Silence and Indifference: Indigenous women testify to police violence

Demonstration in solidarity with the women of Val-d'Or

Marianne Breton Fontaine

On Thursday, October 22 2015, a team from Radio-Canada’s show Survey ran a shocking report on multiple cases of rape and the sexual abuse of Indigenous women in Val-d’Or. Originally, the team of journalists was not investigating these cases but rather the disappearance of Indigenous women and particularly that of Sindy Ruperthouse, an Algonquin whose disappearance in the of Spring 2014 demonstrated the shameful indifference of the media and Quebec authorities.

De Beers' Colonial Plunder in Attawapiskat

Jay Watts

In 1995, a report issued as part of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples called suicide “one of the most urgent problems facing aboriginal communities." 22 years later, Canada’s ongoing colonial project is still taking a staggering and gruesome toll on the health and lives of First Nations. In Attawapiskat, a community of close to 2,000, there were 11 suicide attempts last Saturday, on top of 100 suicide attempts since last September.

In response to such events there has been mobilization. In Toronto, Idle No More and Black Lives Matter have responded with an occupation of an Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada office; in Ottawa people are marching from Parliament Hill to INAC in Gatineau; while other INAC offices are being occupied in Winnipeg, Regina and James Bay.

Feb 14th Actions for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women [Photos]

In dozens of cities across Canada on Feb 14th, memorial marches and events took place in commemoration of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Here are photos submitted to Rebel Youth from Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

Toronto

Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: actions across Canada Feb 14th

Shafiqullah Aziz/ BASICS News

YCL-LJC Women's Commission's call for mobilization

This Valentine’s Day, the annual memorial march will honour the lives and memories of women who have been lost to gendered violence. The march, founded in Vancouver in 1991, first came about in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman that received little attention by police or media. Although the march commemorates women of all backgrounds, emphasis will be given to native women, who are the disproportionate targets of this systemic violence.

The recently launched inquest is welcome news, but we need more than just words - we need real change!

Fighting Chevron in Washington DC

Drew Garvie & Peter Miller

In late April, we, along with three other members of the Young Communist League of Canada, had the honour of attending a historic event in Washington DC. We were part of a caravan of buses leaving from Ontario to attend a rally and conference in solidarity with indigenous peoples in Ecuador fighting the oil giant Chevron.

The place and time of the solidarity events were chosen by Chevron. The corporation has been trying to avoid paying for one of the worst environmental disasters in history, that it created by dumping billions of gallons of toxic sludge in the Ecuadorean Amazon. In 2011, it was ordered to pay $9.5 billion dollars to clean up the mess. Chevron has yet to pay up. There is an ongoing case in Canada where the indigenous plaintiffs could receive justice through assets in Canada. What brought us to Washington, the heart of the leading imperialist power, was the result one of Chevron’s latest dirty tricks it is using to avoid cleaning up its mess. It has decided to take Ecuador to court through the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Venezuelan Ambassador visits Six Nations

Edward Lovo

I witnessed an historic exchange between the peoples of Six Nations and the Venezuelan ambassador to Canada Wilmer Barrientos. We were warmly welcomed into the longhouse, which few outsiders have set foot in. There was some controversy about this as someone had earlier made the quip who will we invite next—the Israeli ambassador? Thankfully, we had enough of their trust. To keep their trust it was enough to exclude media, the RCMP, OPP, and CSIS, and we had the vote of confidence of a trusted community member

As one of the Six Nations spokespersons explained a profound pain of oppression breeds mistrust of outsiders. The speaker then acknowledged that the ambassador paid a visit to the Six Nations before approaching Ottawa, an unprecedented first in recognition of their land. The speaker shared some history of Six Nations with the ambassador, explaining to him the Two Row Wampum which few Canadians are familiar with.

Anti-Chevron campaign wins key victory in lead up to Supreme Court appeal case

After Protests Canadian Bar Association Withdraws Intervention in Chevron Case

All pictures from Oct 9th protest outside Ontario Bar Association (Toronto):
Rebel Youth

From: Telesur English

Activists point to mobilizations as the reason why CBA choose to reverse course.

Facing a large backlash, resignations, and protests, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has decided that it will not make an intervention at the Canadian Supreme Court in the case involving Chevron Corporation's contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest.

