiefs from Manitoba, Ontario and some from Saskatchewan have chosen to sit this latest round of talks out. Nor do I know what would change their minds on attending future conferences.

I do pretend to know something about politics.

National Assembly (AFN) Chief Shawn Atleo is a controversial political leader and how else could it be? His Assembly is supposed to represent First Nations throughout the nation. He doesn’t in real life and that is to be expected. His leadership is constantly in question – particularly from members of the “grassroots” Idle No More movement. This pressure has apparently taken its toll, as following Friday’s meeting, Atleo announced he was going on a “brief” sick leave.

On the other hand, while Stephen Harper doesn’t have every Canadian behind him, by reason of our “first past the post” system, he is a dictator so long as he is Prime Minister. Right from the get-go that makes conferences between the two parties difficult unto impossible.

The concerns of each band of First Nations not only are inconsistent with one another, how could that be otherwise?

Here are some facts:

• Total Aboriginal population of BC: Approximately 200,000

• Total number of Indian bands in BC: Approximately 200

• Total number of eligible B.C. First Nations/Indian bands in the treaty process: 116

To complicate matters, most nations or regions have unique languages and dialects.

At the root of claims is land and these claims differ from band to band within BC, let alone within the country. Some land claims have been disposed of by treaty (often unfairly), while in BC, the vast majority are not under treaty and are subject to land claims being dealt with at a glacial pace. Moreover, many First Nations want nothing to do with the process.

The situation reminds one of Israel, where an Israeli government can claim it wants to settle borders with Palestinians yet continues to build on land which is part of the pre-1967 land owned by Palestinians. With First Nations, the BC and Canadian governments are permitting development of Indian land without a by-your-leave.

Again, while I have no insight into all the considerations of BC First Nations, let me tell you what I would feel if I was in Grand Chief Phillip’s mind or that of any BC chief’s position.

I would refuse to deal with Federal Minister for Indian and Northern Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan, who has consistently supported salmon farms, which many coastal First Nations vehemently oppose. His presence is like the red flag to the bull.

I would refuse any part of a meeting with the Feds until that part of the past budget that took away from protection of fish habitat is repealed.

There would be no parley until both the provincial and federal governments stopped approving of fish farms and mandated a removal to land of all existing farms.

I would demand both levels of governments respect the clearly stated position of Treaty 8 First Nations in northeast BC, who oppose Site C dam based on their treaty rights.

Similarly I would demand an immediate moratorium of all proposed pipelines until all Native claims are settled and I would demand that all tanker traffic – be it from Prince Rupert, Kitimat or Vancouver Harbour – be banned by legislation.

I would require that the recommendations of the Cohen Commission Report put in place immediately.

Finally, I would require any environmentally objectionable project be put to local residents as to the need for them in the first place and that this be done before any environmental hearings take place.

These gestures and actions would be a condition precedent to any parley with the feds.

Why would any BC Chief be bound to accept any resolutions unless they are consistent with their needs, desires and historical claims?

The meeting which was just held and is supposed to reconvene seeks to find a one-size-fits-all, whether specifically or in principle. Why should Grand Chief Phillip, who has a mandate to deal with BC matters, accept a conference which by its nature seeks solutions on a one-size-fits-all basis?

It’s not parochial to point out that decisions will cater to larger populations with the powers of persuasion they possess.

Given the obvious lack of interest by the Harper and Clark governments in the basic concerns of BC First Nations, it would be folly for local leaders to enter a process in which they have little to gain and a great deal to lose.

RafeNew1

Rafe Mair was a B.C. MLA 1975 to 1981, Minister of Environment from late 1978 through 1979. Since 1981 he has been a radio talk show host, and is recognized as one of B.C.’s pre-eminent journalists.

Website: rafeonline.com/

 

Filed Under: AFN Chief Shawn Atleo, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Cohen Commission Report, Damian Gillis, Editor's Zone, First Nations, First Nations of Turtle Island, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Rafe Mair, Union of BC Indian Chiefs

And the Beat Goes On: Idle No More, Williams Lake, B.C. January 11, 2013 by Arthur Topham

January 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

INM Williams Lake

Idle No More Williams Lake, B.C.

January 11, 2013

by Arthur Topham

The weather was bitter cold, the skies bright blue and the drum skins tight as aged birch as the local Idle No More movement gathered at noon in the centrally located Save On parking lot to begin their walk of solidarity through the streets of Williams Lake eventually wending their way toward the government offices where the native chiefs were to deliver their message to PM Harper and to Canada.

It was a mobile place of power and hope that began and ended with the drum beat – the eternally vibrant symbol of the heart of the indigenous people and the land upon which they all depend for their livelihood and their collective identity as a nation. One would be hard pressed to imagine the whole event actually taking place without the accompanying voices of the singers whose chanting and powerfully stirring cries blended as one with the sounds of the drum.

The large crowd – upwards of 150 women, children and men – was a colourful admixture of native and non-native people with the vast majority being representatives of the many diverse nations that exist throughout the region known as the central interior of the province of British Columbia; a vast and beautiful and bountiful territory stretching from the western Pacific shoreline of the Nuxalk Nation to the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. They had all come to gather and to speak as one voice in defence of the land and the water and the air and the myriad of living creatures and inanimate resources that this area of Mother Earth holds and offers to her children – a land now under dire threat of being completely stolen, desecrated and destroyed and sacrificed to Mammon upon the alter of foreign multi-national corporate interests who now control the actions of the federal government of PM Stephen Harper.

The local RCMP were on hand to offer traffic control and oversee the event and all went well in their efforts without any known incidents occurring along the way to the Ministry of Forests offices on Borland Street.

Outside the government offices the crowd again resumed the traditional circle of power and the sounds of the drums and the voices of the people pierced the freezing cold air like waves of arrows carrying their poignant, yet peaceful message of heartfelt concern for the plight of their (and all) people and the outrages being perpetrated against the land and all its life-giving abundance.

After a number of songs and words of encouragement the Chiefs of the various bands throughout the Cariboo-Chilcotin-Shuswap areas entered the building and went up to the third floor to speak their message to those within. The rest of the people remained outside and continued to sing and drum and offer moral support for their leaders as they once again attempted to break through the historic barriers of ignorance and deception that have for centuries prevented any true dialogue and understanding from occurring between the First Nations of Canada and federal government in Ottawa, Ontario.

There were no incidents as the Chiefs entered the outer offices of the Ministry of Forests and those within came out to stand and listen in a courteous and respectful manner as each of the Chiefs spoke forcefully and deeply from their heart about their people, their land and their unqualified, grave and sober concerns about what the federal Conservative government is planning through its Omnibus bill – measures that will undoubtedly seriously affect their lives and their ability to survive as a people.

They spoke about the years and years of seemingly endless “negotiations” that go on and on like the seasons between their nations and the government representatives while at the same time the large corporate interests continue to extract the forests and minerals from their sacred lands in a business as usual fashion.

They spoke about their people and how far too many of them are starving for lack of the basic essentials that they once were able to harvest directly from their land – the salmon which are not returning in the numbers that once were normal; the richness and diversity of the fruits of the land (the berries and medicines) that were once always there, literally for the picking, to be later stored and used throughout the long winters to sustain their people’s health and well being: the timber that once stood tall and robust and gave the people the natural resources with which to build their log homes and heat their hearths and cook their food; the water which is being severely impacted by the gross and never ending expansion of clear cut logging that turns once living eco-systems into barren wastelands which in turn take generations, if not centuries, to renew to their original condition.

Some Chiefs spoke about the growing epidemic of diseases like cancer which are affecting their young people due to the increased reliance upon all the adulterated chemical foodstuffs that more and more native people are forced to depend upon as their land is encroached upon and their youth are forced to eat what is becoming the only viable alternative to the once abundant store of natural food that the land provided.

They spoke of the deer and the moose and how they, like the people themselves, are being poisoned with the chemical spraying of herbicides and pesticides that the government uses on the land in order to manage its corporate tree farms that have replaced the natural generation and growth of the once diversified living forests of old.

The did their utmost to inform the government representatives of the multitude of challenges that their people still face as a result of the pain and emotional and spiritual suffering that the government and church sponsored Residential School programs wreaked upon their people over generations and how when mainstream society looks at those natives who are wondering about the streets still looking lost and forlorn they cannot fathom the reasons why and tend to judge them as merely being lazy and unwilling to find a job and live a normal existence.

They spoke again and again about how the Idle No More movement was not just a movement for the indigenous peoples of Canada but one for all who will be negatively impacted by the actions of the Harper Conservative government. When it comes to the agenda that the federal government is attempting to implement in this country and the effect it will have upon the nation as a whole the majority of Canadians will end up in the same boat as the First Nations; one quickly heading into steep and treacherous canyon walls filled with jagged rocks and raging white water. There will be no discrimination happening when it comes to enforcing this new world order agenda on the people and in that sense we are all natives when it comes to dealing with Harper and the interests of foreign corporations along with the alien, private banking cartels that ultimately control the Conservative agenda which includes enslaving the people and selling off the land. Those that resist will automatically become “terrorists” and subject to police and possibly military harassment and imprisonment.

Throughout their vigorous and dynamic efforts to convey to the government representatives their concerns one could sense a strongly unified yet respectful manner in all of their words and behaviour. There were no officious and callous or racist remarks given; no threats and ultimatums; no imperious overt show of force or belligerence. Instead the government representatives were continually asked to try and stretch their own minds and attempt to understand where the Chiefs were coming from and to listen deeply with both their ears and to try and see with both their eyes that the Idle No More movement is something that will affect even them and their children and their future generations and therefore they also needed to do their best to convince their superiors that these draconian laws that Harper was attempting to implement must be challenged and stopped if we are all to get along and protect the Earth Mother for our common benefit and survival.

After the Chiefs and those in attendance with them had spoken their minds they thanked the government representatives for their patience and respect in listening to their concerns and invited them to come down to the parking lot and speak to the crowd who were waiting for the Chiefs’ return. They then shook their hands and filed out of the room and returned to the group waiting below to continue drumming and singer and speaking.

Those who had stood patiently listening to the Chiefs went back into their offices and got their winter coats and mitts and hats and then came down to speak to people outside. One by one they thanked the Chiefs for coming up and voicing their concerns and then proceeded to do their best to convince the crowd that they too were also in great measure sympathetic to all that the Chiefs had expressed to them and that they would try and do their best to recall what they had been informed of when they gathered together in the future to make their boardroom decisions on issues that might have direct impacts on the first nations peoples.

They tried to convey to the group that they were also concerned and committed and that their jobs and homes and families and the future of their children and grandchildren were also at stake and that they also had a stake in the community. After each of them spoke they were given a respectable acknowledgement by the group and drum beats of appreciation punctuated the air in affirmation.

When they had all had a say one of the Chiefs who was acting as spokesperson for the group, Chief Marilyn Baptise of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government, spoke to them and asked both them and the group if any of them had committed themselves to actually taking the concerns that were brought to them to their higher ups in government. The consensus was that they hadn’t gone that far. Again, this frankness on the part of Chief Baptise was spoken respectfully and in turn was taken as such by the government representatives.

Then the group of government reps were asked to step into the center of the drumming circle and the group commenced a series of songs that rang out loud and clear in the cold January air and the dozens upon dozens of drums beat in unison as one hear would beat within the human breast.

As all of this was occurring I slowly walked away from the group becoming, at the same time, immersed in a gripping, emotional feeling too nebulous to pinpoint yet strongly reminiscent of intimations of ancient murmurings that rose up within me like smoke wafting upwards from some ancient campfire; memory smoke that brought tears to the shoreline of my eyes. I thought I could hear Chief Seattle words when he spoke of how the new settlers were poisoning and spoiling the nest that the people had lived in from time immemorial and how these thoughtless actions against the Earth Mother would one day come back to haunt them. I could hear Sitting Bull and the wisdom of Black Elk as they spoke of the many treaties that the aboriginal people had signed over the years with the new settlers; treaties that would soon be ignored and dishonoured with the subsequent bloodshed and massacres that inevitably became the order of the day while government carried on with its exploitation of the Mother’s resources.

