Bill C-51 continues to cast a long
shadow over political life in Canada. The
Conservative government's vaguely worded
new "Anti-Terrorism" law has blown the door
wide open to the possibility of widespread
democratic and human rights abuses, and is
already fuelling speculation that it will soon
be used to enable arrests of those critical of
government actions. Both the history of
this country and the current actions of other
imperialist governments make something
very clear. As the Canadian government
continues to drive forward with policies
of war, occupation and cutbacks - it is also
laying the foundation to clamp down on
dissent and attack the rights of poor and
working people to resist. Bill C-51 is the
not-so-thin edge of this wedge, and we
must use every opportunity to continue to
build unity and momentum in the fight
to repeal this unjust law. It has been done
before, and now is the time to do it again!
Bill C-51, Coming Soon to a Protest Near
You
A recent August 27 news release on the
Union of BC Indian Chiefs website warns
that, "The Indigenous Unist'ot'en Clan of the
Wet'suwet'en Nation in northwestern BC
are on high alert about a likely impending
large scale RCMP mass arrest operation
on their territory. The RCMP have made a
number of visits to the Unist'ot'en as well as
other First Nations leadership regarding the
Unist'ot'en community's active exercise of
their Aboriginal Title and Rights to protect
their lands from oil and gas development."
As pipeline clearing work moves closer and
closer to the camp, both the press release
and many news articles have speculated
that Bill C-51 could be used to legalize
the dismantling of the camp which the
Unist'ot'en have maintained since 2009,
and which is blocking seven pipelines that
do not have Unist'ot'en consent to use their
land. Under Bill C-51, actions interfering
with "the economic or financial stability
of Canada" fall under the vague definition
of "terrorism." The Unist'ot'en camp could
easily be interpreted as such.
The RCMP have issued their own press
release stating that the police force, "has no
intention of 'taking down the camp' set up."
Whether this is true is another issue, but
what is obvious is that Bill C-51 has already
become a major concern to those engaged
in peaceful protest, or simply asserting their
simple and inherent right to decide what
resource extraction projects occur on their
lands.
More Power, More Secrecy, More Rights
Violations
Josh Paterson, Executive Director of the
BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA),
recently emerged from testifying at a
hearing of the Security Intelligence Review
Committee under a gag order. He is
prohibited from saying anything about either
his testimony, or anything else related to the
hearing. The BCCLA had lodged a complaint
against CSIS agents unlawfully gathering
information on community groups opposed
to the controversial Northern Gateway
pipeline. As a leading lawyer in the case,
Mr. Patterson was no longer even able to
provide full counsel to others participating
in the tribunal!
While unable to refer directly to his
testimony in court, Mr. Paterson made clear
that Bill C-51 is connected to the BCCLA's,
and many other major human rights and
legal organizations', growing concerns
about the power and conduct of CSIS,
which under Bill C-51 are now granted the
undefined powers of "disruption." "The only
thing they're not allowed to do is violate
someone's sexual integrity, to kill someone
or to subvert justice. Short of that, they're
being given the power to break the law and
violate the constitution," he emphasized.
Under Bill C-51, CSIS and the RCMP are
given more power, and more power to act in
total secrecy.
Despite the Chill
While progressive organizations are
definitely aware of the new risks associated
with social justice organizing under Bill
C-51, they continue to organize either
directly against the bill or the many other
ills of the Canadian government. In
Vancouver, the Working Group to Stop
Bill C-51 organized its 26
th
successful
consecutive weekly picket action against
Bill C-51 on Monday, August 31. While
we sometimes encounter people who are
fearful of government repercussions from
signing a petition, it is much more often that
we continue to meet people who are angry
that the government is trying to demolish
their civil rights and feel compelled to put
their name on a petition regardless of the
growing implied threat against dissenting
voices.
The movement against Bill C-51 continues
across Canada as well. The Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression and the
Canadian Civil Liberties
Union are continuing
their Charter Challenge
of Bill C-51, and have
raised 137% of their
fundraising goal from
grassroots donations.