In a letter sent to members, CBA president Michele Hollins stated “The [Legislation and Law Reform] Committee concluded that while the factum was well-drafted and of a high standard of quality, it did not meet the specific requirements of CBA’s Intervention Policy. Consequently, under the terms of the Intervention Policy, the CBA came to the conclusion that without the certification of the factum, the Intervention could not move forward and would be withdrawn.”

Although the previous letter to members made mention of opposition to the CBA intervention, this second letter did not. Santiago Escobar, a member of the Anti Chevron Committee of Canada, in an interview with teleSUR stated "The CBA won't admit this but they withdrew because of the protests they were facing, they knew that they couldn't be seen supporting a corporation that has negatively affected the lives of so many Indigenous people in Ecuador."

Motherland amidst Imperialism: A Story of Indigenous Resistance and Settler Mutiny

Occupation site in August - J-l Fournier

By Siegfried Barazov

"In our opinion, the foundation for national liberation rests in the inalienable right of every people to have their own history…. It may be seen that if imperialist domination has the vital need to practice cultural oppression, national liberation is necessarily an act of culture." —Amilcar Cabral, Syracuse University speech, 1970

There are times when the power of a culture can make time stand still.  The elder of the Cree nation spoke to me of the sanctity of fire, and I, a settler on stolen land, had to struggle to find an adequate response to stories and traditions that seemed in that moment to be as old as the Ottawa river itself: born countless thousands of years before European imperialism’s chosen killers came bearing their guns, germs, and steel.  However, in meeting with this old man at the site of the occupation where the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers combine, I am happy to say that I had the knowledge and the memory to reply with the example of Beltane, the ancient Celtic fire festival from the days long before this monstrous colonial enforcement agency, referring to itself as the ‘white race’, was ever invented to stain the moral fabric of the European peoples and set them against the rest of the world.

The elder was one member of small group consisting of people from several Indigenous American nations, coming from as far away as the Yukon and the southern United States to stand in solidarity with the local Anishnabe, and Mohawk peoples who were struggling to protect a sliver of their ancient heritage from destruction.

Pictou’s Trials and Tribulations: The Tragedy of Boat Harbour

Pictou Landing First Nation Chief Andrea Paul
 (second from Right) - Photo: Pictou Advocate

By Peter Bazarov

In Northern Nova Scotia, tucked away between the forests and the sea, sits the small community of Pictou—home to 3000 people, and tragically, one of Nova Scotia’s most shameful secrets.  Though it is located in the beautiful Nova Scotia highlands, with beaches facing the warm lapping waters of the Northumberland Strait, Pictou is nevertheless avoided by most tourists, and is best known instead for its legendary ill health. Cancer, heart disease, lung disease, rates of miscarriage and infant death; in all of these Pictou is either the worst county in the province or among the worst.  The waters of Pictou Harbour test positive for a variety of toxic heavy metals, and the air tests positive for pollutant rates thousands of percent above Federal limitations.

The source of all this? A dammed off poisonous stew, a toilet for the toxic excretions of the local pulp and paper mill—Boat Harbour.

Part 4 of 4: Canada -- a country of many nations

Taken from Canada's Future is Socialism, The programme of the CPC.

In this excerpt:

• National minorities;
• Immigrant and migrant communities, immigration;
• Problems with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
• For a new constitution;
• The struggle for socialism and the national question

National Minorities

Within each nation, there are national minorities whose national homeland is within the borders of another nation within Canada.

Francophone minorities living in English-speaking Canada, Anglophone minorities living in Quebec, and Aboriginal peoples and Acadians living away from their national homes are all national minorities with the right to educate their children and receive state supported services in their own languages, wherever numbers warrant.

Immigrant and migrant communities, immigration

With the exception of the Aboriginal peoples, Canada is a country of immigrants, old and new. Comprised of hundreds of diverse ethnic groups, who will eventually merge with French-speaking Quebec or English-speaking Canada, these ethnic groups have the right to preserve their language and heritage and to pass it on to succeeding generations through state-supported language and cultural programs, and through state-supported cultural and community activities.

The Communist Party recognizes that this two-sided process of merging and preserving language, culture and heritage, is of long duration, influencing and enriching Canadian culture as a whole.

