BURSTThe B.C. Assembly of First Nations is calling for an inquiry into systemic racism in policing following revelations of RCMP surveillance of First Nations groups in the 1960s and 1970s.
The assembly called Friday (April 17) for an immediate independent investigation into systemic racism embedded within Canada’s police services that would look at the existence and impacts of the surveillance programs from decades ago. It also calls for an inquiry into the ongoing systemic racism in federal police services.
A CBC Indigenous investigation revealed newly declassified RCMP files confirming the “native extremism program,” which detailed the surveillance of First Nations political organizations across Canada in the 1960s and 1970s. That surveillance included wire taps, paid informants, covert operatives, and surveillance at homes, offices, airports, and bars of legitimate First Nations advocacy organizations, the assembly said.
A release from the B.C. Assembly of First Nations added the files and also confirmed, for the first time, that the Liberal government in the mid-1970s approved covert RCMP wiretaps and other methods to monitor telephones of the National Indian Brotherhood. That organization is known today as the Assembly of First Nations.
The RCMP also surveilled the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.
“Colonial governments have always acted to delegitimize First Nations governments, organizations, and political mobilization movements through the use of colonial violence, marginalization and oppression,” B.C. Assembly of First Nations regional Chief Terry Teegee said.
“Asserting our inherent title and rights as recognized by Canada cannot be viewed as extremist ideology, nor should we be subject to state-sanctioned surveillance or manipulation. First Nations founded and tended to the lands of what is now Canada long before the arrival of European settlers, and continue to hold internationally recognized rights which safeguard our freedoms. First Nations exist today as a result of our unity, shared history and collective strength, and we have the collective right to organize how we see fit without fear of state repercussions.”
The B.C. Assembly of First Nations says this revelation is “but one aspect of a broken justice system and its inability to provide basic services” to First Nations people.
Simon Lafortune, the spokesperson for the federal Office of the Minister of Public Safety, said in an emailed statement that National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak and representatives of the Assembly of First Nations met with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on Thursday. The minister and the representatives discussed the recent revelations from the CBC investigation and the next steps.
Lafortune added that the RCMP will be inviting Indigenous leadership to Ottawa in the coming weeks.
The discussions with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will “address these serious revelations that have come to light, and to help chart a clear, collective course of action that ensures accountability and rebuilds trust.”
Black Press Media has reached out to the RCMP’s national communications team for comment.