And yet, for all that has gone down over the past centuries, I was still witnessing that same undaunted spirit, that same message of hope and reconciliation, coming forth from the mouths of all these young Chiefs who were continuing to persevere with the same patience, respect and determination to convince the mainstream society to stop and take a look at what they were doing to the Earth Mother and, ultimately, to themselves and all future generations. And the words of an old Pete Seeger song then came to mind, “When will they ever learn… when will they ever learn.”

——

Filed Under: Arthur Topham/ Contributor, Assembly of First Nations, B.C., Canada, Canadian Politics, Chief Marilyn Baptiste, Clearcutting, Editor's Zone, First Nations, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake -Chilcotin Territory, Fish Lake/Teztan Biny, Idle No More, Indigenous Nations, Ministry of Forests, Political Zionism, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), Tsilhqot'in Nation, Tsilhqot'in People of Xeni, Tsilhqot'in Xeni traditional territory, Tsilqot'in Government, Turtle Island, Williams Lake

Chief Spence exclusive interview CBC December 18, 2012

December 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UQ4vMoeD2s

 

Chief Spence exclusive interview CBC December 18, 2012

Click HERE to watch interview

Published on Dec 18, 2012

In an interview with the CBC’s Chris Rands, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence talks about her hunger strike and why she wants to meet with the prime minister. The bottom line for Chief Spence is the treaty relationship that First Nations people have with the Crown, and she will not stop until she meets with the PM and representatives of the Crown

Comments disable due to continued and persistent racism and intolerance being expressed. Let us join with Chief Spence in calling on the Prime Minister and the Governor General to meet with her to begin serious talks aimed at improving the lives of Aboriginal people in Canada.

Idle No More starts new era – December 28, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Idle+More+starts/7751011/story.html

From 2011: Justice for Aboriginal Peoples — It’s time
http://youtu.be/r5DrXZUIinU

What’s at stake for First Nations communities involved in the Idle No More movement – December 27, 2012 Good overview of the treaty issues involved in Bill C-45
http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/primer/6442778794/story.html

Pressure mounts on Harper as hunger-strike chief’s protest enters third week – December 27, 2012
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/27/pressure-mounts-on-harper-as-hunger-s…

Relations with Ottawa sour – December 27, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Relations+with+Ottawa+sour/7746724/story.html

We all have stake in success of aboriginals – December 27, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/have+stake+success+aboriginals/7746759/sto…

Idle No More: Indigenous-Led Protests Sweep Canada for Native Sovereignty – December 26, 2012 EXCELLENT OVERVIEW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwAt9MRW-0

NDP MP urges Harper to meet with Spence, end hunger strike – December 26, 2012
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ndp-mp-urges-harper-to-meet-with-spence-end-hung…

Idle No More is a Christmas gift to us all – December 25, 2012
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/12/25/idle-no-more-is-a-christmas-gift-to-us-all…

HARPER WATCH — SPECIAL IDLE NO MORE EDITION (Dec. 21-25, 2012) A collection of articles, letters
http://harperwatch.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/harper-watch-special-idle-no-more…

Chiefs of Ontario Open Letter to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth – December 20, 2012
http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/sites/default/files/news_files/COO%20Urgent%…

Amid holiday feasting, Chief Spence keeps hunger strike aimed at Harper – December 26, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Amid+holiday+feasting+Chief+Spence+keeps+h…

Why is Stephen Harper afraid to look this woman in the eye? – December 23, 2012
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/12/23/why-is-stephen-harper-afraid-to-look-this-…

‘This is deadly serious,’ says Atleo as Idle No More flexes muscles once again (with video)
December 22, 2012
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/12/22/this-is-deadly-serious-says-atleo-as-idl…

Please pray for my mother: Spence’s daughter – December 21, 2012
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/12/21/please-pray-for-my-mother-spences-daughter/

Quiet Theresa Spence has mobilized a nation – December 21, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Quiet+Theresa+Spence+mobilized+nation/7729…

Idle No More action historic in Indian Country – December 21, 2012
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Idle+More+action+historic+Indian+Country/7…

Chief Theresa Spence Now in 9th Day of Hunger Strike
“Not Well and is Weak” December 19, 2012
http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/chief-theresa-spence-now-in-9th-day-of-hunge…

Idle No More gains momentum across Canada – CBC’s The Current, December 19, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2012/12/19/idle-no-more-gains-momentum-across-ca…

Chief’s hunger strike – December 18, 2012
Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs talks about Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike that draws attention to First Nations issues.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2318278465/

Send a letter to your MP and to Prime Minister Harper to tell them to meet with Chief Spence.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod…

Send a letter to the Governor General David Johnston
http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=325

Send a letter to Queen Elizabeth
https://www.royal.gov.uk/Contactus/Contact%20a%20member%20of%20the%20Royal%20…

Send a tweet to Queen Elizabeth @BritishMonarchy

Flash Mob attacked by security guardby Carter Dillabough80,900 views

1:10 Woman Attacks Vehicle of Native Protesterby Injunfarian50,637 views

5:54 Idle no more inspirational video Saskatoonby Harmonie King17,759 views

11:59 Idle No More Toronto Flash Mob Round Dance Aerial Viewby Aaron Peters23,942 views

5:29 WTF is up wt the Indians? Bill C-45 *Profanity Warning*by natashahynesvlog54,498 views

7:42 Idle No More – Round Dance Flash Mob at WEM in Edmontonby Paula E. Kirman59,796 views

6:26 Theresa Spence Interviewby Shane Belcourt8,444 views

15:32 IDLE NO MORE REACTIONS MUST SEE!!!!by earlyman7238,569 views

1:47 Idle No More from Ukraineby Gerald Ratt19,375 views

1:06 Chief Spence’s message to FN youthby ProductionsCazabon18,939 views

11:41 Idle No More: Indigenous-Led Protests Sweep Canada for Native Sovereignty and Environmental Justiceby democracynow2,668 views

1:37 Eagle song for Theresa Spence. Idle No More from Ukraineby Gerald Ratt3,236 views

6:45 Obama Caught Fake Cryingby TheAlexJonesChannel1,031,534 views

2:40 Idle No Moreby CBCTheNational6,058 views

9:42 Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence Speaks On Parliament Hill Dec.10 2012 Part 1 of 2by kevin gagnon1,243 views

0:59 Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spenceby OPSEU SEFPO792 views

3:36 In Support of IDLENOMORE AND CHIEF SPENCEby Mark Beachey2,805 views

1:47 Chief Spence Hunger Strike with Charlie Angusby charlieangus11,612 views

 

 

Filed Under: Aboriginal Issues Can/U.S., Attawapiskat, CBC, Chief Theresa Spence, Crown of England, First Nations, First Nations of Turtle Island, HARPER WATCH, Idle No More, Justice for Aboriginal Peoples, PM Stephen Harper, Political Zionism, Queen of England

Anthem For Dissent by Splitting the sky

December 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFwepZQEn2o

A poem by Splitting The Sky, critical of the social/political state in the world today, eloquently orated by STS, and set to music performed by guitarist Ron Bankley, with variety of related imagery. The mp3 can be downloaded for free at www.splittingthesky.net

ANTHEM FOR DISSENT
By Ann Onimus, John Boncore/Splitting The Sky and Ron Bankley

United in fear we trade freedom, our prize for the Patriot Act as united we securitize
United in power over patriarchy, we misogynize
United in self-righteous arrogance, we imperialise
United in degenerate genital mutilation, we circumcise
United we consume and spend, and, united, we capitalize
United in greed we exploit, as united we multinationalize
United we commit economic suicide as, united, we globalise
United in beligerent violence, we waste trillions as, united, we militarize
United we massacre millions and think we’re so brave, united we fantasize
United we bomb, destroy, maim, mass murder, slaughter and terrorize
United in massive denial we look the other way, as united, we atrocitize
United in ‘might makes right’, we dominate and, united, we hegemonize
United we pillage the third world and then, united, we moralize
United we covet their resources and, united, we monopolize
United in total denial we deny that, united, we brutalize
United we believe without question the star spangled propaganda our leaders so unceasingly televise
United we, so very obediently, swallow the many fabricated red white and blue lies
United we’re so blind, with closed eyes except wide-eyed Ashcroft spies
And in the many resource rich countries that, united, we occupy and we colonize, and united we impoverish and victimize
Yet another corporate billion is pried and yet another heart broken mother cries and yet another star spangled bomb drops
And yet another innocent child heinously dies
Yet another example of united we collateralize
Just U.S. business as usual, as united we privatize
United we stand completely deranged
Global terrorist in our ‘freedom and democracy’ disguise
As united we stand apathetic and complicit in American terrorism
As united we turn on TV to de-sensitise
As united we stand in massive denial
As united we ignore the innocent pleas of the innocent ones we exterminate
As united we stand inanely pledging allegiance to the flag of facist terrorism
As their blood on it dries
As united we stand, surrendering our freedom to the real ‘axis of evil’ Corporation, CIA, and Military guise
As united we stand with our heads in the sand, as the American Fourth Reich is born
And freedom dies
As united we stand so comfortably numb and deniably dumb
That united we don’t have sense to realise
That united we stand on the brink of the New World Order totalitarian police state
United we are so……Blind

***

Filed Under: 9/11 Truth, 911/WorldTradeCenter, America, Attica Prison, BushProtestCalgary09, Corporations, CSIS, Federal Reserve, First Nations of Turtle Island, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Protest, G8 Summit, George W Bush - War Criminal, Gustafsen Lake stand-off, International Banking Syndicate, Internet Freedom, John "Dac" Boncore, New World Order, North American Union (NAU), Palestine, Patriot Act, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, RCMP Corruption, Splitting the Sky, Twin Towers/911, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies, U.S. Terrorism, U.S. Torture

FREE JIM TOWNSEND – CANADIAN POLITICAL PRISONER

February 27, 2012 by

FREEJIMTOWNSEND

FREE JIM TOWNSEND – CANADIAN POLITICAL PRISONER

by Arthur Topham
February 27, 2012

“And I won’t be laughing at the lies when I’m gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I’m gone
Can’t add my name to the fight while I’m gone
So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here”

~Phil Ochs, When I’m Gone circa 1960′s

Jim Townsend has spent most of his lifetime fighting for peace and freedom, both within Canada and globally. Like many of us from the 60′s Generation he was able to see the future for the simple reason that he spend his time living in the now. And ‘now’, because of his beliefs, in his country and in life itself, and in his knowing that freedom means the God given right and duty to speak one’s truth, he has been pursued and harassed and hunted down like a dog by those forces within our nation who, for vested and criminal reasons, have set out to silence one of Canada’s great and patriotic citizens.

One might, if they wished to find a comparison to Jim’s voice of reason and common sense, find his equal in that great English patriot and hero of the American War of Independence, Thomas Paine. It was Paine’s ideas; the fruit of his discerning and independent spirit, that tipped the balance of both opinion and history itself, during a period of history when the early American colonies, fast waxing in freedom and prosperity thanks to an abundance of natural resources and space, were faced with the prospect of having to make an ultimate decision; one that would decide their fate as a nation.

The British Crown in 1776 was determined to go to war against the newly founded colonies in the new found world where so many Europeans had fled in vast numbers to escape the endless maelstrom of wars, tyranny, taxation, wage slavery and religious persecution that was then order of the day. Men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin all were influenced and impressed into action by the rational arguments made by Paine; arguments as old as dawn’s history and as cold and tangible as the chains that bind every free born human forced to bow down before another’s will.

The fact that today Jim Townsend is in jail in Kamloops, British Columbia, attests not only to what Thomas Paine warned the American people of but also speaks volumes in terms of just how much (or little) humanity has actually progressed over the past 236 years of living in what purports to be a “democratic” country.

Jim, like myself, and many other seekers after truth and justice of the 60s generation, has gone through the mentally challenging incremental stages of growth and learning that are a prerequisite to the actual gaining of a broad, encompassing knowledge of how the world of politics and religion actually works. He began his journey to awareness, not by gazing out idealistically from the hallowed halls of academia and studying college text books in comfort but by entering the real world of common man; a world where freedom depended upon how much money was in your pocket not how many certificates hung from your office wall.

When it comes to understanding how a person’s country is ran politically and economically and who the players are that tend to shape its destiny such degrees of understanding, no different than the academic credentials that adorn the intellectual classes of today’s world, demand a willful, determined effort; one continuously accosted by the conditioned customs of the day.