Part 3 of 4: Canada -- a country of many nations

Taken from Canada's Future is Socialism, The programme of the CPC.

In this excerpt:

• The Metis nation;
• Aboriginal peoples;
• The policy of genocide;
• Acute poverty and oppression;
• For immediate achievement of national rights

The Metis nation

The Metis nation emerged in the period of merchant capitalism in the 18th century based on the fur trade and was mainly situated along the rivers flowing into Hudson Bay. The assertion of national rights by the Metis in the rebellions of 1869-70 and 1885 was brutally crushed by the dominant English-speaking ruling class, who were backed by the expansionary industrial capitalism of Ontario and Quebec.

Nevertheless, the resistance of the Metis led to the establishment of the province of Manitoba and helped keep alive the spirit of resistance against all national privileges in Canada today.

Aboriginal peoples

The Aboriginal peoples had been in Canada for thousands of years when the first white settlers arrived. Prior to European settlement, the social organization of many Aboriginal communities was progressing – depending on the development of the productive capacities of each community – from smaller, dispersed and relatively isolated tribes into more complex, organized and technologically advanced societies.

Part 2 of 4: Canada -- a country of many nations

Taken from Canada's Future is Socialism, The programme of the CPC.

The 2012 Quebec Student Strike

In this excerpt:

• Quebec's status as a nation;
• The way forward;
• Flaws of the BNA act continued;
• The Acadian people

Quebec's status as a nation

The sharpest expression of the constitutional crisis relates to Quebec’s national status and the failure of the Canadian state to recognize Quebec’s right to national self-determination, up to and including secession.

This non-recognition of Quebec’s rights is itself an expression of the historic national oppression of Quebec – its political, economic and social oppression – since the British conquest of New France in 1763.

This national oppression has in turn aroused national indignation among the Quebec people, and spawned bourgeois and petty-bourgeois-led nationalist and separatist movements there.

Part 1 of 4: Canada -- a country of many nations

Taken from Canada's Future is Socialism, The programme of the CPC.

The Big Daddy's of confederation

In this excerpt:

• A definition of a nation;
• A proposal for a new constitution 

A definition of a nation

Canada includes small and large nations, each of which is an historically-constituted community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and national consciousness manifested in a common culture.

Nations come into existence and pass out of existence, by forcible and peaceful historical processes, or a combination of both. It is a dynamic process in which, in each case, the path of development into nationhood is specific and different.

As a result, the struggle for a democratic solution to the national question requires an understanding and respect for these objective differences.

Amongst the smaller nations in Canada are groups of Aboriginal peoples who are exercising their right to sovereignty with the demand for autonomy and self-government. Amongst these are the Northern Cree in Quebec, and the newly created territory of Nunavut, the Nisga’a on the west coast, and others. The Acadians in the Maritimes also constitute a smaller nation in Canada. The two largest nations are English-speaking Canada and Quebec.

Over 4,000 died in residential schools

Train Up Your Children by Dorothy Sullivan 

Peoples Voice
Vancouver Bureau

After many years of speculation based on anecdotal evidence, some hard facts are emerging about the numbers of deaths in Canada's racist system of residential schools.

            The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (www.tra.ca) has now determined that at least 4,000 aboriginal children died in the church-run schools, which operated from the 1870s until the last one closed in 1996. About 150,000 children were full-time students in the schools, isolated from their families for most of the year. The students were virtually imprisoned, in conditions which made them the victims of fires, disease, and abusers.

            Thousands more were day students at such schools, many affected in similar ways. Although the federal government has issued a formal apology and financial compensation for the full-time students, the day students are still fighting for recognition.

            The racist nature of the residential school system was revealed by administrators who spoke about "taking the Indian out of the child." The schools banned students from speaking in their own languages or learning traditional skills, instead training them in English or French to become exploited members of the Canadian workforce. This strategy is today universally recognized as a form of genocide, an attempt to destroy a people by wiping out their unique culture.

Youth festival delegates learn about important international struggles

Rebel Youth's sister publication, People's Voice, sat down with Drew Garvie, co‑chair of the Pan‑Canadian delegation to the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, held Dec. 7-13 in Ecuador, to talk about the experience.

