Government war machine manual places Aboriginal warrior societies with terrorists
The AFN press release and the CTV.ca new item below highlights how the current government is creating a crisis using First Nation people in an attempt (and hope) to favourably position themselves for voters and mainstream society. Then on April 2, the Minister of Defence assured Canadians that the final version will not contain any reference to Aboriginal Canadians (see Globe and Mail story below).
Assembly of First Nations National Chief demands that Federal Government Immediately Repudiate and Remove Reference to First Nations from Military's Terror Manual List
OTTAWA, April 1 /CNW Telbec/ - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine today demanded that the federal government immediately remove any reference to First Nations in a Department of National Defense draft counter-insurgency manual listing international terrorist threats. According to a report by The Globe and Mail, radical Native American organizations such as the Mohawk Warriors Society are listed in the training manual as insurgents, alongside other insurgent groups.
"Any reference to First Nations people as possible insurgents or terrorists is a direct attack on us - it demonizes us, it threatens our safety and security and attempts to criminalize our legitimate right to live our lives like all other Canadians do. Just being referenced in such a document compromises our freedom to travel across borders, have unimpeded telephone and internet communications, raise money, and protest against injustices to our people," stated AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine.
"I am calling upon Prime Minister Stephen Harper to immediately and without reservation, reject and remove any references to First Nations from all versions of the training manual."
"It is shocking and outrageous to learn that the Canadian military would consider First Nations people as insurgents or equate us to Hezbollah or Hamas. Not only is there not a shred of evidence to make this link, First Nations have always served Canada well by their contributions to the Canadian services. Such absurd allegations only serve to undermine respect for the military and lead us to believe we will not be able to rely on their protection the way other Canadians do."
Moreover, the federal government has also recently threatened that it would aggressively audit and possibly cut off funding provided to First Nations organizations who participate in, or support a peaceful National Day of Action on June 29th. This, taken with the report that we are included in the list of insurgent organisations in the military's manual, raises serious questions about the federal government's respect for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for First Nations people. It appears that they want to silence us.
"The proposed June 29th National Day of Action is intended to bring focus to and generate awareness of the deplorable social - economic status of First Nations peoples in this country. Too often, First Nations poverty and the injustices suffered by our communities are not well understood. We aim to begin changing that by reaching out to Canadians and by putting our issues and our solutions front and center. First Nations people are people of integrity and we will abide by the rule of law while exercising our right to free speech," said the National Chief.
The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.
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/For further information: Bryan Hendry, A/Communications Director, (613) 241-6789, ext. 229, cell: (613) 293-6106, bhendry@afn.ca; Nancy Pine, Communications Advisor, Office of the National Chief, (613) 241-6789, ext. 243, cell: (613) 298-6382, npine@afn.ca/
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Army manual lumps radical natives with Hezbollah
Updated Sat. Mar. 31 2007 - CTV.ca News Staff
Radical natives are included on the same list as the Tamil Tigers and Hezbollah in a new counterinsurgency manual being prepared for the Canadian army.
The manual is in the final stages of preparation, but The Globe and Mail has obtained an early version of the document.
The draft outlines tactics, including ambush, deception and killing, which the military could use both at home and abroad against military opponents.
The document was put together in September 2005, under an access-to-information request.
A cover letter stated that although the manual was considered a draft version, it had been circulated for immediate use as a training manual until the final version was completed.
The final copy is expected to be released to the military within months, The Globe reports.
The draft is specific in listing some natives as potential enemy combatants.
"The rise of radical Native American organizations, such as the Mohawk Warrior Society, can be viewed as insurgencies with specific and limited aims," the manual states.
"Although they do not seek complete control of the federal government, they do seek particular political concessions in their relationship with national governments and control (either overt or covert) of political affairs at a local/reserve ('First Nation') level, through the threat of, or use of, violence."
The Mohawk Warrior Society played a role in Quebec's Oka crisis of 1990 that led to a 78-day standoff with police and left an officer dead.