Jim met these challenges and as a result accomplished what most people today still yearn for: an all encompassing realization and a lucid comprehension of how our world actually is organized when it comes to the basic mechanisms that permit the wheels of both industry and intellect to revolve in harmonious fashion. It is due to his understanding of these principles as well as his cognizance of how they have been usurped and perverted and the fact that he has used his verbal and technical skills via the Internet to transmit his truth that he and his family have been threatened, accosted, literally shot at and prevented from living their lives in peace and comfort.

Jim’s initial book that reveals what he learned about how Canada has been set up can be read at on RadicalPress.com. The title is FREEDOM! CANADA and can be found in the right column on the home page.

Jim’s story is much too long and way too interesting for me to tell it in a short introductory essay. My purpose in writing these lines is to hopefully convey to Canadians the urgency of Jim and his family’s plight. The police forces, the judicial forces, the msm forces, and assorted government ministries (both provincial and federal) have determined to destroy Jim’s character and his ability to support his family all because of what Jim has learned about how the “system” works and because he had the courage and integrity to risk his personal freedom in order to convey his truth to other Canadians.

The state is doing its damnedest to stop Jim’s ideas from gaining any traction on the Internet and thus they have arrested him and forced him to remove his websites that contain the incriminating evidence of their own malfeasance. What remains though and what I would encourage anyone reading these words to do is go try and watch Jim’s YouTube productions that still remain in cyberspace and are the essence of what his life’s work has taught him. If you Google “Jim Townsend – videos” you will still be able to find numerous short 10 minute presentations that cover a number of core topics dealing with how our country has been shaped and manipulated into the conditions that presently prevail. I will be posting the titles and urls to a number of them below.

I have been associated both with Jim’s his work and his valiant efforts to support his family for over a dozen years now. His situation, not that unlike my own, is symbolic to other Canadians who are also struggling to shed light on our collective plight as a nation and who find themselves up against a common, conditioned wall of prejudice and idiosyncratic ignorance coupled with a form of self-imposed bigotry that is as daunting as it is delusional.

As the line from another of Phil Ochs’ famous songs goes; one that applies to not only Jim Townsend but to all who strive for freedom and justice, “there but for fortune, go you or I.”

Back in November of 2011 I posted on my website the following message and plea for Jim. If you haven’t signed that petition request yet please try to do so.

Jim’s case is urgent. He was supposed to go to court for a trial and instead they just grabbed him and put him in jail. His health has been compromised due to an unfortunate tractor accident that crushed his body a few years ago. His condition has forced upon him and his family a scenario where finding the wherewithal to survive financially has been an ongoing challenge. As such I would ask you, dear reader, to look into your heart and try to imagine yourself in Jim’s situation and from there extrapolate to whether or not you might be able to help him and his family out. If you are able to please consider sending some much needed funds to Jim’s wife using the only means available to them which is a PayPal account.

Alexis Elixirs at jim@jim-townsend.com

Jim’s courage, tenacity, advocacy and imaginative, creative spirit throughout this period is a living testament to the fact that all he has done now exposes the corruption of the police state we’re all living in.

I will be posting more information on my website regarding Jim’s situation. PLEASE TRY TO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHERS. Also, I have the Poster “FREE JIM TOWNSEND” in a higher resolution for anyone who might wish to print copies for distribution. Please contact me via email and I will send you a larger copy.

Anyone wishing further information on Jim or to contact Jim via his wife Judith is asked to write to: Judith Townsend judithtownsend@hotmail.com

As far as I know these two urls are still operating. Please advise if you find they are not working.

http://vimeo.com/21369024

http://youtube.com/townsendjim

——–

OIL AND GAS MONOPOLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J6PsIaQFHw&feature=related

——-

REAL MONEY SILVER AND GOLD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNNv-kY2Pug

——-

LEGAL CONTRACTS AND VOTING FRAUD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_25vZgsSVw&feature=related

——-

ENERGIZE YOUR BODY AND MIND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFomF29EVzw&feature=related

——-

SAME OLD NEW WORLD ORDER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJNpRgnEzUw&feature=related

——-

PLACER GOLD CLAIMS BY JIM TOWNSEND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGlshz4hv-Q

——–

CANADA UNDER ATTACK – MY RESPONSE TO CRA REQUEST FOR VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD2o-JoXdR0&feature=related

——-

TAX PAYERS VERSUS TAX RECEIVERS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC4BByM_oJ4&feature=related

——-

LEGAL DEFINITIONS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mJUDAURcY&feature=related

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GOD BUSTED FOR GROWING POT (PART 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWR7skFjsTw&feature=related

——–

GOD BUSTED FOR GROWING POT (PART 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=NWoiNpjGqfw&NR=1

——–

HATE LITERATURE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkMeV_Lh-E0&feature=related

——-

On behalf of Jim and his family and his supporter,

Shine your Light for Love, Peace & Justice for All,

Arthur Topham
Publisher/Editor
The Radical Press
Canada’s Radical News Network
“Digging to the root of the issues since 1998″
http://www.radicalpress.com
radical@radicalpress.com

Filed Under: Alternative Media, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), anti-Semitism, Arthur Topham/ Contributor, B'nai Brith, B.C. Liberal Party, B.C. Politics, B.C. Supreme Court, Canadian "Just-Us" System, Canadian Human Rights Act, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Jewish Congress, Canadian Politics, Cannabis/Marijuana/Pot, Christianity, Communism, Conspiracy, Corporations, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Thought, Gaza, Indigenous Nations, International Banking Syndicate, Internet Freedom, Jewish Banking Cartel, Jewish Lobby, Jewish Media Monopoly, Jews Behind Bolshevik Revolution, Jim Townsend, Judaism, Law & Justice, New World Order, Palestine, Peace, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, Religion, Secrets of the Federal Reserve/Eustace Mullins, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, U.S. 'War' on Terror, United Nations

JB Campbell: Anti-American

December 19, 2011 by

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/13/jb-campbell-anti-american/

JBCampLogo

Monday, December 13th, 2010 |
Posted by J. Bruce Campbell


JB Campbell: Anti-American

USflag

The leakers are being called “anti-American.”

What decent person, anywhere in the world today, is not anti-American? Is there anyone more dangerous than our typical ignorant, arrogant American “citizen,” who very likely couldn’t find America on a marked map of the world? Well, yes: the American military man, who is the most dangerous son of a bitch on the planet. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

I’m anti-American. I really wasn’t until I returned to Rhodesia in January, ’73 to join up and help in their struggle against Communist terrorists. I’d been down there in ’71 for discussions with the government on bringing Americans and others wanting to be part of a new country project based on a book by my boss, Michael Oliver, called A New Constitution for a New Country. The plan was to have a minimum of a hundred square miles with no taxes and no draft, replacing the former tax-haven in Freeport, Bahamas. Thousands of productive Americans and others were ready to relocate.

Mike’s real name was Olitsky and he was a Lithuanian Jew who’d fled into Germany to escape Stalin’s Red Army. He wound up in Dachau for four years. He introduced me to Holocaust Revisionism when I ventured to ask him about his experience. He shrugged and said, “It was a factory. We worked during the day and stayed in a dormitory at night.”

“But what about the, uh, the—”

“The what?”

“You know, the killings.”

“I never saw any of that.”

Four years in Dachau, never saw any of that. Okay. He did see the US Army “liberate” the camp in April, ’45. The SS and Alpine troops recuperating there had negotiated a surrender to the Americans, who entered the camp and started shooting the guys who thought they were surrendering. Then the Americans marched the surviving soldiers (all the prison guards had fled days earlier) up to a wall near the hospital and set up a machine gun. Three hundred forty-six German soldiers on R&R were slaughtered in a few minutes, five hundred twenty in all that morning. George Patton handled the cover-up and protected the war criminals. The army doctor on the scene, Col. Howard Buechner, described it in his book, Dachau: Hour of the Avenger. Of the 32,000 inmates freed, about 1,200 were Jews, including Mike.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: 'state' of Israel, 911, Afghanistan, Communism, Corporations, Editor's Zone, First Nations of Turtle Island, Gaza, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israeli Terrorism, Jewish Banking Cartel, Jewish Holocaust Industry, Jewish Lobby, Jewish Media Monopoly, Jews Behind Bolshevik Revolution, New World Order, Palestine, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, Secrets of the Federal Reserve/Eustace Mullins, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies, U.S. Terrorism, U.S. Torture, United Nations

No No Keshagesh by Buffy St. Marie

November 24, 2011 by

Buffy

BuffyVideoScrenShot

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/23-5

No No Keshagesh

by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Keshagesh means Greedy Guts. It’s what you call a little puppy who eats his own and then wants everybody else’s.

*  *  *  *  *

I never saw so many business suits
Never knew a dollar sign could look so cute
Never knew a junkie with a money jones
Who’s buying Park Place? Who’s buying Boardwalk?

These old men they make their dirty deals
Go in the back room and see what they can steal
Talk about your beautiful for spacious skies
It’s about uranium. It’s about the water rights

Got Mother Nature on a luncheon plate
They carve her up and call it real estate
Want all the resources and all of the land
They make a war over it; they blow things up for it

The reservation out at Poverty Row
The cookin’s cookin and the lights are low
Somebody tryin to save our Mother Earth I’m gonna
Help em to Save it and Sing it and Pray it singin

No No Keshagesh you can’t do that no more.

Ol Columbus he was lookin good
When he got lost in our neighborhood
Garden of Eden right before his eyes
Now it’s all spyware Now it’s all income tax

Ol Brother Midas lookin hungry today
What he can’t buy he’ll get some other way
Send in the troopers if the Natives resist
Same old story, boys; that’s how ya do it , boys

Look at these people Lord they’re on a roll
Got to have it all; gotta have complete control
Want all the resources and all of the land
They break the law over it; blow things up for it

While all our champions are off in the war
Their final rippoff here at home is on
Mister Greed I think your time has come I’m gonna
Sing it and Say it and Live it and Pray it singin

No No Keshagesh you can’t do that no more.

———-

Filed Under: Corporations, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies

POLICE ABUSE, HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION & RACIAL PROFILING OF INDIGENUOUS NATIVES CONTINUES by Helen Michell

February 27, 2011 by

POLICE ABUSE, HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION & RACIAL PROFILING OF INDIGENOUS NATIVES CONTINUES

by Helen Michell

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Frank&Helen

                   Frank Martin and Helen Michell in Vancouver, B.C.
___________________________________________________________________________                   

[Editor's Note: I have known Frank Martin and Helen Michell for 22 years now and have worked with them on different issues to do with native sovereignty, Residential School abuse and basic human rights issues. Both Helen and Frank are hard core, dedicated activists who have given their adult lives to the struggles that indigenous natives face around the province. As Helen states in her article below she would need to write a book just to record all of the incidents in her and Frank's life where they've been unduly stopped, pulled over, forced off the highway, accosted, harassed, beaten up, forced into courts of law and teased and terrorized by the so-called authorities whose job it is to uphold the law and treat all people equally. Their trials and tribulations epitomize what is a daily occurrence for so many indigenous natives here in "beautiful" B.C. Please read Helen's story and do what you can to pass it along in the hope that someone, somewhere, may find it in their heart to assist these folks and help them in their quest for justice.]

POLICE ABUSE, HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION & RACIAL PROFILING OF INDIGENOUS NATIVES CONTINUES

by Helen Michell

Sunday, February 27, 2011To all who may be concerned:  This letter is about the abuse, intimidation, harassment, discrimination, racial profiling that we as indigenous people of British Columbia, Canada have to put up with regards to the authorities of of this unceded province called British Columbia. Authorities such as the Vancouver City police, the Royal Canadian Mounted police and the Social Services of this province. As indigenous people, we have gone through so much discrimination and intimidation and racial profiling from these so called authorities.

I am an indigenous woman. I am also a disabled indigenous woman and an elder  who has to live in a wheel chair since 2000. In the year 2000, at the end of July, I and my husband Frank were forced off the highway by an R.C.M.P cruiser that rammed our vehicle off the highway north of Cache Creek, B.C., and left me disabled.  Since than I have come a long way along the road to recovery but I’m still not fully recovered. I will always have to get around in an electric wheel chair.

I am also a witness to many of the abuses we as indigenous people have to live with on a daily basis. I am also an indigenous human rights defender and an outspoken indigenous activist who really cares about her indigenous people.