So, finally, how many people attended? Was it a success?

            About 8,000 people attended from 88 countries, a very large number, although smaller than past festivals, because of the capacity of the Ecuadorian government. Overall, we would say it was a great success. Delegates got to learn about a host of struggles, ranging from the youth and labour fightback against austerity in Europe, the conflict in Syria, the occupation of Palestine and, in Africa, of Western Sahara, but especially the process of social transformation and battle against imperialism taking place in countries like Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and, of course, Ecuador.

What were your impressions of Ecuador?

            One highlight was the chance to learn more and see first‑hand the political and social changes taking place in the country itself. The Ecuadorian government, led by Rafael Correa's PAIS coalition, calls this process the "Citizen's Revolution". They talk about applying the indigenous concept of "buen vivir" or "good living" as a way to change societies, thinking away from the individualistic values of capitalism and historic domination of the country by the United States, and towards more a social and pro‑people society, with sovereignty over its own affairs.

365 Days of Struggle: Rebel Youth looks back at 2013

Special to Rebel Youth

Sometimes as activists in the youth and student movement it seems as if the meetings, the demonstrations, the article writing and news reading blend together, making it difficult to get a clear perspective on recent history.

This piece aims to synthesize important events in 2013 through coverage in Rebel Youth.  When we look back we can see that 2013 was a year of sharpening attack on the working-class globally, felt even more sharply by young workers and students, but it was also a year of growing resistance in Canada and around the world.

Cross-Canada Student Unity

The following article appeared in the Winter 2013-2014 edition of Rebel Youth Magazine, together with this article about the student fightback.

While the struggles for accessible secondary and post-secondary education in English-speaking Canada, Quebec, Acadia, and among Aboriginal peoples share a common class interest they have distinct political histories and realities of struggle.  These matters must be addressed to build student unity.

"Line 9! Shut it down!"

P. Millionaire,
Rebel Youth Magazine

The movement against tar sands pipelines has been growing over the last year. Indigenous communities and activists in British Colombia have so far successfully blocked the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline that proposed to run from the Alberta tar sands to the BC coast.

Indigenous people, workers, and community members in Ontario and Québec are also concerned with Enbridge’s proposal to reverse the flow of line 9 and send tar sands bitumen from Sarnia all the way to Montréal.

On Saturday October 20, activists against the reversal of line 9 protested in Toronto at 12 pm outside the metro Toronto Convention Center. The protest was set to occur during Enbridge’s hearing about line 9 with the National Energy Board (NEB), but the meeting was postponed.

The day before, on October 19, activists at the hearing burst into song, chants, and played drums in order to disrupt the meeting. The noisy protest was so powerful that members of the NEB fled the hearings. Activists at the protest against line 9 expressed their belief that the hearings had been postponed because of the work of the movement against the reversal of Line 9.

“Enbridge is afraid of us,” said Vanessa Gray, one of the first speakers at the rally.

Video: Call for solidarity with the struggle in Elsipogtog

Open letter by
Darrell Rankin

The Aboriginal peoples in Canada have never given up fighting for their full national rights and stolen lands. They continue to feel the full weight of the racist, non-Aboriginal State through police violence, incarceration, discrimination in health and education, jobs and so on.

The police act with the encouragement of the Capitalist State authorities. The State in Canada embodies the interests of the giant corporations who own Canada and its resources. The State expresses the views of the financial and industrial oligarchy, a few hundred extremely wealthy families.

For three years, the Mi'kmaw Aboriginal people in New Brunswick have asked for consultation with the government about the extraction of natural gas from their land by means of "fracking," with no result.

How much would eliminating Aboriginal child poverty cost?

Graphic by the CCPA

This summer the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report about child poverty concluding that "to bring all children in Canada up to the poverty line would cost $7.5 billion." We reprint the introduction of the report with the note that some estimates for the new F-35 fighter jets now being discussed put the price tag at up to $71-billion.

Despite repeated promises from federal and provincial governments to address the issue — including a 1989 commitment by all Parliamentarians to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000 — Canada ranks 25th among the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development with regard to child poverty. Recent modest declines in rates cannot hide the fact that over a million children in Canada still live in poverty.

More troubling, however, is the reality facing Indigenous children in Canada.