Remember Gustafsen Lake!

The documents recently revealed about conduct at APEC by the Prime Minister's Office and the RCMP are obviously very incriminating, and more revelations will be coming in the next days and weeks.

However, for some broader context on the nature of our police state, I've written out below just a few quotes that came out at the trial of the defenders of Gustafsen Lake (Ts'peten Defenders) in northern BC in 1997. The defenders miraculously survived a RCMP siege of their land in the summer of 1995.

The quotes below confirm the real nature of the RCMP. It is important to remember that while the media and general public have been generally sympathetic to protestors who had their rights violated at APEC, the incredible story of Gustafsen Lake has been relegated to a simple law and order issue and summarily forgotten by the mainstream media. This is despite the incriminating quotes that follow, not to mention shocking physical and video evidence that point to excessive and unwarranted force by the RCMP that escalated into attempted murder of indigenous sovereignists and their supporters.

Keep in mind that it was Jean Chretien himself that authorized the use of tanks at Gustafsen Lake, a decision that escalated the conflict to a full-scale military siege. Moreover, BC's NDP Attorney-General, Ujjal Dosanjh, was in day-to-day, sometimes hourly, contact with the RCMP and approved of their tactics, which included the release of false criminal records to smear the Ts'peten Defenders. NDP Premier Glen Clark and Dosanjh have both publicly declared their support of the RCMP at Gustafsen Lake in a manner just as callous as Chretien's uncritical approval of the RCMP at sprAyPEC.

For more information about the police state tactics at Gustafsen Lake and elsewhere (such as at Ipperwash, Ontario), check out this comprehensive webite put together by Settlers in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty in BC: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html

Also, remember that for some time the supporters of the Ts'peten Defenders have been asking for a independent public inquiry into what happened at Gustafsen Lake. It's a request that the provincial NDP government has consistently ignored.

While the protestors at APEC, and their supporters, work hard in the next while to hold the Prime Minister, CSIS, RCMP, NSIS and others accountable for their wrongful actions last November, let's stand in solidarity and in active support with the Ts'peten Defenders who have been working hard for justice. Let's also not forget that as a result of police state tactics at Gustafsen Lake, William Jones Ignace (Wolverine) and James Pitawanakwat (OJ) remain in prison as prisoners of war and political prisoners of the Canadian state for their opposition to genocide and their desire to do something about it.

- Staff Sergeant Peter Montague, Chief RCMP Media Liason Officer for BC. The quote, made on or around August 25, 1995, is from an RCMP internal "training" video disclosed in court during the Gustafsen Lake trial on January 6, 1997. Montague is the same person who was responsible for negotiating with the Indonesian delegation about security for APEC in Vancouver. He has also implied in the media that RCMP officers may have indiscriminately peppersprayed and nabbed demonstrators to prevent them from getting harmed from Suharto's bodyguards (something for which I suppose we should all be grateful).

"Is there anyone who can help us with our smear and disinformation campaign?"

- Chief RCMP negotiator Sergeant Dennis Ryan. A comment made on or around August 25, 1995 during an RCMP Management Team meeting concerning the siege at Gustafsen Lake. The source is the same internal "training" video as above.

"... kill this [Dr. Bruce] Clark and smear the prick and everyone with him."

- Chief RCMP negotiator Sergeant Dennis Ryan, paraphrasing RCMP Superintendent Len Olfert's instructions to the RCMP Management Team at a meeting on or around August 29, 1995, during the siege at Gustafsen Lake. Clark had just returned from the camp at Gustafsen Lake with physical evidence indicating that the RCMP had fabricated a shooting incident.

"[RCMP Superintendent] Len [Olfert] strongly feels that there are a small group that will not give up [six warriors]. It will require killing the hardliners."

- Notes of Chief Superintendent (now Assistant Commissioner) Murray Johnston recorded on a September 1, 1995, conference phone call with Superintendent Len Olfert. Johnston also disclosed that he heard Olfert verbally authorize a "smear campaign" to Staff Sergeant Peter Montague on-site August 31, 1995.