[R-G] Aboriginal protests watched by CSIS

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=615983

Aboriginal protests watched by CSIS

Stewart Bell,  National Post  Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008

John Kenney/Canwest News Service

TORONTO -- Canadian security officials kept a close watch on  
aboriginal rights protests across the country last summer, fearing  
violence and disruption, according to newly declassified government  
documents.

Intelligence reports obtained by National Post reveal for the first  
time how the Canadian government tracked "ongoing and planned  
protests" by First Nations and their supporters from British Columbia  
to the Maritimes.

The Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, based at CSIS headquarters  
and made up of representatives of CSIS, the RCMP, Canadian Forces and  
other departments, circulated lists of protestors' plans in a series  
of intelligence reports.

The Government Operations Centre was also involved. It coordinates the  
national response to terrorist attacks, natural disasters and anything  
else that threatens the safety and security of Canadians or the  
integrity of Canada's critical infrastructure.

"A number of ongoing aboriginal protests and planned actions [are] set  
to take place over the summer of 2007," ITAC says in a report marked  
"secret," one of several released to the Post under the Access to  
Information Act.

"While the intention of these actions is to highlight grievances  
through peaceful protest, past protests have demonstrated that acts of  
violence or disruptions of critical infrastructure are possible."

The close government scrutiny of the events suggests that, following  
fatal stand-offs at Oka and Ipperwash, federal security agencies  
remained concerned about the potential for violence.

The intelligence reports show officials were particularly concerned  
about the National Day of Action held last June 29 to pressure Ottawa  
to address the grievances of Canada's aboriginal peoples. Some chiefs  
had called for road and rail blockades on that day.

Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations,  
said he was "disappointed but not surprised" to learn the federal  
government was monitoring the National Day of Action, and he wondered  
how much the surveillance and policing had cost.

"Whatever the cost, our view is that money would have been far better  
spent on providing the more than 100 First Nations communities with  
boil-water advisories with clean drinking water, alleviating poverty  
and settling our legitimate land claims," Chief Fontaine said.  
"Perhaps if that was the case, then there wouldn't be a need to hold a  
National Day of Action in the first place."

According to the documents, security officials were concerned "a small  
minority" of demonstrators could escalate the protests "as a means of  
attracting attention to their cause." Sympathetic environmentalists,  
"social issues extremists" and criminal groups could also exploit the  
protests, the reports say.

The reports identify planned protests in Toronto by the Ontario  
Coalition Against Poverty, in Montreal by No One is Illegal and Block  
the Empire, and by anti-Olympic activists in Vancouver.

"In addition to these, there are also non-aboriginals who may oppose  
the aspirations of the aboriginals (local residents, cottagers,  
fishermen, etc. and also white supremacists and other extremists)," it  
adds. "These factors may cause instability and drive an individual  
protest in unpredictable ways."

ITAC began producing weekly threat assessments on the demonstrations  
last May. It began distributing daily intelligence updates the week of  
the National Day of Action. In total, 22 reports were produced.

In addition to the events tied to the day of action, the threat  
assessment reports tracked four on-going aboriginal land protests in  
Caledonia, Deseronto, Grassy Narrows, and Cross Lake, Man.

"There are also a series of other potential causes for aboriginal  
protests over the summer of 2007. These include fishing and logging  
disputes, especially in the Maritimes; various development projects  
affecting aboriginal communities; and the preparations for the 2010  
Winter Olympics."

The reports say the right to protest "is a cornerstone of Canada's  
democratic society. ITAC is concerned only where there is a threat of  
politically motivated violence, or where protests threaten the  
functioning of critical infrastructure."

National Post