04) RCMP AND CSIS SPYING ON PIPELINE CRITICS

 

PV Vancouver Bureau

 

            The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has filed complaints against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP, alleging that the agencies illegally spied on community groups and First Nations opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project. These groups include ForestEthics Advocacy, Dogwood Initiative, LeadNow.ca, the Idle No More movement, and others.

 

            The BCCLA alleges that the RCMP and CSIS interfered with the freedoms of expression, assembly and association protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The complaints also claim that the spying activities potentially included illegal searches of private information.

 

            The complaint against CSIS further alleges that the spy agency illegally gathered information on the peaceful and democratic activities of Canadians. The documents released made clear that none of the groups under surveillance posed any threat to the National Energy Board hearings or public safety.

 

            "It's against the law and the constitution for police and spy agencies to spy on the lawful activities of people who are just speaking out and getting involved in their communities," said Josh Paterson, Executive Director of the BCCLA. "This is bigger than an environmental debate - it's a question of fundamental human rights."

 

            "It's intimidating for people to learn that they're being spied on by their own government," said Ben West, Tar Sands Campaign Director for ForestEthics Advocacy. "Regular people are being made to feel like they are on a list of enemies of the state, just because they are speaking out to protect their community from a threat to their health and safety or trying to do what's right in the era of climate change."

 

            One incident recorded in the intelligence‑gathering was a Kelowna, B.C. volunteer meeting co‑hosted by the advocacy organization LeadNow.ca and the Dogwood Initiative, a community action group based in Victoria. Jamie Biggar, the Executive Director of LeadNow, said, "Government spies should not be compiling reports about volunteers literally gathered in church basements to hand‑paint signs - and then sharing that information with oil companies. That puts the interests of a handful of corporations ahead of the privacy rights of Canadians."

 

            Will Horter, the Executive Director of the Dogwood Initiative, added: "We are helping Canadians engage in their communities and in public decision‑making processes for Enbridge and other projects. There is something deeply wrong when holding a story‑telling workshop attracts heat from spies and police forces. It's democracy, not a national security threat."

 

            Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, who attended one of the meetings that was spied upon, stated: "I was shocked and disgusted to learn that the police and the National Energy Board colluded to keep track of First Nations people who are simply speaking out, including those who participate in Idle No More. This is the kind of thing we'd expect to see in a police state, and it's a violation of our freedom of speech and freedom of assembly."

 

            Some of the intelligence gathered appears to have been shared with the National Energy Board, as well as with Enbridge and other oil and energy companies. The complaint against the RCMP alleges that this could compromise the fairness of the Enbridge hearings.

 

            West added: "You can't have a fair hearing when the police secretly gather information about our activities and then provide secret evidence to the National Energy Board and Enbridge, one of the other parties."

 

            The activities of CSIS and the RCMP came to light through an access to information request filed by Matthew Millar of the Vancouver Observer. It is unclear whether covert surveillance, wiretaps or other means were used in gathering the intelligence.

 

(The above article is from the February 15-28, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)