As a child, I witnessed my elders being threatened by the RCMP with prison or Esendale which was a place they put crazy people. Back then the police used ‘the mental health act’ to force indigenous people into jails or off the streets. This ‘mental health act’ was put on the shelf for most of my life time. Now this ‘Mental health act’ is being re-enacted and put back into action once again. This act has forced many of our indigenous people off the streets and many have been given huge fines which most cannot pay. Fines such as ‘jay walking’ and for ‘being drunk in a public place’. Just being seen on the streets of Commercial Drive of Vancouver, B.C. is now a crime if you are indigenous. Age does not matter but the color or your skin matters. The Vancouver city police have become judge, jury and executioner when it comes to indigenous peoples of B.C. and so has the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of B.C.

In the past few days, the indigenous youth of the Vancouver Indian Center have also come to us and asked us for help from the abuse  of the Vancouver City police. They are also being chased around by the police. They are also being forced off the streets of Commercial Drive. Where are these indigenous youth going to go? There is no other place to go. Late at night we witnessed 12 and 13 years old indigenous youth at the Vancouver Indian Center being questioned by the Vancouver police. Why are they allowed to question the indigenous youth without the presence of the elders? This is abuse of their authority in attempting to scare the youth off the streets.

This is only one example of the city police abuse of their authority: On February 24, 2011, we were at the Vancouver Indian Center for a memorial for one of our elders who passed away. This memorial was held from 7 pm until 10 pm.  We left the Indian Center to go to our vehicle. On our way to the car we noticed the police cars around one of the apartments near our vehicle. We didn’t think anything of it then. But when we got into our car and drove up Commercial Drive one of the police cars started to follow us for quit a few blocks before they turned the police lights onto us. We immediately pulled over our car. At first the police officer said we were being stopped for a traffic infraction where my husband, who was a passenger, was not suppose to be driving. He wasn’t as I was in the the drivers seat and was the driver with a valid drivers license. The police officer took my driver’s license and the registration papers for the car.

The police officer was gone with our papers for quit a long time before he or she came back. I say he or she because I could not tell if he or she was a male or a female. All along I thought he or she was a male but when the police officer finally gave us a card, the card said the name was Jocelyn Deziel, pin 2067. This whole incident went from a traffic matter to a drug matter within a few minutes. The police officer said that the RCMP informed her that we were busted at our house for a ‘grow op’ marijuana matter, which was false. This officer said we had a few pounds of marijuana in our car. He/she ordered us out of our car so he/she could illegally search our vehicle. I, being disabled, had to sit on the back bumper of my vehicle for the whole one hour while the car search was going on. Plus, it was 5 degrees below zero outside and freezing. I was so cold my legs practically froze by the time I was allowed to go back into my car. This treatment toward us was ‘inhumane treatment’ and was uncalled for. This police officer practically took the inside of our car apart, front to back, top to bottom, and found NOTHING. This police officer was extremely rude and discriminating.

Frank&HelenArticle

An all too familiar scene on Vancouver’s streets with flashing police lights
___________________________________________________________________________

 
This police officer has a name on the street of Commercial Drive: The Name is ‘Super Cop’, because he/she gets what he/she wants. This officer terrorizes indigenous people. I was terrorized by this officer’s abuse toward us. I am 58 years old and my husband and I are elders and we have lived through this type of abuse through out most of our lives. We are human beings, we are not animals to be pushed around nor penned up whenever the police feel we are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Here are some dates of when we were stopped by the Vancouver City police and the RCMP during  the past year only:

February 1, 2011 at 11:25 pm. Abbotsford police stopped us while on our way home, gave my passenger a no driving ticket, which was illegal. No business harassing my passengers.

February 10, 2011. RCMP pulled us over east of Port Mann bridge at 9:15 pm.

January 19, 2011, at 11:55 pm. Pulled over by RCMP from Hope BC, only to tell me my license was expiring  at the end of this year.

January 25, 20011, 12:15 pm. I was followed for a while on a side road before I pulled onto the main highway where I was pulled over by the Agassiz Police, for nothing, then let go.

December 16, 2010 at 11:30 pm.  Chilliwack, B.C., RCMP pulled us over on the Freeway in Chilliwack for no apparent reason.

December 17, 2010 at 8:45 pm. Agassiz police pulled us over on a very dark side road, off the main  highway. He had no lights going, he just came out of the dark to harass me while I was at a stop sign. He scared me, as I thought he was a regular person trying to stop me. I didn’t know he was a police officer until he was at my window.

December 31, 2010. Stopped once again at 9:15 pm by Agassiz police on Evans Rd. No apparent reason.

September 8, 2010 at 12 pm. Pulled over by Agassiz police. There were two police cars for this stop. I was close to home when I was pulled over. I consider most of these stops by police as ‘racial profiling’ of me, as an indigenous person.

September 17, 2010 at 9:30 pm. Pulled over by Langley RCMP, again no apparent reason.

July 4, 2010 at 8 pm. Pulled over by Vancouver city police on Commercial Drive. Again, no reason. This occurred after attending a Jazz Festival.

June 29, 2010, at 11 pm. After attending a pow wow night at Vancouver Indian Center the Vancouver city police pulled us over only to tease me that I was wanted Canada wide for stealing chocolates!!!

May 24, 2010, at 9 am. Chilliwack Police pulled us over on Freeway in Chilliwack. Ordered us out of the car. Searched our vehicle and found nothing.

February 20, 2010 around 9:30 pm. My husband, Frank Martin, was arrested and beaten up by four Vancouver city policemen on Commercial Drive and 1st ave; beaten up with their batons and knocked unconscious. Then he was taken by ambulance to the Vancouver General Hospital where he awoke, with no clothes on, laying on a bed. He escaped from the hospital with the help of a Chinese fellow who gave him some clothes that he found. At home, I saw all the black and blue bruises that he sustained by the police beating. It was horrible. Why do we as indigenous people have to put up with this kind of abuse and inhumane treatment, and no one will help us to stand up and fight this police brutality? Are we not considered as human beings?

FrankMed

                                Frank Martin
______________________________________________________

January 21, 2010 at 5:50 pm. We were pulled over on Commercial Drive by the Vancouver city police on our way to attend a B.C. Civil Liberties meeting on police brutality at Vancity Theatre. Scare tactic?

January 30, 2010, at 10:45 am. Two policeman, in an unmarked police car, parked outside our house for 10 min. but did not come in. Very unusual.

Now this is only one year’s span of our 58 years on this earth where we’ve been pulled over by the police. How many times in the past, that we were pulled over and our vehicles confiscated will have to be printed in a book, as it will not fit in this article and I do not have enough time to write it all down.

Now does this article prove that we are being harassed, intimidated, discriminated against and been ‘racially profiled’ merely for being indigenous people of British Columbia, Canada? You must be the judge of that.

Besides all of the police abuse of us as indigenous people of B.C., we are also being abused by the authorities that are put in place to take care of us.

During the past few years, we have been “kicked out” of the welfare office in Chilliwack, B.C. for trying to stand up to a bad social worker who did not like us one bit. We have been banned from going into that welfare office for a few years now. Our welfare files were then transferred to the nearest Salvation Army social services, where they have been these past few years. I guess we are considered a ‘mental’ case for trying to get what we are entitled to from the welfare office, so that is one of the reasons for transferring our files to the Salvation Army. All we were doing was questioning the welfare worker why I cannot get them to buy me an electric wheel chair, which I still have not got yet. And why my daughter, who has been taking care of us as disabled elders, cannot get assistance from the welfare office. Instead, we were forced out of this welfare office. I have to still buy my own electric wheel chairs second hand. Whenever I have to buy another electric wheel chair it puts us in debt. I also need to buy food with what little the welfare gives us and it hurts us more if I have to buy my own electric wheel chairs. How many other indigenous families of B.C., Canada, are forced to live in poverty because of the abuse of the social workers of this province?

The Wetsuweeten First Nations band welfare worker is no different from the white social workers. My brother who lives on the reserve is suffering extreme poverty because of the abuse of the band social workers. He cannot go hunting because of the band denying him his right to have a gun to go food hunting. Yet the band gives their own families the right to carry a gun to go hunting and the right to sell the moose meat instead of giving the meat to the band members that so badly need it. Now there are no more moose to hunt.

Who in the world will stand up beside us and fight for our rights, our human rights, our indigenous rights, our disabled rights, our woman’s rights, our indigenous childrens rights? What rights do we really have? I know I have some kind of rights because I am still here, trying to tell you all what kind of abuse we as indigenous people of B.C. have to put up with.

Please send this article far and wide, to whomever you know that you think will help us in any way to put a stop to the abuse of the authorities of this only unceded province now called British Columbia, Canada.

Outspoken, indigenous, disabled and a human rights defender of indigenous peoples of B.C., Canada.

Telquaa,Helen Michell,
PO Box 806,
Harrison Hot Springs
B.C. Canada V0M 1K0.
Telephone: 604 796 9191

Email: Helen Michell telquaa@hotmail.com

Filed Under: B.C. Politics, Editor's Zone, First Nations of Turtle Island, Human Rights/orgs, Indigenous Nations, Law & Justice, Letters, Native Land Claims, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) Decision on Fish Lake Recommends Project be Stopped!

July 2, 2010 by

RadLogo&Pic
Dear Radical Reader,

Some welcome news for all those who’ve been fighting to preserve the sacred lands of the Tsilhqot’in people. Whether or not the recommendations of CEAA are taken to heart by the politicians in Ottawa is, of course, a horse of another colour. Time will reveal all. For now though folks ought to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of their long and arduous efforts.

Shine your Light for Love, Peace & Justice for All,

Arthur Topham
Publisher/Editor
The Radical Press
Canada’s Radical News Network
“Digging to the root of the issues since 1998″
http://www.radicalpress.com
radical@radicalpress.com
——————————-

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) Decision on Fish Lake Recommends Project be Stopped!

FROM THE FRIENDS OF NEMIAH VALLEY
JULY 2, 2010


FISH LAKE/TEZTAN BINY IN THE SOUTH CHILCOTIN REGION OF BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA
___________________________________________________________________________

I would like to forward FONV’s email regarding the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s decision from today.

Today the federal review Panel of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) made their long, and anxiously awaited, recommendations to the federal government re Taseko Mines proposed open pit gold and copper mine: the mine that would destroy Fish Lake/Teztan Biny.

We are very pleased to say that the Panel made the best decision we could have hoped for!

Here is an excerpt from the Summary Review (availble here: http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/43937/43937E.pdf )

The Panel concludes that the Project would result in significant adverse environmental effects on fish and fish habitat, on navigation, on the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations and on cultural heritage, and on certain potential or established Aboriginal rights or title.

The Panel also concludes that the Project, in combination with past, present and reasonably foreseeable future projects would result in a significant adverse cumulative effect on grizzly bears in the South Chilcotin region and on fish and fish habitat.

The Panel notes that Taseko’s propsoed “replacement” lake would not meet DFO’s “No Net Loss” policy and that Taseko could not provide assurances that the fish in such a lake would be safe to consume.

The Panel cites the effects on navigation would be “high magnitude and irreversible” as presented by Transport Canada’s submission.

The Panel places significant and detailed emphasis on the presentations and teachings from the First Nations witnesses who appeared before them, saying their “overall conclusion is that the Project would have a high magnitude, long term, irreversible effect on the Tsilqhot’in”. They also note that, “the effects of the Project on the potential Tsilhqot’in title would be significant as the value of the claim would be reduced substantially due to changes in the landscape and the loss of the area for current use for traditional purposes”.

In regard to grizzlies, the Panel says that Taseko’s proposal to mitigate the effects of increased traffic (through speed limits, etc.) are not suffiecient to compensate for loss of habitat or landscape fragmentation.

Reference to negative impacts on local use of meadows and trap lines is also included.

FONV would like to congratulate everyone who wrote letters to the panel and who appeared before them. For many, this was a difficult and upsetting process to go through and it was done with great dignity and integrity. Thanks to you all.

Now, it’s up to the federal government to decide how they will proceed.

Pat Swift
www.fonv.ca
info@fonv.ca

Filed Under: B.C. Liberal Party, B.C. Politics, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Politics, Corporations, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Native Land Claims

A Monstrous Canadian Miscarriage Of Justice About To Unfold

May 9, 2010 by

El DiktatorHarper
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/forums/post1664324#1664324
A Monstrous Canadian Miscarriage Of Justice About To Unfold

RobinMathews
    by Robin Mathews

Friday,

May 7, 2010

Part Four in the series on the Gordon Campbell BC Rail Scandal.

The miscarriage of justice about to unfold is what I call “the staged trial” about to begin (May 17) as a result of the corrupt transfer of publicly-owned BC Rail to privately (in fact) U.S.-owned CNR.

Canadians sleep-walk through the takeover of their society by thugs and political adventurists.  The signs are clear.  In Ottawa the cynical Stephen Harper attacks the Supremacy of Parliament [the fundamental safeguard against undemocratic takeover]. His power grab is debated as a question of the need to “compromise” on solutions to the denial of essential information to elected representatives. Those men and women,  elected by Canadians, stand embarrassingly naked, (simply) stripped of their power to represent the people who elect them. (And their condition is blurred, misrepresented, and misreported by the “bought” mainstream press and media.)

In Alberta, government allies itself with corporations to produce a (planned) almost unsupervised looting of community and environment – in the tar sands rape.  The whole world notices what Canadians shut their  eyes to. The April (Paris, France) ‘Le Monde diplomatique’ features a huge spread on the subject.  [translation] “The conservatives in power in Alberta have transformed, with the aid of Ottawa, the north of the province into a supermarket of dirty oil for the profit of multinationals and their U.S. neighbour.  The boreal forest is being sacrificed as are the first nations of the region.” The story concentrates on the cynical erasure of native rights –which in recent decades have been a symbol that Canadian democracy was alive and demanding universal equality.

In British Columbia I allege that the Gordon Campbell government – aided by a depressingly servile journalism (mainstream and other) – is engaged in an almost incredible collaboration with RCMP, the higher courts, and the formal political Opposition (poster-group for the failure of Opposition in Canada) – asleep, bribed, or stupid – to hand the province to thugs and political adventurists.

That involves, as we will see, the calculated destruction of law and the administration of justice in the province.

Public wealth is being gifted to private corporations by sleight-of-hand, often in secret contracts, and – I allege – by criminal activity (elaborately uninvestigated by the RCMP).  The tax burden is being lifted from the corporations-in-close-cooperation with the Campbell group and laid on an increasingly impoverished population.  Education is being attacked.  Protection of children is being slashed by calculated legislation. The new Clean Energy Act is a simple ruse to destroy the publicly accountable B.C. Utilities Commission. A slow, continuous undermining of universal health care is – to the observing – a calculated, continuous government policy.

In short, all levels of accountability to the public for the use (and misuse) of government and corporate power are being undermined or destroyed outright in British Columbia.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Alternative Media, B.C. Liberal Party, B.C. Politics, B.C. Supreme Court, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Politics, Conspiracy, Corporations, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Jewish Media Monopoly, Law & Justice, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Native Land Claims, Political Zionism, Robin Mathews/Contributor

RadAd:In support of the Sacred Mother

March 24, 2010 by

RadAdMotherE

Filed Under: Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations, Mother Earth, Native Land Claims, RadAd

Public hearings on mine proposal WILL include Tsilhqot’in documentary

March 24, 2010 by

BlueGoldPoster

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Aboriginal-Affairs/2010/03/23/FilmPanel/
Public hearings on mine proposal will include Tsilhqot’in documentary
By Andrew MacLeod March 23, 2010

Taseko Mines Ltd. has failed in its bid to prevent a documentary about the Tsilhqot’in people’s connection to Teztan Biny, or Fish Lake, from being shown at a public hearing on a mine proposal southwest of Williams Lake.

The federal review panel this morning dismissed Taseko’s motion that last week asked that the film Blue Gold: The Tsilhqot’in Fight for Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) not be shown at the public hearing, said Jay Nelson, a Victoria lawyer acting for the TNG, in an email. “It held that its rules of procedure did not prohibit presenting information in this form,” he said.

A lawyer acting for Taseko did not respond to a message by posting time. The submission to the panel said Blue Gold is a “propaganda film, produced to influence the opinions or behaviour of people, by providing deliberately biased content in an emotional context,” the Tyee reported.

The film’s director, Susan Smitten, said she laughed when she heard the company’s lawyer had called the film “propaganda.”

“The film’s power comes in its authenticity,” she said. It was made as a way to help the Tsilhqot’in people express what the threatened lake means to them, she said. “They come from a position of love.”

Views of Blue Gold tripled the day after Taseko asked that the film be kept out of the hearing, she said. Filmed in two days with a budget under $10,000, it has been watched by people around the world, she said.

The film can be seen on the Hook or on Vimeo. It will be shown during the panel’s evening hearings on March 24.
————-
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria.

Filed Under: B.C. Politics, BLUEGOLD, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations, Native Land Claims, Taseko Mines Ltd, Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), Tsilhqot'in Nation

Open Letter to Taseko Mines Limited: Destruction of Fish Lake in Tsilqot’in Territory

March 21, 2010 by

ChilcotinHomSecurity

[Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to the Editor of the Quesnel Cariboo Observer by myself after reading the front page article in their March 18, 2010 edition headed: "Public support key to mine project's success." (See article below as well)

The story covered an "appeal" given to the Quesnel Chamber of Commerce by Taseko Mines Limited vice president Brian Battison concerning Taseko's controversial "Prosperity" copper-gold mine slated for development in what is known as Tsilhqot'in Traditional territory, aka the Chilcotin area of B.C. located south west of Williams Lake, B.C.

The one major monkey wrench which Taseko Mines attempts to downplay while waxing eloquent to Quesnel Chamber of Commerce members about money and jobs and progress is the blatant fact that in order to build their mine they would have to destroy a lake (Fish Lake, also known as Tetzan Biny in the native tongue), held sacred by the indigenous residents in an area of B.C. still as yet unceded to the provincial or federal governments in any title settlement.

The letter, to date, has not been published by the Observer and considering its length may not appear in full should it actually be published. As such I decided to make it an Open Letter to Taseko Mines Limited so that the general public would have online access to its contents.

Interested and concerned supporters of the Tsilhqot'in people are asked to pass it along to their friends and associates.

***Further note as of March 25th: The Quesnel Cariboo Observer published the letter in full in their March 25th edition. It can be found at http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/quesnelobserver/opinion/letters/89209507.html "The only true way to prosperity for everyone."

I am most appreciative of the fact that this mainstream newspaper has given my pro-Tsilhqot'in perspective coverage in their pages. Big thanks to Editor Autumn MacDonald.]

——————

Open Letter to Taseko Mines Limited: Destruction of Fish Lake in Tsilqot’in Territory

By Arthur Topham

March 19, 2010

To:

Russell Hallbauer
President, CEO and Director

Ronald Thiessen
Chairman of the Board and Director

C/O

Investor Relations
Brian Bergot
Direct: (778) 373-4545
Email: BrianBergot@tasekomines.com

Taseko Mines Limited
#300 – 905 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6C 1L6

From:

Arthur Topham
4633 Barkerville Hwy
Quesnel, B.C.
V2J 6T8

Phone: 250-992-3479
Email: radical@radicalpress.com

March 19, 2010

Editor
Quesnel Cariboo Observer
newsroom@quesnelobserver.com

Editor:

Re: Public support key to mine project’s success, Observer, March 18/10

Your article states that Taseko Mines Limited vice president spoke of many things but he might as well, as the Walrus in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, have spoke of “shoes – and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages – and kings – And why the sea is boiling hot – and whether pigs have wings.”

All Battison’s talk of “employment” and “millions in capital investment” and “sustainability” and “relationships” sounds no different than what the Walrus stated to the Oysters prior to gobbling them up for lunch.

The “key,” unlike what Taseko is proposing, is not “public support” for a flawed project but the realization, by all the players in this deceptive deal, that the land in question is legally in the hands of the Chilcotin people and that they, and they alone in the final analysis, have the last word in whether or not a mine will manifest within their traditional, unceded territories. Anything else is subterfuge and within the same realm of fantasy as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

Taseko is saying, “Essentially we’re building another Gibralter in the Cariboo,” but my response to that disingenuous statement would be: Actually, no. Due to the manner in which this process is being steam-rollered through the negotiations process what Taseko is laying the foundations for is another Oka Uprising or, an example more close to home, another Gustafsen Lake stand-off, like what we witnessed back in 1995 out of 100 Mile House when the former NDP government and the Canadian military attempted to lie to the public via the media and violently remove a small group of native Sundancers from off of their traditional territory.

For Prosperity the sacrifice of a relatively small lake, Fish Lake (Tetzan Biny in the native language), is not a big deal compared to their gargantuan plans for the future. This may seem quite normal to them seeing as they don’t live in the area or have any historic or spiritual ties to the land there, but for the people of the Tsilhqot’in Nation this small, unassuming and placid lake symbolizes the essence of all that composes their culture, history and way of life.

When Battison stated that, “some First Nation chiefs have expressed ‘strong and inflexible’ positions on Prosperity. Opinions, he said, they are ‘entitled to hold,’” we come to the crux of the issue; one that Battison and others would rather not acknowledge and deal with.

When he speaks of “some” First Nations chiefs he is referring to ALL the First Nations chiefs within the surrounding, unceded territories where the proposed Prosperity mine would be located if it were to ever materialize.

Fish Lake is located deep within the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s traditional, unceded territory. As Black’s Law Dictionary clearly states, unceded means the land has never been yielded or assigned or granted by the Tsilhqot’in government to either the federal or provincial governments in any legal and binding treaty. As such it is still legally in possession by the people who have lived in the area for thousands of years.

While this is, admittedly, a rather inconvenient truth for both levels of government and for the corporation that is desperately attempting to circumvent these established facts in order to build their mine it nonetheless is the actual reality rather than what all the rhetoric coming from Taseko’s vice president Brian Battison would have the gullible public believe.

It would be a grave error on Battison’s part to think that the adamant position of all of these chief’s is merely “opinion” that they are “entitled to hold.” Far from it. Their position is backed by history, tradition and legal precedent and for all of the public relations scamming that’s occurring in the media the facts still remain: the land belongs to the Tsilhqot’in Nation and it is up to them whether they wish to allow corporate interests to destroy what they claim is a sacred lake. No outsiders have the legal or moral right to question the position taken by the chiefs. Taseko knows this. The Campbell government knows this. The Federal Conservative government knows this. And you can be bloody sure that the mainstream media also knows it yet refuses, as is their duty and responsibility to the public, to inform readers of this fact of life.

The Campbell government giving Prosperity the “go-ahead” is meaningless within the context of treaty rights and traditional ownership of the land in question.

Another fact, not mentioned, is that no outside body thus far has been able to buy off any of the chiefs and thus create the typical “divide and conquer” scenario among the local chiefs. This is a great problem for both government and Taseko as it’s normally par for the course that they manage to produce a red apple here or there to complete the signing and give-away process regardless of what the people themselves desire.

The abject failure by government, Taseko, the media and the dumbed-down public to concede the fact that the land is still owned and controlled by the Tsilhqot’in people and that they are fully within their legal rights to oppose this massive deception called “Prosperity,” will ultimately result in a clash if blindly pursued; one bound to explode into hatred and violence and potential bloodshed if these government and corporate entities don’t get a grip on the actual gravity of the situation.

The people of the Chilcotin territory are peace-loving and fair-minded but they are also extremely cognizant of the history of their people and past attempts by government to deceive them and exploit their territories. They have proven themselves to be a people strong enough and courageous enough to stand up for their land, their culture and their spiritual values. It would therefore, as I’ve already stated, be a remarkably foolish error to try and force this project upon a people who have stood in defiance of subjugation since the European settlers first set foot in their territory.

All the talk therefore about “working with” First Nations; providing “employment” and “partnerships” and “opportunities” for “training” and “advancement” is nothing but smoke and mirrors that the chiefs and the people they represent see through.

It’s time we stopped promoting all the feverish pitch for Taseko along with the selfishness and greed and lying and started respecting the wishes of our first people. That is the only true way to prosperity for everyone.

Arthur Topham

Cottonwood, B.C.

————————–

Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Public support key to mine project’s success

By Autumn MacDonald – Quesnel Cariboo Observer
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/quesnelobserver/news/88493392.html

Published: March 18, 2010 

He spoke of employment, hundreds of millions in capital investment, sustainability and relationships.

