Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launching a “systemic investigation” into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).

The Ottawa-based CRCC began the investigation after receiving nearly 500 complaints about the C-IRG. The CBC has reported: “More than 100 grievances accepted for investigation contain allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and charter violations.”

Following a Gitxsan-organized protest in Smithers on March 6 calling for the C-IRG to be disbanded, RCMP Staff Sergeant Kris Clark replied to criticisms of the C-IRG in a statement to My Bulkley Lakes Now (published on March 8).

Photo: RCMP Staff Sergeant Kris Clark.

In his statement, Clark refers to the C-IRG as the Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC), the new name for this controversial unit.

Most of the points he makes are directly contradicted by evidence (specifically audio recordings) and testimony from the abuse of process application hearing that took place in Smithers this past January 12-19.

That application, filed by a dozen Wet’suwet’en land defenders and supporters in February 2023, alleges “the RCMP/CIRG’s enforcement tactics impaired the Applicant’s individual Charter rights, but the police misconduct also displays a systemic disregard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the Charter more generally.”

Below we look at Clark’s assertions and testimony from the hearing:

CLARK: “It is important to understand that enforcement actions by the CRU-BC are considered to be a last resort as they are only undertaken once all other avenues to resolve conflict have been exhausted.”

FACT: At the hearing, RCMP Sergeant Ryan Arnold testified that while Emergency Response Teams normally include a negotiator, he wasn’t aware of one on site [for the November 19, 2021, raid on Wet’suwet’en territory]. C-IRG Silver Commander Superintendent James Elliott also testified: “There was not going to be any negotiation.”

CLARK: “When protests are peaceful, lawful and safe, there is no need for CRU-BC intervention but considering the violent attack on the Coastal GasLink site in February 2022, the need for police intervention was very clear.”

FACT: The RCMP C-IRG launched two major raids on the Wet’suwet’en prior to the February 2022 incident. The Guardian reports that the notes from an RCMP strategy session for the January 2019 raid show they were prepared to use lethal force and “as much violence toward the gate as you want” despite their own intelligence saying there was “no single threat indicating that [land defenders] will use firearms”.

CLARK: “While their perception of CRU-BC must be respected, it is also important to understand that there have been no physical injuries as a result of any enforcement actions to date.”

FACT: In an audio recording played at the hearing, an RCMP officer can be heard saying: “Then the fucking guys just beat the shit out of him and then he started crying. I felt bad for him. Apparently, the sergeant grabbed his balls and twisted. I guess he was on the ground and everyone was just grabbing limbs. He didn’t have a limb to grab, so he’s like, just grab his balls, like, ‘You done now? You done resisting?’”

CLARK: “CRU-BC remains uniquely situated, with their specific training and resources, to enforce court injunctions and ensure public safety is maintained in the area, if required.”

FACT: While heavily armed with various weapons on November 19, 2021, C-IRG officers were not equipped with basic “breaching” devices to get past the locked door of the tiny house. Instead, they used axes, a sledgehammer and a chainsaw they found on the site. An officer joked that it was like the scene in the horror film The Shining in which a character breaks through a door and says: “Here’s Johnny.”

CLARK: “While Indigenous people have historically been over-represented amongst missing persons, I can also tell you that, regardless of their race or gender, the safety and wellbeing of any missing person is always the primary concern driving investigative tasks and decisions, and the investigations into those who have gone missing along Highway 16 are no different. The BC RCMP continuously engages external partners and follows up on all investigative leads while also keeping the families updated with regards to the respective searches.”

FACT: While C-IRG Silver Commander Elliott testified at the hearing that C-IRG officers would have had special training on Indigenous cultural sensitivity, an RCMP officer could be heard in an audio recording saying: “They all had the fuckin’ paint like, are you an orc?” This refers to the red handprints that honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Photo: A C-IRG officer makes a deeply troubling, insensitive comparison. The CRCC has received other complaints of racism and discrimination by C-IRG officers.

There is still no date or update from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission as to when their systemic investigation will be completed and made public. The last investigation update was posted more than three months ago.

In the meantime, Staff Sgt. Clark has also described the C-IRG as a “national best practice” and noted that its mandate has expanded to include supporting local police forces at what Clark describes as “pro-Hamas” protests.

The abuse of process hearing will resume June 17-21 in Smithers.

Photo: Dsta’hyl on Likhts’amisyu territory. Photo by Mark West/Briarpatch Magazine.

The Terrace Standard reports: “The crown is seeking a 60-90 day jail sentence for Dsta’hyl’s interference in the [TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas] pipeline’s construction. Dsta’hyl’s defence said they will ask for a non-custodial sentence.”

Amanda Follett Hosgood of The Tyee has also tweeted: “Defence is suggesting a fine or community service. When defence lawyer suggested she may request a discharge, she was reprimanded by the judge.”

Follett Hosgood adds: “The date for Chief Dsta’hyl’s sentencing will be set Friday [March 7] and is likely to take at least a day given crown and defence so far apart.”

She adds that Justice Michael Tammen said that “discharges are not granted in these cases, particularly around these kinds of facts”.

Defence lawyer Rebecca McConchie then stated: “Because the crown is seeking up to 3 months in jail, I have to provide information that’s relevant to the over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada, and the oppressive nature of the justice system, which is relevant, particularly where they’re seeking to incarcerate an elderly Indigenous person.”

As such, the McConchie asked for a Gladue report, that looks at circumstances such as these, that could take months to complete.

Follett Hosgood notes: “Possible sentencing dates could be in May or July.”

Crown seeking maximum sentence

The Criminal Code of Canada says: “A court, judge, justice or provincial court judge may deal summarily with a person who is guilty of contempt of court under this section and that person is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ninety days or to both, and may be ordered to pay the costs that are incident to the service of any process under this Part and to his detention, if any.”

Enforcing Wet’suwet’en law

Grist has explained: “As a supporting chief from the Likhts’amisyu clan, Dsta’hyl had been tasked with enforcing Wet’suwet’en law in the area. Construction crews preparing to build a pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory, without their consent — represented a blatant violation of those laws.”

A news release in 2022 from the Likhts’amisyu, one of five clans within the Wet’suwet’en nation, stated: “On October 27, Likhts’amisyu Hereditary Chief Dsta’hyl was arrested and forcibly removed from unceded Likhts’amisyu territory, along with Kolin Sutherland-Wilson of the Gitxsan Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit wilp. In observance of Wet’suwet’en trespass laws, Dini ze’ Dsta’hyl decommissioned 10 pieces of heavy construction equipment.”

Video: Chief Dsta’hyl and Sutherland-Wilson detained by the RCMP.

Resisting colonial mega-projects

On the PBI-Canada convened webinar this week, Sutherland-Wilson commented: “The most recent case of Dsta’hyl, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan, where he was the first of the Dini’ze to be charged with the violation of the Coastal GasLink injunction. And in that decision, the Justice [Michael Tammen] made it explicitly clear that they could not reconcile what they called imprecisely defined Wet’suwet’en trespass law with the Canadian courts which in this case was the injunctive relief order that was issued by the Supreme Court of Canada to essentially stop Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal GasLink project.”

Tara Marsden, the Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, added: “Our learning [from the Wet’suwet’en experience of peacefully resisting the Coastal GasLink pipeline] is that consent only works when we say yes, if we say no, even if we say no with science behind us, and our knowledge and our laws behind us, then we will be met with force from the C-IRG [the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Community-Industry Response Group], from militarized invasion and occupation and intimidation and harassment.”

Further reading

Canadian court finds Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl guilty of criminal contempt for upholding Wet’suwet’en law (February 20, 2024)

PBI-Canada hosts webinar on Gitxsan and Gitanyow resistance to colonial mega-projects (March 7, 2024)