The draft manual surfaces at a time when many feel the recent federal budget ignored many of the issues faced by natives, and as a months-old dispute between natives occupying a housing development near Caledonia, Ont. and residents, drags on.
Stewart Phillip, the Grand Chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said he is "absolutely outraged" by the manual.
"It's a complete attack on our political rights," he told The Globe.
"What we're seeing is the deliberate criminalization of the efforts of aboriginal people to march, demonstrate and rally to draw public attention to the crushing poverty that is the reality within our communities."
Phillip recently said he expects "a summer of aboriginal protest" against the government.
Many natives and the federal government are at odds over the $5 billion Kelowna Accord, a document negotiated by former prime minister Paul Martin to address native issues but never tabled by the Conservatives, and the plight of the residents of Kashechewan.
The reserve in northern Ontario has faced water contamination, sickness and flooding, but Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says the government can't afford the $474 million price tag estimated to move the embattled Kashechewan reserve, as requested by the residents.
Prentice has warned the government will impose financial penalties against native groups that use federal money to plan summer protests against Ottawa on issues such as land claims and poverty.
"Working together to find common solutions is a much more constructive way of dealing with issues than planning blockades," he wrote to The Globe.
According to the manual, an insurgency is "the actions of a minority group within a state who are intent on forcing political change by means of a mixture of subversion, propaganda and military pressure, aiming to persuade or intimidate the broad mass of people to accept such a change."
The response to that, the manual states, can go beyond military response to include psychological tactics to defeat the enemy.
The manual seems to focus on the Canadian military serving in places where governments have lost control and factions are fighting for power.
The Canadian Forces has not yet commented on the manual and it is not clear whether native groups have been previously listed as a potential opponent.
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Final version of terror report will not refer to natives, O'Connor says
BILL CURRY - POSTED ON 02/04/07
OTTAWA -- References to radical natives in the Canadian army's counterinsurgency manual will not appear in the final version of the document, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has announced.
The use of "radical Native American organizations" as an example of insurgents in a draft version of the manual has incensed native leaders, who viewed the wording as a threat to their political rights to protest.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said yesterday the inclusion of natives in the manual could threaten the ability of Canadian natives to travel internationally.
But in a written statement, Mr. O'Connor explained that the document was simply making reference to past examples of insurgencies and was not meant to suggest that natives in Canada are a potential military target.
"The draft counterinsurgency manual was produced in September, 2005, under the previous government. The draft manual is not a final document, and continues to evolve and be updated," the statement from the minister said.
"The final version will not contain references to any current aboriginal organizations. The draft manual does not make comparisons between aboriginal groups and any insurgent groups," he stated.
"The draft manual does not state that any other particular group is a potential target of the Canadian military . . . What the draft document does do is use examples of past insurgencies from Canada and abroad to illustrate how some groups have resorted to violence or the threat of violence in the past in order to gain political influence or concessions."
The minister's office said the draft manual has been used to train Canadian soldiers for the mission in Afghanistan. The reference to natives will be removed because the manual is only for use in relation to that mission, a spokeswoman said.
The Globe published a report on the manual on Saturday. The report noted that the Mohawk Warrior Society was involved in the 1990 Oka crisis in Quebec, which spawned a 78-day confrontation with police and the military that left a police officer dead.
The draft manual's 164 pages outline a wide range of measures that could be used to assess, manage and defeat an insurgency.
On the 11th page, under the heading "Overview of insurgencies and counter-insurgencies," a paragraph is highlighted, which states: "The rise of radical Native American organizations, such as the Mohawk Warrior Society, can be viewed as insurgencies with specific and limited aims. Although they do not seek complete control of the federal government, they do seek particular political concessions in their relationship with national governments and control (either overt or covert) of political affairs at a local/reserve ("First Nation") level, through the threat of, or use of, violence."
There is no other mention of natives in the manual, nor does the manual add further context as to why that paragraph is included.
Five pages later, the manual gives other examples of insurgents, listing Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers.
Mr. Fontaine issued a statement yesterday describing the mention of radical natives as "shocking."