“And the key to it all is public support,” he said.

“Let your voice be heard.”

Taseko Mines Limited vice president Brian Battison appealed to Chamber of Commerce members Wednesday, first running through the company’s operations at Gibralter, then moving onto one of the most talked-about mining opportunities in the country: Prosperity, one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in Canada.

“Essentially we’re building another Gibralter in the Cariboo,” he said.

To do so, the company needs manpower – and a lot of it.

“Seven hundred construction jobs over a two-year period [to build it],” Battison said, using point-form to highlight economic benefits.

“Operating jobs, as many as 500 for 20 years, 1,200 additional indirect jobs.”

The operation also requires $800 million in capital investment and $200 million in spending every year, totaling $5 billion over the 20 plus life-span of the mine.

“All of this effort, all of this spending, all of this employment, all of this opportunity will contribute significantly to the future and sustainability of regional communities in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and the central interior,” he said.

Of course, he said, it comes at a cost.

Developing Prosperity means the draining of Fish Lake, average depth of 12-feet and home to rainbow trout.

“We wish it were otherwise,” he said.

“We searched hard for a different way, a way to retain the lake and have the mine. But there is no viable alternative.”

Because the deposit and the lake sit side-by-side.

“It is not possible to have one without the loss of the other,” he added.

However, he said, they can compensate for the loss by building a new lake and creating new fish habitat.

“The Cariboo-Chilcotin region covers an area of 80,262 kilometres or 20 million acres” Battison said.

“The area directly impacted by Prosperity totals 5,420 acres.”

Battison explained some First Nation chiefs have expressed “strong and inflexible” positions on Prosperity. Opinions, he said, they are “entitled to hold.”

“Our belief is that many First Nations people themselves hold other views, views that are more flexible, thoughts that are more progressive, ideas that look to the future with hope and optimism,” he said.

“They believe that not all change is bad.”

Battison said the company believes there exists the ability to combine the historic First Nation traditions and ancient practices with the benefits of full participation in modern society.

Recently, the provincial government gave the go-ahead to Prosperity, stating the project has no adverse environmental impacts, except that of Fish Lake.

The provincial environmental assessment certificate also outlines a number of commitments Taseko must fulfill.

These include working with First Nations, providing opportunities for employment, promoting partnerships with First Nation neighbours and providing opportunities for training and career advancement for employees.

Starting Monday the federal evaluation begins. A three-member panel is flying into Williams Lake. The process includes a 29-day review, 17 of those will be spent in First Nation communities.

“The public needs to make their views known,” Battison said.

“The key to this project’s success is community impact. The first meeting we had in the provincial process, more than 500 people attended. It had an impact.”

Because the reality of resource development today, he said is “people need to fight for it.”

Public hearings begin March 22 in Williams Lake, 10 a.m.

Those wishing to present to the panel are requested to register by contacting the panel manager Colette Spagnuolo, 1-866-582-1884 or e-mail, prosperity.review@ceaa-acee.gc.ca .

Residents can also outline their comments on the project at the above e-mail address.

————————

Filed Under: Alternative Media, Arthur Topham/ Contributor, B.C. Liberal Party, B.C. Politics, B.C. Supreme Court, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Politics, Conspiracy, Corporations, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Native Land Claims, Political Prisoners

Splitting the Sky Versus the War Criminals by Edna Spennato

March 19, 2010 by

STS Versus the War Criminals © Edna Spennato 2010.

Photomontage made on 17 March 2010

Mundo dos Sonhos
World of Dreams

Hi friends,

Just to let you know that a new photomontage has been posted at Mundo dos Sonhos, in support of the trial last week in Calgary, BC, of the veteran Mohawk activist, Splitting the Sky, who attempted to arrest the war criminal, GW Bush, when he came to Calgary a year ago.

Some interesting links and audio and video footage are included in the blog post.

With love

Edna

March 18, 2010

Splitting the Sky Versus the War Criminals

Edna Spennato

On 17 March 2009 in Calgary, Canada, Splitting the Sky (aka John Boncore) was arrested and charged with obstruction (as he fully expected) when he tried to serve George W. Bush with a citizen’s warrant, and to arrest him to stand trial for war crimes and torture. In doing so, he sacrificed himself for ALL of us who are concerned with Truth, Peace and Justice. His trial took place on 8 and 9 March, and judgment will be passed on 7 June 2010.  The trial was closed down by the state after 2 days, though he was originally given 5 days to present evidence of war crimes and torture, as well as the involvement of the Bush regime in the events of 9/11, to justify his actions under the legal principle of “civil resistance”.

STS needs our support… Updates on the trial at his home page and blog.

Listen to STS – Anthem for Dissent

Citizen’s Arrest of George W. Bush for War Crimes – The Trial of “Splitting the Sky”

by Prof. Anthony J. Hall

Who and What is on Trial?

When Splitting the Sky broke through police lines in his attempt to conduct a citizen’s arrest of former US president George W. Bush, the Mohawk freedom fighter pierced a thick wall of tyranny. He broke through a tight phalanx of state protection for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace.

With his courageous act, Splitting the Sky announced the unwillingness of millions of global citizens to tolerate any longer the culture of impunity that places a small, interlinked global plutocracy above the law….

Read in full here.

9/11 Truth is “Splitting the Sky”

by Peter Zaza

…John Boncore was born in Buffalo, New York on January 7, 1952. His Mohawk name, Dacajeweiah, translated into English means “Splitting the Sky”. From the age of seven he endured many years in New York foster homes and youth detention centres where he was ill-treated. Eventually he would become the only man convicted as a ringleader of the infamous 1971 Attica State Prison rebellion in upstate New York, in the course of which 43 inmates were killed. This event has inspired several movies — “Against the Wall” (1994) starring Samuel L. Jackson, and “Attica” (1980) starring Morgan Freeman — and documentaries including “Attica” (1974), and “The Ghosts of Attica” (2001). He was listed by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young of the Carter administration as the number one political prisoner in the USA in 1975.

Splitting the Sky founded an organization to unite all Indigenous Peoples into a great confederation called the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere (LISN). In 1995 he was the Sun Dance Chief at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia, during the Gustafsen Lake Standoff, which was precipitated by a rancher who attempted to evict the Sun Dancers from what he claimed was his property. The incident turned into a major protest against the occupation of unceded native land. Splitting the Sky was an outspoken critic of the government’s handling of the incident and was among those who raised the question of so-called “Aboriginal Title” under international law. Specifically, aboriginal title is enshrined under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which is validated as an aboriginal right in section (35) of the Canadian Constitution.

On September 10th, 2001, Splitting the Sky and his family were checking out of the Marriott Hotel one block from the World Trade Center in New York. Had he stayed an extra day or two, as was originally planned, he and his family might have suffered the fate of 400 others at that location who lost their lives during the 9/11 tragedy. As if by some intuition, he and his wife decided to cut short their stay and get out of New York City. While many researchers for 9/11 Truth deal with the never ending incongruities and falsehoods of the government’s story regarding 9/11, or the various examples of forensic evidence proving controlled demolition, Splitting the Sky has studied the complex web of people and organizations he believes to be the authors of this crime. Through careful deconstruction of the financial entities involved, as well shining the light on those specific figures who occupy the principle seats of power within those structures, he follows the age old maxims of criminology which compel us to “follow the money”, as well as determine “who benefits”….

Read in full here.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Cynthia McKinney Meets Splitting the Sky – Calgary, Mar 9th, 2010 See here
14 part video playlist (90 minutes) at the above link will stream all 14 segments consecutively. Teaser at this link.

———-

Edna Spennato
Earth Heal Geoharmonic Research Project
Founder of Earth Heal, healing facilitator, writer, artist
Based in Cape Town, South Africa and Alagoas, Brasil

Earth Heal Blog: http://earthheal.blogspot.com/
Photomontage: http://mundosonhos.wordpress.com/

Filed Under: 9/11 Truth, 911, Afghanistan, Alternative Media, Anthony J. Hall, Attica State Prison, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Politics, Cynthia McKinney, Earth Heal Geoharmonic Research Project, Editor's Zone, Edna Spennato, First Nations of Turtle Island, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Thought, Gaza, Global Research, Gustafsen Lake, Indigenous Nations, Internet Freedom, Iraq, John Boncore, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Michel Chossudovsky, Middle East, Mundo dos Sonhos, Native Land Claims, North American Union (NAU), Palestine, Peter Zaza, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, Splitting the Sky, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Democratic Party, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies, U.S. Republican Party, U.S. Terrorism, U.S. Torture, World of Dreams

A RadicalPress Exclusive Interview with Splitting the Sky

March 17, 2010 by

(Editor’s Note: The following Two Part interview with Splitting the Sky aka John Boncore took place via telephone conversation back in September of 2000. Due to the limited extent of the newspaper’s coverage back during that period the interview did not make it onto the Internet. Today, with Splitting the Sky back in the news online after his dramatic attempt this past September to make a citizen’s arrest of the War Criminal, ex-President of the USA, George W. Bush in Calgary, Alberta, it seems appropriate to re-issue this dramatic activist’s interview with Radical Press.

Readers are bound to find it an exciting, informative, provocative, highly enlightening and spell-binding expose of a life of one of today’s foremost radical activists. Ed.)

———


A Radical Interview with John Splitting the Sky, Gustafsen Lake Defender

Vol. 3 No. 3 The Radical October, 2000

 

By Arthur Topham

 

©RadicalPress.com

 

Part One

 

(The Radical is most appreciative for having the opportunity to present the following interview with John Splitting the Sky Hill. As readers are about to realize Mr. Hill has led a most remarkable life; one fraught almost from the onset with challenges, dangers and responsibilities that the average person would cringe at the thought of having to endure.

 

For all of John’s trials though, he has emerged- tempered by the fires of life- as a leading spokesperson for native sovereignty issues and a living example of the persevering spirit of resistance that has kept the aboriginal people of this continent strong.

 

This interview will be covered over the next two issues of The Radical due to it’s length.

In short it’s an abbreviated odyssey, an epitomizing epic of one man’s struggle to maintain his dignity and spirit in a world where native traditional values are no longer given the respect and honour that they once knew. John Splitting the Sky Hill’s story of how he survived a brutal prison system in New York state only to end up playing a major role in the Gustafsen Lake Stand off during 1995 will surely come as a major surprise to readers who only heard the one-sided reports that came from the corporate press during that time.

 

It’s a riveting tale with a message as relevant today as it was almost thirty years ago. Ed.)

 

RAD:   John it’s now been almost 10 years since the Oka uprising occurred and 5 years since the stand-off at Gustafsen Lake just west of 100 Mile House, B.C. The  incident at Gustafsen Lake in many ways marked a turning point here in British Columbia for the manner in which our provincial government conducted itself toward native disputes. You and Wolverine, aka William Ignace or Jonesy were to play some major parts at Gusfafsen Lake. Hopefully this interview will allow Radical readers to gain a much clearer insight into what was going on behind the corporate media’s blockade of information that the general public were subjected to back then. But prior to getting into that I would like to ask you if you could talk about your own personal history and how it was that a native rights activist like yourself, originally from New York state, USA ended up running a Sundance ceremony at Gustafsen Lake.

 

While in Vancouver for the Under the Volcano festival in mid-August I heard

you speaking in a workshop. At that time you mentioned that you had been directly involved in the infamous Attica Uprising in New York back in 1971 and ended up being the only player in that incident that did time. Let’s begin then with some background on how it was that at the ripe old age of 19 you became involved in one of America’s most bloody uprisings of the last century.

 

StS:   Well, at the time of this talk I’m 48 years old and I’ll be 49 next January. I was born in Buffalo, NY. My mother is from the Mohawk Nation in Branford, Ontario and so my roots are basically here in Canada. As well my Grandmother was a Cree woman from Fort Qu’Appelle,  Saskatchewan. So like I said my roots are in Canada but my mother married my father who was from Buffalo, NY. He passed away though in 1957. He worked for U.S. Rubber and had been commissioned by the company, along with ten other men, to spray paint one of their utility tanks, these massive tanks that they had at the plant there. They had been told by the company that they didn’t need gas masks but all the eleven men ended up dying from toxic inhalation.

 

RAD: Oh, Christ!

 

StS:  And so eleven of them died and it wasn’t too long after that the child welfare department in Buffalo came and snatched up me and my sisters and put us into the foster care system.

 

RAD:  How old would you have been then?

 

StS:  Well I was 7 years old then and my sisters were like 6, 5, 4 and 3 respectively. And from that point on we were all separated into different foster homes.

 

I then went through a number of boarding school situations and orphanages. The boarding schools were like the residential schools here in Canada in fact the residential schools pretty much got their ideas from the boarding schools in the states.

 

So having gone through those schools for a number of years and resisting the kind of abusive treatment and brutality that existed within these joints I began to gain a reputation for being what you would say was an “incorrigible” person. I detail a lot of this information in my soon to be released Autobiography of  Splitting the Sky Along With My Wife Sandra Bruderer subtitled: From Attica to Gustafsen Lake.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: 911, Alternative Media, Arthur Topham/ Contributor, Canadian Politics, Conspiracy, Editor's Zone, First Nations of Turtle Island, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Thought, Indigenous Nations, Internet Freedom, Law & Justice, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Native Land Claims, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Democratic Party, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies, U.S. Republican Party, U.S. Terrorism, U.S. Torture

An Open Letter to Prosperity Review – Fish Lake: Tsilhqot’in gold stays in the ground by Carmen Nunez

March 15, 2010 by

Fish Lake: Tsilhqot’in gold stays in the ground
by Carmen Nunez

March 13, 2010

To:
Prosperity Review
prosperity.review@ceaa-acee.gc.ca

Hello.

I’ve received an email indicating I could send you an email to express my views on the proposed project of a gold mine at Fish Lake.

First of all, whatever information you or the other members of the panel, the people of Williams Lake, and the investors are receiving from the people of Taseko Co. is bound to be incomplete and biased.  I have seen published that they went through with all required consultation with first nations in this area and that is just not true.  I live in one of the Tsilhqot’in communities and I know for a fact that there has been no consultation and indeed very little interaction with the people of these reserves.

It is very angering to read in the newspaper how the proposed project is being described, it is being described as something that is going to happen: “So sorry we have to destroy Fish Lake, we’ll do it with sadness, and this is how much money we’ll be making….”  The people of Taseko are assuming that their project will go through, and such an assumption is quite an insult because it implies they are turning deaf ears to the protests of the Tsilhqot’in people.

The statements about environmental impact are also quite ridiculous: “There will be no major impacts except for the destruction of Fish Lake”.  That is like saying “It is not dark, only there is no light” or “We’re not going to hurt you, only hit you,”  I don’t know and I don’t know anybody who knows what the studies of environmental impact were like:  Who conducted them?  For how long?  What is the design of those studies? What data was collected and how was it analyzed?  As a biologist, I know that to calculate the potential damage of a “development” to an ecosystem is an enormously complex task that would require large sums of money and a lot of people working on it for a long time to have some tentative answers.  So, the absolute statement “There will be no major impact” is to me obviously dishonest.  I think that whatever studies were conducted have to be published in their entirety. It is only fair that the information is made public so that authentic questions can be asked.  What’s the use of holding panels for people to ask questions when nobody really knows how decisions are being made?

It is also very angering how Taseko Co. has been pushing to sell the idea of the mine to the people of William’s Lake, with presentations, biased media, and even ads in the radio saying how the mine will save this region from the economic recession, how it will make things right….  That’s inaccurate, it’s nothing but marketing.

The facts are that there is a crisis in the world right now that has to do with scarcity of fresh water.  Even right in William’s Lake fresh water is being rationed and people experience shortages and having low quality water.  Water is undoubtedly the most precious resource to human and non human populations on this planet and as pollution and climate change get worse clean fresh water will become more and more precious.  In that context it makes absolutely no sense to risk contaminating the pristine, unspoiled precious water bodies of the Chilcotin wilderness.  The lakes and the rivers here are all clean, perfect and abundant in life-giving water.  People here have known the lakes in this area to be sacred; made up of healing waters and if you have ever come to swim in the Chilcotin or Taseko rivers or to dive into Chilko lake or Fish Lake then you will know exactly what that means.

Healing waters, sacred waters are infinitely more precious and important than jewelry and 20 years of nine to five jobs. The development of the mine would not only have the impact of annihilating all life in Fish Lake and destroying a site that is sacred for the people who know it as their home and the heritage of their ancestors, it would also have the impact of destruction of all the trees that would need to go to make way for the roads, power lines, and traffic of machinery in and out of the mine site.  It would have the impact of air, soil, and noise pollution being produced continuously at a place that is now blessedly silent and at peace.  It would have the impact of scaring off the wild game on which wild predators and traditional hunters rely for food.  It would have the impact of depriving the already unfairly harassed and persecuted grizzly bears of a micro habitat that is ideal for them and sustains their life.  It would have the impact of creating an influx of foreigners to an area that is now still relatively autonomous and the safe haven for a people who are made to feel out of place anywhere else.

Tsilhqot’in people have lived in this beautiful and magnificent pristine wilderness for at least ten thousand years.  In all those years there has been no destruction of the land because it has been preserved and loved by the people.  The land as it is, the wild nature, the landscapes, the wildlife all have a profound and personal meaning to the Tshilhqot’in people. This is their home and the home of their ancestors; it is their place in a way that no immigrant to this land could possibly understand.  The colonial government is foreign to this place, and as a foreigner, it doesn’t recognize the value of what is here.  Where Taseko Co. and the government of BC see only dirt, minerals, trees to be cut, animals to be killed, and people that get in the way of progress, the Tsilhqot’in people see their history, their mother, their brothers, and the sacrifice of their leaders to protect the land.

Already during the years of the gold rush there was a huge pressure to rip through the sacred land of the Tsilhqot’in territory. There was the insatiable push of greed and the colonizers did all they could to wipe out the Tsilhqot’in population.  They spread smallpox deliberately; they pushed the indigenous people to their death and then claimed their land as theirs.  They killed off as many people as they could and then settled right there and set up their ranches or sold the land to other ranchers for a handful of cents.  They had the intention of “developing” this area, of mining for gold, and if they had succeeded what is now Vancouver would be at Bella Coola and this whole area would be urbanized, or in other words, lost (no more wild game, no more traditional hunting, no more fishing, no more clean water, no more views of wild nature to put one’s heart back in place).

The only thing that stood between that insatiable greed and the actual realization of their horrible vision were the Tsilhqot’in survivors, the Tsilhqot’in warriors who fought back to protect their land, their place, their right to live, and the lives of their children and grandchildren.  Many were killed, and seven leaders were deceived, betrayed, and hung by what is now “the province of BC”, but still their actions resulted in those greedy plans being postponed… Until now.

“The province” never gave up their desire to extract the gold from the heart of the Chilcotin range. What is happening now is not a new story, it is merely the continuation of what is traditionally known as the Chilcotin war.  The push for Taseko Mining Co. to move in here like it’s theirs is another advance of the drive for colonization and the annihilation of the Tsilhqot’in people.  It is a provocation for war, as clearly as anything can be and for people here, the protection of the land is a matter of life or death.  There are elders already saying, “I will die to protect Fish Lake”.  Why?  Because Fish Lake means everything.  Fish Lake means the Tsilhqot’in nation is still a free nation. It means the Tsilhqot’in people still have their land to rely on; they can still fish and hunt and live off the land; they can still gather as they have for thousands of years; they can still honor and respect as sacred what their ancestors honored and respected as sacred for thousands of years.

This area is still Tsilhqot’in land. As soon as you cross the so-called Fraser River coming this way you feel this area belongs to the people of  the Tsilhqot’in.  You can feel in these communities the independence and lifestyle of the people is still protected. There is still traditional fishing and hunting. There is still a connection to the land, knowledge of the land. There are still not that many foreigners to disrupt the familiarity and peaceful pace of life out here.

The presence of a mine deep in the heart of the Chilcotin area would shatter that peace and familiarity, that sense of autonomy and power, and the bonds and workings within the communities.  A mine would bring with it truckloads of workers with their accompanying alcohol, drugs, garbage, racism, appropriation of the land, prostitution and so on.  Fences would go up and the traditional ways of sharing the land would be impeded.  People from here would no longer have the power and freedom to go anywhere they please within their territory.  What is now a perfectly beautiful and sacred site would be an enormous dump, a scar, a symbol of greed and unnecessary exploitation of the land, yet another case of rape of the mother of us all (the Earth).

Would the Tsilhqot’in elders have their traditional gathering at “Prosperity Lake”? Tsy’los watches over Fish Lake. Would he rather watch his people participate in the exploitation of the land or would he like to watch them honor mother Earth and gather to celebrate and enjoy what she offers?

All of this might sound like nonsense to investors and stockholders who can only think in terms of money, costs and profit.  It might sound like nonsense to people in the cities, people who have never come to see Fish Lake; to people who have no connection to this land whatsoever, but it is not nonsense to the people who live here.  I live here and I can say in all sincerity I genuinely love this land. I love this place as it is and I appreciate and cherish the Tsilhqot’in communities and people just as they are. No amount of money can pay for the loss of beauty, for the loss of freedom, for the loss of wild nature.  The toxic waste that a gold mine can produce doesn’t miraculously disappear, it is made to stay. It stays.  The fallen trees stay gone, the fish stay gone, the wild game stay gone and there is no money or gold that could bring them back.

If the waters of the Chilcotin river become polluted there will be no money that could clean them.  No more healing waters; no more jumping in to feel born again; no more fishing for salmon like the ancestors did.  No more fishing nets; no more missing work to stay home and cut up all the fish you caught the night before; no more hunting for moose and sharing the meat with all your neighbors. That has no price.  It can’t be said or understood in terms of money for money is only an illusion anyway.  What good is money if you can’t drink from the river right in front of you?  What good is money if you have to stay thirsty when you’re out in the bush, lest you poison yourself by drinking up uranium or some other heavy metal from a creek nearby? What good is money if you can’t share with your children the teachings and activities that your grandparents shared with you? A gold mine out here is just not worth it.

Artist: Robin Koni

It is not worth it for any Tsilhqot’in person immediately and it also not worth it for anyone else ultimately.  People would get the chance to be miners and ruin their health while selling their soul for twenty years and then what?  What after the mine?  Would Taseko Co. continue to pay the workers’ salaries after the mine is closed?  Would any of the locals of the Chilcotin-Cariboo be a millionaire by the time the mine closes down?

Only the stockholders of Taseko Co. would be millionaires, everyone else is just a means to make them so. The fact is that the people of the Chilcotin-Cariboo would benefit more from conserving their most precious asset: wild nature.  Money could be invested in projects of eco-tourism, sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy. There are many ways in which the economy of this region could be revitalized.

Really, there is no need to damage this planet any more. There is no need to generate any environmental damage in this area. There is no need for any more abuse and damage to first nations people.  Nobody needs gold to live. A gold mine is not a human necessity and we can all live without it. That is a fact.

We can choose to walk down a path that leads us to justice, peace, and harmony. There is no need to repeat the patterns of greed and mindless destruction that have already caused so much damage to ecosystems and to people all over the world.  I say end the gold rush already, end the greed, end the illusions.  Clean water is truly precious. The pristine and unspoiled water bodies of the Chilcotin range are its true wealth.

Tsilhqot’in gold stays in the ground.

Thank you, and please share this with as many people as you can.
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Carmen Nunez can be reached at sersuave@gmail.com

Filed Under: B.C. Liberal Party, B.C. Politics, Canadian Politics, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations, Native Land Claims

Zionist-controlled Calgary Court shuts down Splitting the Sky v. War Criminal G.W. Bush proceedings in day two of trial

March 11, 2010 by

Calgary Police “taking down” Splitting the Sky while attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of War Criminal George W. Bush in Calgary, Alberta on September 17, 2009. 
________________________________________________________________________________

Arthur Topham RP Publisher

March 10, 2010

Editor’s Note:

It’s fairly evident from the manner in which this case was handled that the Zionist-controlled media in Canada and elsewhere doesn’t want the issue of Bush the Barbarous brought to the attention of the general public. A protracted trial in which credible authorities might offer evidence in the defense of the accused and, God forbid, Splitting the Sky is given an opportunity to actually voice his convictions, is not the Zionist way of doing business. Better to just quash the whole damn thing and once the issue has filtered out of the public’s mind then bring in a ruling further down the road to tyranny and censorship.

