Issues

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

RCMP C-IRG snipers repeatedly deployed against Wet’suwet’en land defenders and water protectors

Photo by Gidimt’en Checkpoint. Reporting this week on an abuse of process application brought forward by three Wet’suwet’en land defenders, The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter Amanda Follett Hosgood wrote: “The court heard that RCMP officers had set up snipers in the area prior to the arrest…” This issue noted by Follett Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago

Canadian judge finds RCMP C-IRG violated Charter rights of three land defenders in “extraordinarily rare ruling”

Photo: RCMP C-IRG officers arrest Sleydo’ on Wet’suwet’en territory, November 19, 2021. The CBC reports: “A B.C. judge says police breached the charter rights of three people arrested for blocking work on the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline, and they will receive a reduction in their sentences because of that.” The Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago

The call for British Columbia premier David Eby to defund the C-IRG in March 4 provincial budget

Stand.earth says: “This March, B.C. Premier David Eby will be presenting the budget, giving him the perfect opportunity to defund and disband the Critical Response Unit (CRU-BC), formerly known as the Community-Industry Response Group. The C-IRG became very well known for their violent policing of land defenders opposing the Coastal Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago

PBI-Honduras accompanies sit-in at Supreme Court of Justice demanding justice in the femicide of Keyla Martinez

PBI-Honduras has posted: “ Today, 4 years after the murder of Keyla Martinez, we have accompanied the sit-in in front of the Supreme Court of Justice where they have requested that the judicial authorities resolve the appeals filed. From PBI, we emphasize the importance of achieving comprehensive justice in Keyla’s Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago

Commission investigation of the RCMP C-IRG nears 2-year anniversary as PRGT pipeline decision nears

Photo: An RCMP cruiser blocks the Morice River Service Road on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Photo by Lee Wilson/APTN. As the B.C .Supreme Court is set to rule on February 18 on an abuse of process allegation about RCMP C-IRG actions on Wet’suwet’en territory, the two year anniversary on Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago

What impact could Trump’s tariff war have on Canadian military exports, the F-35 fighter jet purchase, critical minerals and human rights?

Video still of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s media conference, February 1, 2025. Yesterday, Saturday February 1, CBC reported: “[US president Donald] Trump launched a trade war against Canada … by imposing a 25 per cent tariff on virtually all goods from this country — an unprecedented strike against a long-standing Read more

By Brent Patterson, ago