A 4
th
National Day of
Action Against Bill C-51
has also been called for
September 12.
On August 28, the
Federal New Democratic
Party announced "51
Days to Repeal Bill C-51"
promising that if elected
they would repeal Bill C-51.
Meanwhile, the Liberal
Party and the Conservative
Party continue to try and
avoid the issue entirely. In an
obviously deliberate move,
the Department of Justice
has decided not to release
any information related to its mandatory
examination of Bill C-51 to see whether
the new law violates the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms...until after the
Federal Election. It claims that meeting its
required legal deadline, which is before the
election, would somehow "interfere" with
the Department's operations.
History of Rights Violations in Canada
It is important to constantly reiterate
that this scenario is nothing new for the
Canadian government. Its participation in
wars abroad has always been accompanied by
attacks on democratic and human rights at
home. A useful article on the subject is titled,
"War Measures Act Eroded Civil Liberties",
written by Mark Humphries, the Dunkley
Chair in War and the Canadian Experience
at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Humphries reveals that almost immediately
upon entering World War I, the Canadian
government imposed the War Measures Act:
"Censorship was imposed on the press and
telegraph system while the free transportation
of people and goods ceased. The act allowed
Canadians to be searched, arrested and detained
and their property seized without warrants,
trials or compensation. It also gave the prime
minister near dictatorial powers, allowing him
to govern by a type of decree called an order
in council, which was not subject to normal
parliamentary oversight."
He continues:
"Over the next four years, roughly 80,000 were
arrested, paroled, and forced to register with
the government on suspicion of enemy activity,
many denounced by
their neighbours for
trivial acts such as
making unpatriotic
statements or keeping
a shotgun on their
farms against the
regulations.
By war's end, more
than 8,000 had
been interned in
remote prison
work camps
where more than
one hundred
actually died."
"Both ethnic
and labour
newspapers were shut-down and suspect
book publishers closed. Aboriginal reserve lands
were seized and turned into military training
areas. Strikes were first restricted and then
banned. The government even tried to deport
British-born labour leaders in 1919 as enemy
aliens, a category that had now grown to include
all those who might harbour 'alien' values,
whatever those were.
Tragically, the act also gave the government
the power to deploy soldiers to quell civil
disobedience, and on Easter Monday 1918,
Canadian soldiers opened fire with machine
guns on anti-conscription protesters in Quebec
City, killing at least five people and wounding
more than 150. All this was done in the name of
freedom and honour."
During World War II, the Canadian
government immediately declared the War
Measures Act, and also created the Defense
of Canada Regulations (DOCR). Chris
Frazer, Associate Professor of History at St.
Francis Xavier University wrote about how
the DOCR were applied:
"The DOCR were intended to suppress obstacles
to mobilizing Canadians in support of the
war. They were applied to individuals and
organizations who supported fascist Germany
and Italy, as well as to so-called enemy aliens:
citizens and immigrants of German, Italian,
and Japanese descent. The regulations were
also used to suppress those who opposed the war
without actually sympathizing with the enemy,
or who might otherwise subvert the war effort.
This included communists and left-wing ethnic
organizations, Technocracy Incorporated, the
Jehovah's Witnesses, and individuals, including
union leaders, sailors, and well-known public
figures like the mayor of Montreal, Camillien
Houde, who opposed conscription."
Racist imprisonments and internments were
widespread once again. As we reported in
Fire This Time Volume 9, Issue 6, during
WWII, "Between 30,000 to 35,000 'enemy
nationals' and
Canadian citizens were
interned, including people of German and
Japanese background. 20,000 Japanese
Canadians were removed from the West
Coast of Canada in 1942 alone."
The War Measures Act was once again
called by the Canadian government in
1970 in response to growing independence
movement in Quebec. When members of
the Front de Liberation de Quebec (FLQ)
kidnapped a British diplomat named James
Cross and Quebec Minister of Labour,
Pierre Laporte, the government responded
by imposing the War Measures Act and
lining the streets with over 6000 soldiers.
Once again the War Measures Act was used
to target political opposition and instill fear.
As "Canada's Human Rights History" by the
Department of Sociology of the University
of Alberta points out, "Their [military and
police] actions were guided by a clear bias
against nationalists and the political left in
general, including many activists...The use of
the emergency powers resulted in extensive
human rights abuses. Media censorship was
rampant, especially for student newspapers."
Racism and Criminalization
We see time and time again how imperialist
governments use racism and criminalization
to further their agendas. During World War I
everyone was told to be afraid of Ukrainians,
Austrians and Germans - and this helped
justify the war abroad and the crackdown
at home. During World War II it was the
Japanese, Italians and Germans who were
targeted in the same way.
Now the Conservative government is
constantly trying to ratchet up tensions
against Muslim communities. Again,
this racism helps justify their violent and
expensive wars, occupations and threats
against primarily Muslim countries such
as Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Libya, Syria
and Iran. The Canadian government's
campaign of Islamophobia also creates
divisions between poor and working
people, and makes it much more difficult for
us to stand together to defend our common
interests.
It is also important to note how exactly the
same strategies and policies are being used
by the other imperialist countries involved
in these wars and occupations. Take a look
at what the governments of the United
States, United Kingdom, France, Germany
and Australia
are doing both
domestically
and
internationally
and it's obvious
that they are all
reading from
the same play
book!
We must also
be conscious of
the fact that the
wartime attacks
usually open
with racism,
but always
move quickly to
target political opponents - especially those
representing working class interests such
as trade unions and trade union organizers.
This is no accident, as the working class and
their allies represent the most serious threat
to imperialist governments and their war
agendas. When workers refuse to fight in
wars, refuse to produce war products, refuse
to ship war products, refuse to participate in
anything related to war - the imperialist war
machine comes to a standstill. The Canadian
government has known this during every
one of its war campaigns, and has therefore
always made a deliberate attempt to attack
working class organizations.
While these attacks have been able to
weaken unions and their memberships - they
have definitely been unable to completely
crush unions or the spirit of workers
demanding their right to dignified working
conditions and fair payment for their work.
The increasingly heavy handed approach of
federal and provincial governments against
strikes is a good indication of how important
it is to them to control and contain these
actions.
Has there been any major strike in Canada in
the last decade which has not been declared
illegal? Across Canada, teachers, nurses,
hospital workers, postal workers, railroad
workers, pilots, flight attendants, and more
have all had their strikes declared illegal
through back-to-work legislation which
threatens people with huge fines and jail
time. According to the Canadian Foundation
for Labour Rights, "In the last three decades,
the federal government alone passed 19
pieces of back-to-work legislation while
provincial governments across the country
have enacted 71 pieces of back-to-work
legislation." They also report that 216 pieces
of restrictive labour laws have been passed
by federal and provincial governments in the
last thirty years.
Unity!
There is a justifiably often quoted verse
regarding our common interests by Martin
Niemoller, a Protestant pastor and outspoken
critic of Adolf Hitler. Mr. Niemoller also
survived seven years in Nazi concentration
camps.
First they came for the Communists, and I did
not speak out --
Because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I
did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade
Unionist.
Then they came for the
Jews, and I did not speak
out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me --
and there was no one left to
speak for me.
While we are not living
in Nazi Germany, we
are confronted with
same political, moral
and strategic questions
regarding our common
interests against a
government which has
done nothing but try to
weaken, divide, discredit,
impoverish and silence
poor and working people
at home and abroad. Bill C-51 is an attack
on all of us, but also an opportunity for poor
and working people to come together to
build strong organizations which represent
our common interests. We need to use every
opportunity to reject division, strengthen our
unity, and "Repeal Bill C-51!"
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