Splitting the Sky

It’s my humble, yet considered opinion, that Canada’s judiciary, like the msm, is so infiltrated, permeated and manipulated by these Zionist/Jew lobbyists and their lawyer henchmen and women, that our courts today are as likely to spawn honest and just decisions as the Zionist-controlled msm is likely to present information that hasn’t first been run through the Orwellian Double Speak wringer prior to general publication.

Both these institutions (and others) bear witness to the fact that our civil and legal infrastructures are firmly in the hands of foreign, seditious entities who are using them for power and control and manipulation of the collective mindset of the Canadian public while their subsidiary organs of control, i.e. the multinational corporations, be they oil or ag or pharma or cult or whatever, drain this country of its natural resource wealth and human potential.

Due to the Zionist’s inordinate and immoral power via their financial and media influences men like Anthony J. Hall are forced to equate the machinations of the courts and the police and media to secondary and tertiary linguistic labels such as “oil conglomerates” all in order to escape the deadly-poisoned arrows of the Zionists who let fly their “anti-Semitic,” “racist,” and “hate”-tipped barbs at anyone who comes near to calling a spade a spade or a Zionist a Zionist.

War Criminal psychopath G.W. Bush, like his War Criminal psychopathic partner in crime, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, are mere puppets to the Israeli Jew lobby; flunkies and lackeys and cretins of the most despicable type who, under their false pretense of being “Christians,” carry out the dirty work of slaughtering the sons and daughters of American and Canadian citizens in imperialist wars of aggression against innocent foreign nations all for the benefit of these Zionist interlopers who haunt and invade our very lives via their omnipresence throughout the media and Canada’s judiciary.


More than just a touch of levity as War Criminal Harper reaches out to G.W. Bush
_________________________________________________________________________

Well, these traitorous intruders have been releasing their bolts of vituperative lightning at me, my family and my publishing business for over two years in a relentless attempt to silence my voice and the voices of countless others whose opinions and views I carry via RadicalPress.com and the Yahoo group site known as Anti-Zionist Canada. For the Full Monty on the complaint case involving RadicalPress.com and B’nai Brith Canada please see: http://www.radicalpress.com/?page_id=995 . They literally hate to see views and opinions and ideas and truths that conflict with their own morbid, draconian and hate-filled mission of destroying every nation state on the face of this globe in order to replace them with their “International” aka Zionist New World Order template of global governance.

What should have been a media bonus for the 911 Truth movement and the supporters of Palestinian sovereignty and a solid, direct hit on the forces of darkness that now control the global political and financial marketplace of ideas and opinion has once again been nullified and thwarted thanks to the machinations of those within the system as it now exists.

If we are ever to gain ground in this protracted battle with the Zionist forces we’re going to have to sooner than later face the fact that we must call these misfits by their real name and publicly identify them and the organizations through whom they operate in order to infiltrate our governmental, civic and social/cultural structures. Pussy-footing around this salient and critical factor because of fear and doubt will only prolong the time when the shyte must  inevitably hit the proverbial fan and all fecal hell breaks loose.

Let us try our best in the interim time period to keep Splitting the Sky’s courageous efforts alive.

Shine your Light for Love, Peace & Justice for All,

Arthur Topham
Publisher/Editor
The Radical Press
Canada’s Radical News Network
“Digging to the root of the issues since 1998″
http://www.radicalpress.com
radical@radicalpress.com

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BE SURE TO WATCH THESE VIDEOS OF CYNTHIA MCKINNEY & STS SPEAKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Cynthia McKinney Meets Splitting the Sky at University of Calgary’s Peace Consortium (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzDuXTFOR8g&feature=related

Cynthia McKinney Meets Splitting the Sky at University of Calgary’s Peace Consortium (Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emO-EuF3-9Y&feature=related

_____________________________________
http://truthjihad.blogspot.com/2010/03/splitting-sky-case-shut-down-interview.html

Catch my live interview with Splitting-the-Sky, Cynthia McKinney, and Anthony Hall coming up at 2 pm Central!  http://www.noliesradio.org

Kevin Barrett
http://www.truthjihad.com
Author, Questioning the War on Terror: A Primer for Obama Voters: http://www.questioningthewaronterror.com

Bush League Justice in Judge Manfred Delong’s Calgary Court


Anthony J. Hall
Professor of Globalization Studies
University of Lethbridge
10 March, 2010

Judge Manfred Delong shut down the trial of Splitting The Sky versus George W. Bush on the second day of proceedings. The court denied STS his frequently emphasized request to have two witnesses give evidence in his defense. Those witnesses were myself and Cynthia McKinney. The trial came to an end just as Ms. McKinney arrived in Calgary from London. The US-based oil conglomerates active throughout Alberta form the core business constituency of the Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who represents a Calgary riding in Parliament.

The court accepted two documents as evidence for the defense. One is Gail Davidson’s widely disseminated legal opinion for Lawyer’s Against the War. STS and I studied this document closely in the days leading up to my friend being arrested for his arrest attempt. LAW’s legal opinion highlighted some of the evidence, statutes and treaties to brand Bush as a “credibly  accused war criminal” that should not be allowed  into Canada. Prior to Bush’s touching down in Calgary to address an audience of oil executives, Davidson’s documentation was distributed widely to officials of the Harper government and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The other exhibit for the defense was my own paper that I originally presented at an invited academic venue at the University of Winnipeg. It has been published under a variety of titles on the Internet, including at Global  Research.ca, 911 Blogger.com, 9/11 Truth.org and Voltairenet in both French and English. My initial title for it is “Bush League Justice: Should George W. Bush Be Arrested in Calgary Alberta and Tried for International Crimes?”

Delong will deliver his ruling on June 7. The case for the prosecution both revealed and obscured much about the new police strategies being employed throughout North America to monitor, manage, divide and spin doctor demonstrators seeking to call attention to their political dissent. In my opinion the Crown’s chief agent of prosecution, Tracy Davis, acted more as an advocate and defender of the police rather than as a representative of the Canadian people through Her Majesty as she is required to do according the constitutional tradition of the British Commonwealth.
————–

Anthony J. Hall can be contacted at raprockprof@gmail.com

————–
Arthur Topham is a writer and the Publisher and Editor of RadicalPress.com living in the wilds of central British Columbia, Canada. He is currently involved in a sec. 13(1) free speech battle with Harry Abrams and the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada.

Due to the nature of these sec. 13 “hate crime” complaints Arthur is under constant pressure to produce legal documents and maintain a livelihood at the same time. As such he is always in need of financial support to sustain this battle with the forces of repression and censorship involving both the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the CHR Tribunal. Any donations therefore would be most welcome. Please see the following url on the Home Page (upper right hand corner) http://www.radicalpress.com/?page_id=657 regarding donations. Also there is a “DONATE” button there for Paypal or here at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4466120 . Feel free to use any of them if you can help out. Thanks.

Arthur welcomes all feedback to his articles and can be reached at radical@radicalpress.com or via telephone at (250) 992-3479.

Filed Under: 'state' of Israel, 911, Afghanistan, Alternative Media, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), anti-Semitism, Anti-War Activism, Arab Perspectives, Arthur Topham/ Contributor, B'nai Brith, Babylonian Talmud, Canadian "Just-Us" System, Canadian Human Rights Act, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Canadian Identity/Sovereignty, Canadian Jewish Congress, Canadian Politics, Conspiracy, Corporations, Editor's Zone, First Nations of Turtle Island, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Thought, Gaza, Indigenous Nations, International Banking Syndicate, Internet Freedom, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israeli Terrorism, Jewish Banking Cartel, Jewish Holocaust Industry, Jewish Lobby, Jewish Media Monopoly, Jewish Porn Industry, Jews, Jews Behind Bolshevik Revolution, Law & Justice, Mainstream Mindcontrol Media (M3), Middle East, New World Order, Palestine, Political Prisoners, Political Zionism, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, U.S. 'War' on Terror, U.S. Foreign/Domestic Policies, U.S. Terrorism, U.S. Torture

Fish Lake: Tsilhqot’in chiefs protest Prosperity mine

February 21, 2010 by

Tsilhqot’in chiefs protest Prosperity mine

By Erin Hitchcock – Williams Lake Tribune
February 16, 2010

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/84423087.html

“The land is very vital to our people and where we make our livelihood. We want our waters to remain pure for the fish and for our people’s survival”  -Tl’esqox Chief Francis Laceese

Dozens of protesters held up signs on Highway 97 between McLeese Lake and MacAllister Thursday afternoon to show their opposition to the destruction of Fish Lake should Prosperity mine be built.
Among those protesting were Xeni Gwet’in Chief Marilyn Baptiste, ?Esdilagh Chief Bernie Elkins, Tl’esqox Chief Francis Laceese, Ulkatcho First Nation Chief Allen Louie, and Lhtako Dene Nation Chief Geronimo Squinas.

They, as well as members from First Nations communities and their supporters, displayed messages such as “Our lakes and our rivers are our life, Our elders won’t gather at a mine site, Our pristine lakes are the heritage for our children and grandchildren, You know you hit rock bottom when you’re a miner,” and “Water is more precious than gold.”

They were also protesting the B.C. government’s recent decision to grant Taseko Mines Ltd. an environmental assessment certificate for the mine following the provincial review process that was completed.

A federal panel is still reviewing the mine project and will hold public hearings beginning March 22 in Williams Lake.

If built, the copper-gold mine would be built about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake at Fish Lake (Tetzan Biny), which First Nations chiefs say is sacred and in the Tsilhqot’in declaration of rights area.

As part of its Fish Compensation Plan, Taseko Mines Ltd. would build a new lake and fill it with fish to replace Fish Lake that would be compromised for the mine.

Laceese, holding a sign that read “Free the Tsilhqot’in you just might free Tibet,” said many Tsilhqot’in members and other supporters were demonstrating Thursday because they don’t want to see the mine go through.

“The land is very vital to our people and where we make our livelihood,” Laceese said. “We want our waters to remain pure for the fish and for our people’s survival.”

He said the protesters wanted to send a strong message to the government and the mining industry that the Tsilqot’in Nation is going to stand firm against the mine.

“We have a lot of allies that will be supporting us right across B.C. and right across Canada,” he said. “Our people are very concerned about this proposed mine and we can’t stand back any longer to let them just push it through and rubber stamp the whole process.”

Baptiste — with signs behind her that said “destroying Fish Lake not the answer” and “blue gold” — said the protesters were trying to get the attention of the world.

“We are looking to save our fish, our waters, the headwaters of the Taseko River and Taseko lakes, which are a part of that wild salmon run that is part of the Chilko run,” Baptiste said.

She said the protest would get more people to realize they do have a voice and that there are First Nations who are concerned.

She said the protesters gathered were a fraction of the Tsilhqot’in people who are concerned about their aboriginal right to hunt, fish, and gather food and medicines.

She added that the B.C. environmental assessment process is “a rubber stamp” process that has never turned down a mine.

Baptiste said a joint review panel process should have been used, not the B.C. environmental assessment process and the federal panel review process. A joint review process, she said, would have included First Nations, the provincial government, and the federal government.

“Through B.C. Supreme Court and our aboriginal rights and title case, this proposed mine is in our Eastern trap line in the declaration of rights area,” Baptiste said, adding that since the Tsilhqot’in Nation has never given up its rights or title, the mine should have been reviewed only under a joint review panel.

“Our land is not for sale, has never been for sale, as we have never entered into the treaty process, and we don’t intend to,” Baptiste said.

Brian Battison, vice president of corporate affairs, said all of the First Nations concerns will be addressed through the federal review process.

“Those questions may be asked and they’ll be addressed in the federal process as they were addressed in the provincial process,” he says.

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UBCIC’s Protecting Knowledge Conference site: http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/conferences/PK.htm

Follow UBCIC on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UBCIC

Filed Under: B.C. Politics, B.C. Supreme Court, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations, Native Land Claims

Wild Horse Concert benefit for Nemaiah Valley and Fish Lake

January 14, 2010 by

Filed Under: B.C. Politics, Editor's Zone, Environmental Issues, First Nations of Turtle Island, Fish Lake -Chilcotin Territory, Friends of Nemaiah Valley, Native Land Claims
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