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Asarial, Collective action is power. This Wednesday, Leadnow joined a coalition of over 50 organizations and impacted communities in releasing a collective response to the massive number of incidents of violence, assault, unlawful conduct, and racism of the C-IRG police unit in Canada. [1] C-IRG – Community-Industry Response Group – is an RCMP unit whose primary purpose is to stop Indigenous nations from resisting destructive, extractive projects on their land and “protect” industry from any resistance. The RCMP created C-IRG in 2017, in anticipation of Indigenous resistance to projects like the Coastal GasLink and TransMountain pipelines in BC. [2] C-IRG became known as the “pipeline police,” using violent and sometimes illegal tactics to harass, surveil, and arrest Indigenous land defenders. [3] With little government oversight and no set budget, the unit spent nearly $50 million in its first five years, and just received another $36 million. [4,5] It is shameful that our federal and provincial governments continue to fund colonial violence. Hundreds of complaints have been filed against C-IRG, including allegations of excessive force, racism, discrimination, and Charter violations, leading the RCMP’s federal watchdog agency to launch a systemic investigation. [6] But this review may take years to complete. Meanwhile, C-IRG continues to harass and arrest land defenders. [7] That’s why our coalition released an open letter calling on officials at the provincial and federal levels to immediately disband C-IRG. [8] In BC, where C-IRG operates, the RCMP is under the direction of Mike Farnworth, the Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety. A flood of messages condemning C-IRG’s violations of human rights and Indigenous sovereignty could pressure him to suspend C-IRG’s operations. Will you send a message to BC Solicitor General Mike Farnworth demanding an end to C-IRG’s colonial violence?
The Canadian government continuously allows resource extraction projects to take place on Indigenous territories without the consent of the communities whose land it is. Some of the clearest examples are pipelines cutting through the unceded lands of the Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc peoples. [9,10] But C-IRG has also expanded their operations to protect other extractive industries, like old-growth logging in Fairy Creek. [11] C-IRG officers routinely hide their identity by removing their badges and covering their faces – just one tactic that stops them from being held accountable when they conduct militarized raids and forcibly remove Indigenous elders and families from their unceded land. [12] They have also wrongfully arrested journalists, endangering the freedom of the press and the public’s right to know how the RCMP operates. [13,14] Given the provincial government’s stated commitments to reconciliation and the rights of Indigenous peoples, Solicitor General Mike Farnworth has a duty to intervene and abolish the RCMP unit responsible for ongoing violence against Indigenous people protecting their communities from environmental destruction. Will you take action in solidarity with land defenders by sending a message to the BC Solicitor General?
https://act.leadnow.ca/abolish-cirg-farnworth/ With determination, Sources: |
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