Issues

Scheduling hearing set for April 25, sentencing of Wet’suwet’en land defenders delayed to September-November

Photo: Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham, Gitxsan land defender Shay Lynn Sampson, Akwesasne Mohawk land defender Teka’tsihasere Corey Jocko. The Prince George Citizen reports: “In January 2024, [BC Supreme Court Justice Michael] Tammen found Wet’suwet’en Nation’s Molly Wickham (aka Sleydo’), Gitxsan member Shaylynn Sampson and Corey Jocko, a Mohawk from Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Corporations calling for energy projects to be declared in the “national interest” could put land defenders at risk

Photo: In April 2015, Public Safety Canada’s Government Operations Centre (GOC) reportedly saw Unist’ot’en opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline as a risk to Canada’s “national interest”. By January 2019, “Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of  [the Coastal GasLink pipeline] in northern British Columbia, Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets arrive in Israel days before airstrikes on Gaza resume killing 400+ people

Photos: Israel has reportedly deployed Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets in “beast mode” (carrying internal and external weapons weighing up to 22,000 pounds); Palestinian families grieving following airstrikes on Gaza last night. On March 18, Aljazeera reported: “At least 404 Palestinians have been killed and 562 wounded as Israel launched Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham speaks to The Breach Show podcast about RCMP C-IRG violence and spying

Image from The Breach Show. Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham, also known as Cas Yikh wing chief Sleydo’, recently met with journalist Desmond Cole in Toronto for an interview about the resistance to the Coastal GasLink pipeline for The Breach Show podcast. The full interview can be found here. Key Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

ICC arrest of Duterte raises questions about CANSEC and the export of “military goods” to the Philippines

Photo: A delegation from the Philippines, led by Defense Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Teodoro Cirlo Torralba III, at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa on June 1, 2017. The sale of Bell-manufactured helicopters was finalized in December 2017. That sale was suspended in February 2018 after media coverage Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Wet’suwet’en land defender Sleydo’ highlights liberation struggle, CRCC systemic investigation of RCMP C-IRG reaches two-year point

Photo: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) C-IRG officers during the November 2021 raid on Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo by Michael Toledano. Our questions: What is the current status of the CRCC systemic investigation of the C-IRG?  What can be expected from it? What are key dates that have passed? What do Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

The integration of Canadian and US military production puts Canada at risk of complicity in violence against human rights defenders

Photo: Indigenous Lenca defender Berta Cáceres was murdered on March 2, 2016 due to her opposition to the construction of the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras. Her organization, COPINH, is accompanied by Peace Brigades International. Our question: Would it be possible to have a Canadian-version of the proposed US “Berta Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Thoughts on the Global Affairs Canada “Voices at Risk” guidelines and the Export and Import Permits Act on “military goods”

Video still of Nomadesc president Berenice Celeita speaking on a PBI-Canada webinar about Canadian arms exports, May 2022. Amnesty International has highlighted: “191 cases of police violence during the first year of President Petro’s government (August 2022 to July 2023), a 59% decrease compared with the previous year. Forty-three cases Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

PBI-Canada says that the RCMP C-IRG that criminalizes and violates the rights of land defenders should be disbanded

Video still: Land defender Shaylynn Sampson arrested on Wet’suwet’en territory by RCMP C-IRG officers, November 2021. On February 18, CBC reported that British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen ruled that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) breached the Charter rights of three Indigenous land defenders during Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

RCMP apologizes to Ricochet senior editor and Gitxsan reporter for C-IRG breaching reporter’s Charter rights in 2020

Video still: Turner at 44km on Gidimt’en territory as RCMP helicopter buzzes overhead at the time of the 2020 C-IRG raid on Wet’suwet’en territory. The CBC reports: “The RCMP [Community-Industry Response Group/C-IRG] seriously interfered with press freedoms, unreasonably blocked media access and arbitrarily detained a reporter during a 2020 raid Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago