The trial for three Secwepemc land defenders that was to start on November 16 has been delayed with a new court date expected to be set in December.

Kamloops This Week reports: “The week-long trial of three members of an outspoken First Nations protest group opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project was delayed on Monday (Nov. 16) after a lawyer representing one of the accused said he could no longer represent her.”

“Defence lawyer Michael Klein, representing Chantel Manuel, told court he had no choice but to withdraw, but he did not divulge what led to the misunderstanding between him and his client. He did say it had nothing to do with non-payment.”

“Chantel Manuel then asked for an adjournment, which Kamloops provincial court Judge Stella Frame reluctantly granted.”

The article adds: “Lawyers are scheduled to return to court on Dec. 7 to set new trial dates.”

In this video posted yesterday, Mayuk Manuel speaks about the delay in the trial.

Prior to the adjournment, Harsha Walia had posted: “Three Indigenous land defenders face targeted charges intended to criminalize and punish and deter them from the frontlines. Anyone who has been dragged through court proceedings knows the process itself (not the outcome) is the punishment.”

In January 2019, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) also noted: “According to the United Nations (UN), indigenous rights defenders are facing greater violations of their rights today than they were just a decade ago. Every year, thousands of indigenous peoples are criminalised and discriminated against – increasingly, this trend takes the highest toll of all: the life of indigenous rights defenders.”

And in September 2019, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples at that time, noted: “Extractive activities within indigenous peoples’ lands and territories undertaken without adequate consultation or consent are the main source of serious violations of their human rights, including violence, criminalisation and forced displacement.”

PBI-Canada has provided some context on the trial that was to start yesterday in Judge rules Trans Mountain must release correspondence that may show bias in the arrest of Secwepemc land defenders, will be watching for updates from the scheduled court appearance on December 7, and is also following this related court case: Secwepemc land defenders Kanahus Manuel and Isha Jules on trial on November 23-24.

Secwepemc land defender Kanahus Manuel has tweeted: “I need some media to report on my trial begins Mon Nov 23 in Clearwater so-called bc.”

On October 19, 2019, Manuel and Tiny House Warrior land defender Isha Jules were charged by the RCMP with mischief when they told construction workers that they did not have consent from the Secwepemc peoples to flag on Highway 5 near Moonbeam Creek, about 60 kilometres north of Blue River, British Columbia.

Manuel’s wrist was fractured during the arrest.

The Tiny House Warriors have set up camps around Blue River (about 230 kilometres north of Kamloops) and Valemount (about 90 kilometres north of Blue River). Moonbeam is situated in between these two communities on Highway 5.

Both Tiny House Warrior camps are on the route of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The pipeline project, now owned by the Canadian government, would cross 518 kilometres of Secwepemc territory and move 890,000 barrels per day of bitumen oil from northern Alberta to the British Columbia coast for export on super tankers. It is being built without the free, prior and informed consent of the Secwepemc peoples, a right recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Trans Mountain intends to build a camp in Blue River for 500 construction workers who would be working to build the pipeline.

The final report by National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (June 2019) quoted James Anaya, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on the issue of these work camps.

Anaya said: “Indigenous women have reported that the influx of workers into indigenous communities as a result of extractive projects [have] led to increased incidents of sexual harassment and violence, including rape and assault.”

The Inquiry found that “work camps, or man camps, associated with the resource extraction industry are implicated in higher rates of violence against Indigenous women at the camps and in the neighbouring communities.”

In December 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada to stop construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline until it had the free, prior and informed consent of the Secwepemc peoples.

That resolution also urged Canada to guarantee that no force will be used against Secwepemc peoples and to withdraw the RCMP from their traditional lands.

The RCMP has remained on the unceded territories of the Secwepemc peoples and has stated that “all aspects of the arrests [of Manuel and Jules] were captured on video by police and will be included in the materials provided to the courts.”

The trial for Manuel and Jules is scheduled to take place November 23-24 at the Provincial Courthouse in Clearwater.

Photo: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

This past Friday November 13, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan spoke about the need to maintain the budget for the Department of National Defence.

He highlighted that the military has played a crucial role in the government’s response to the pandemic, including the Canadian Armed Forces being deployed to long-term care facilities. That deployment didn’t address the long-known systemic issues of underfunding and understaffing that requires a deeper commitment from government.

Sajjan added: “If you want to talk about our economy, defence investments that we make also are part of the economic stimulus as well.”

That is also a questionable argument given research by the Costs of War Project found that while $1 million spent on “defence” creates 6.9 direct and indirect jobs, the same amount invested in solar power creates 9.5 jobs, in health care 14.3 jobs, and in elementary and secondary education 19.2 jobs.

DND budget likely to increase despite debt

It would appear Defence Minister Sajjan’s keep spending argument is supported by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

The Department of National Defence is the Canadian government’s largest department with a budget of $21.9 billion accounting for 7.3 per cent of total government spending and about 1.3 per cent of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product.

That spending is expected to increase to $32.7 billion in 2026-27.

The federal deficit (annual shortfall) is projected to be $328.5 billion this year with the (accumulated) debt expected to top $1.2 billion.

Despite this, on October 28 Freeland stated: “Now, for Canadians of a certain vintage — and I freely admit to being one of them — the idea of increasing government debt holds particular terrors. But it is a poor general who fights the last war. And the reality is that, today, the prevailing global economic environment is changed entirely.”

The following week the Parliamentary Budget Office had released a Fiscal Sustainability Report 2020 update. That report found that the federal government can still permanently increase spending – through new programs or tax cuts – by $19 billion without pushing its debt beyond pre-pandemic levels over the long term.

Recent major expenditures on missiles and more

The Canadian military continues to spend in a big way despite the financial situation.

For example, in June the U.S. government cleared the way for Canada to buy more than $1 billion of new missiles and related equipment for the current fleet of CF-18 fighter jets. The companies involved include Raytheon, General Dynamics and Boeing.

And on November 5, the U.S. government posted that the Canadian government is spending about $650 million to buy missiles and launchers for the 15 to-be-built Lockheed Martin/BAE Systems Type 26 Canadian Surface Combatant warships for the Royal Canadian Navy. Raytheon Missiles and Defense will build the missiles for the ships.

In 2008, the government estimated the warship project would cost roughly $26 billion. The cost is now estimated to be about $60 billion.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates has requested that Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux examine the costs of the project. That report was to be presented to the committee by October 22 but has been delayed.

And the government seemingly remains committed to spending $19 billion on the purchase of 88 new fighter jets in 2022.

Beyond the purchase cost, the government doesn’t seem reluctant to spend possibly another $48.6 billion over the coming years on the operations, sustainment, disposal and contingency acquisition costs of the new warplanes.

Challenging military spending

Defence Department deputy minister Jody Thomas has stated she has received no indication from the government that it intends to cut military spending despite the deficit.

At some point prior to the end of this year, Finance Minister Freeland is expected to table a fiscal and economic update. The speculation is this will happen in the final week of November or the first week of December. Following that, it’s customary that the next federal budget would be presented in March 2021.

The next three months will be a crucial time to make the argument that spending public dollars on the tools of war takes needed resources away from the public good.

Peace Brigades International accompanies at-risk human rights defenders, often by physically walking alongside them.

In that spirit, we are asking our supporters to help raise funds for Peace Brigades International-Canada by taking 4,000 steps for peace!

4,000 steps equal about 3 kilometres, or roughly a 30-minute walk.

You are encouraged to cover this distance in any way that works for you, walking outside, on a treadmill at home, or in a wheelchair or scooter.

How does this work?

First, because of the pandemic, this will be a virtual event. That just means you can do it on your own rather than in a group (or you can gather with others in a physically distanced way with masks and the appropriate cautions).

You will be able to walk a route of your choice at a time that works best for you at some point over the next six weeks (before December 31).

Second, reach out to family, friends and co-workers and ask them to pledge $10 (or an amount of their choosing) for you to walk 4,000 steps.

As a variation, you could walk three times in a week and ask for a larger pledge. You could even suggest that you would prefer this as a gift this holiday season!

Third, when you’ve completed your walk, you could send a photo of yourself to brent@pbicanada.org so that we can amplify and share your solidarity via @PBIcanada on Twitter and on Facebook.

Also, during your walk, if you see a site that relates to activist, peace or Indigenous history that you would like to share with us, take a photo and tell us about it!

Fourth, let your friends know that you’ve taken 4,000 steps for peace and ask them to make their online donation here.

As a nice bonus, they will receive a charitable tax receipt by email for doing so!

To read more about our work supporting the accompaniment of human rights defenders, our advocacy efforts with them, and how we help to amplify their stories, click here. You can also watch this 3-minute handimation video and this 6-minute video that explain the work of PBI in Colombia.

Thank you for your support!

The German newspaper Deutsche Welle has published this article on the role journalists play in bringing to light environmental destruction, the threats faced by human rights defenders, and the risks faced by frontline reporters, particularly Indigenous reporters.

In the article, Christoph Dreyer of Reporters without Borders (RSF) highlights: “In some Latin American countries, the dominant traditional media are heavily controlled by the economic and political elites. They often hold back from critical reporting on environmental issues because it clashes with their interests.”

As such, the role of environmental justice reporters and Indigenous journalists can be crucial in the telling of stories to the world. RSF warns that without them the stories would not be told and the environmental destruction will continue.

Kathrin Wessendorf, head of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, notes: “Journalists can bring the human rights violations often associated with environmental destruction to the attention of the wider public. This, in turn, can lead to international solidarity and put pressure on governments or companies.”

The article also notes the work of Colombian journalist Andres Bermudez Lievano. He is one of the editors of Tierra de Resistentes (Land of Resistants), an investigative data journalism project available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The scope of their work includes Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

This 45-minute video (in English) with Bermudez Lievano and Alexa Vélez Zuazo (Mongabay Latin America) discusses the role of visibilizing environmental destruction and the threats and risks faced by environmental defenders and journalists.

Bermudez Lievano says: “Even though Latin America is still a dangerous continent for journalists, …it’s the communities that are really at the forefront of risks, it’s them who really need our accompaniment, who need our reporting, who need our visibility.”

The interview also highlights the role that can be played by social media as a safety tool.

Last month, the CBC reported that Jolene Marr, a fisher from Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia, believes that social media, live streaming and documenting injustices are crucial tools for Mi’kmaq defenders to protect themselves.

Marr live streamed the recent attack by settler fishers on a lobster compound being used by Mi’kmaq fishers. The video has more than 23,000 views on Facebook and significantly drew attention to the police not intervening to stop this violence.

Important sources of reporting on Indigenous land defence and water protection struggles in this country include Brandi Morin, Jorge Barrera, Maureen Googoo, Ka’nhehsí:io Deer, Angel Moore, Trina Roache and Christopher Curtis.

Notably, reporters Justin Brake and Karl Dockstader have both been criminalized for their coverage of land defence struggles, at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam and 1492 Land Back Lane camp respectively.

Reporter, photographer, and documentarian Michael Toledano has also focused on environmental pollution and Indigenous land defence, notably drawing attention to the Wet’suwet’en struggle against the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their territory. This 45-second Twitter video shows the RCMP racially profiling Toledano as he was documenting a ceremony by Wet’suwet’en women defenders.

PBI-Canada posts daily articles for our readers that strive to contextualize human rights struggles in Latin America accompanied by PBI field projects that are often only available in Spanish or on social media. We also try to amplify the stories of Indigenous land defence struggles in this country through a lens of understanding the dynamics of similar resistance movements in Latin America.

We also post regularly on the PBI-Canada Twitter account and publish blogs about militarism and human rights struggles on the independent media website Rabble.ca.

Photo: Indigenous journalist Abelardo Liz was killed on August 13 by the Colombian Army while covering a campesino protest. He was hit by a bullet in the chest and abdomen when soldiers began evicting Indigenous campesinos from a farm.

Peace Brigades International is co-organizing a webinar moderated by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) with speakers including Francisco Cali Tzay (the current Special Rapporteur) and Jakeline Romero Epiayu (from the Force of Wayuu Women in Colombia).

It will take place on Monday November 16 from 10 am to 11:15 am EST.

The webinar is titled: Preventing abuses of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the business context: a key issue for responsible business and sustainable development.

The description of the webinar notes: “It will reflect on the effects of the pandemic to indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendants including the roll-back of rights in many country contexts, the increased intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders and the disproportionate impact on indigenous women.”

The webinar will be available in English, Spanish and French.

It is part of the UN Virtual Forum on Business and Human Rights taking place from November 16 through to November 18.

To register for the webinar and forum, please click here.

Canada and the UN Declaration

In September 2007, Canada was one of the four countries that voted against the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In May 2016, Canada announced it was “a full supporter, without qualification” of the Declaration and reaffirmed its “commitment to adopt and implement the Declaration in accordance with the Canadian Constitution.”

By February 2018, Canada stated: “The Government will fulfil its commitment to implementing the UN Declaration through the review of laws and policies, as well as other collaborative initiatives and actions. This approach aligns with the UN Declaration itself, which contemplates that it may be implemented by States through various measures.”

It has stopped short of fully recognizing the right to free, prior and informed consent, a key principle in the Declaration and has instead emphasized consultation.

Current land defence and territorial struggles against megaprojects on these lands include: the Wet’suwet’en peoples opposed to the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline, the Secwepemc peoples opposed to the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline; and Treaty 8 nations opposed to the Site C hydroelectric dam.

In December 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination passed this resolution that called on Canada to stop these megaprojects until it had secured the free, prior and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en, Secwepemc and West Moberly and Prophet River Nations peoples.

Construction on all three megaprojects, even during the pandemic, has continued.