Canada

Indigenous land defenders from Ecuador face the risk of reprisal after speaking against Canadian mining companies

Photo: Ivonne Ramos, Hortencia Zhagüi, Rachel Lim (Amnesty International), Louise Casselman (Public Service Alliance of Canada/PSAC), Zenaida Yasacama and Fanny Kaekat at public forum in Ottawa, October 3, 2024. Photo by Laura Avalos (PSAC). CBC News reports: “Indigenous women from Ecuador are in Ottawa this week raising concerns a proposed Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Where do the provincial parties in British Columbia stand on disbanding the RCMP C-IRG?

Photo: B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad, B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau. (Ben Nelms/CBC) The provincial election in British Columbia will take place on October 19, 2024. CBC News has just posted an article How do British Columbia’s three main parties compare on these Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Gitanyow post video with images of RCMP “mercenaries” as land defenders maintain checkpoint against PRGT pipeline

The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs have posted on Instagram and Facebook: “We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors! This National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we honour the generations who fought for our lands, waters, and people — and we carry their fight forward. This is our Laxyip. This is Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Complaints Commission finds RCMP C-IRG “has repeatedly acted in a way that is contrary to the jurisprudence and to the rule of law”

Photo of Brian Smallshaw prior to his arrest by the RCMP C-IRG in 2021. Photo by Tom Mitchell from CBC News report. Two weeks ago, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) published a 16-page summary of its final report on a public complaint about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Colombian trade union seeks investigation of police killing of Buenaventura activist Vanessa Renteria Valencia in Canada

The Bogota-based National Union of Branch Workers, Services of the Transport and Logistics Industry of Colombia (SNTT) is calling for an investigation into the police killing in Canada of a former member of their union. The SNTT has posted: “In light of the events that occurred in the early hours Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Statements on horse-mounted police units and the human right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association

Photo: Victoria Police at the Land Forces arms show in Naarm/Melbourne, September 2024. Photo by Alex Bainbridge/Green Left. CBC reports: “Ottawa police plan to introduce horse-mounted patrols to the ByWard Market, in response to concerns over crime and public safety in the historic neighbourhood, Chief Eric Stubbs told a public Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Does DEFSEC Atlantic have human rights obligations following the ICJ ruling on plausible genocide?

Photo: Protest against DEFSEC Atlantic 2023. The Canadian Defence Security & Aerospace Exhibition Atlantic, or DEFSEC Atlantic, will take place this coming October 1-3 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. DEFSEC Atlantic says: “[It is] now the second largest event of its kind in Canada.” In 2023, it had 168 exhibiting organizations, Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Racist comments by RCMP officers in Coquitlam condemned, while C-IRG actions remain unresolved

Video still of Sleydo’ being arrested by the C-IRG, November 2021. CBC reports: “B.C.’s public safety minister [Mike Farnworth] has condemned the alleged conduct of Coquitlam RCMP officers accused of making racist, homophobic and sexist comments in a private online chat group.” That article adds: “CBC News revealed details Friday [September Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

PBI-Canada and CFSC (Quakers) hold webinar on Canadian arms exports to Israel and the call for an arms embargo

On September 18, the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) and PBI-Canada jointly organized a webinar, moderated by Sandra Wiens, to coincide with the six-month anniversary of the House of Commons vote (on March 18, 2024) to “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel.” To watch the Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago