Stop the spying, says KI chief Donny Morris

If Bill C-51 had been law when Chief Donny Morris of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and his council were thrown into jail in 2008, Morris expects their experience would have been different.

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t know what the future holds for anybody who will be protesting in the future… when it happened to us in a remote area, I think it would be bigger now because now (the federal government) will have more power.

“While we were doing that, they did not really get that direction and authority and power. They were really not sure what their roles were, their responsibilities were at that time,” said Morris. “But now I believe the federal government, they pass this law, it’s going to give them stripping powers, like a dictatorship authority.”

Morris and his council spent 60 days in jail in 2008 for peacefully blocking Platinex Inc., who wanted to establish a platinum mine in KI traditional territory.

The Ontario Court of Appeal released the so-called KI Six and directed the Ontario government to negotiate with the First Nation.

Platinex’s mining claim was eventually bought out for $5 million by the McGuinty government. Morris said KI had to divert more than $1 million in funding from band programs in order to pay their legal fee. KI was not reimbursed for the cost.

Morris wants to know what issues KI could be facing as Bill C-51, the anti-terrorism legislation, is being considered. He has filed a request for access to information for records the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service have on KI from 2008 to the present.

“I basically want to know if our community is still being spied on,” he said.

If KI is still on a watch list, Morris said something needs to be done.

“We are a treaty partner. I’d like to be treated with the same regards as any politician, federal or provincial,” he said. “Let’s do away with (the spying). There’s no need for that.”

Previously, KI was able to access information from 2007. The documentation he has seen was highly redacted. KI is working with lawyer Julian Falconer to see if the band can get the unedited version.

In 2011, the Toronto Star reported that the RCMP had operated a wide-ranging surveillance network from 2007 to 2010 to monitor protests by First Nations. The Star said that an annual Strategic Intelligence Report, dated June 2009, indicated the surveillance at the time focused on 18 “communities of concern” in five provinces across the country, including KI First Nation.

Said the Star article, “Although the Strategic Intelligence Report’s profile of KI is heavily redacted, as with all the ‘communities of concern,’ it states that KI First Nation ‘remains committed to ensuring their concerns related to the impacts of mining and forestry are addressed by the Ontario government’ and ‘possible future disputes could result in blockades and demonstrations.’
Morris is urging other First Nations to file their own requests for information.

“To see if they’re being profiled,” said Morris. “To see who’s friendly, who’s not.”

He has yet to hear if any other First Nation will be making the same request.

Morris was in Toronto on April 16 to participate in a forum on Bill C-51. The forum was hosted by Unifor and the Canadian Labor Congress. Morris saiid it’s important for Canadians to understand that the anti-terrorism legislation is far reaching.

“It’s not only about (Aboriginal people). It could happen to any ordinary Canadian or organization if they decide to do something which (the government) would deem illegal,” he said. “To us, in my area, to protect our lands, that’s not an illegal concept. It’s our legal obligation to protect our land, our waters and animals that we survive off of them.”

Information and privacy commissioners across the country have expressed concerns with Bill C-51. In a letter sent March 4 to the federal standing committee on public safety and national security, they outlined their “deep concerns,” stating, “Bill C-51 challenges fundamental rights and freedoms on several fronts, but the focus of our concern is on its mandate for overbroad, unregulated and intrusive sharing of the personal information of ordinary Canadians. If enacted, the portion of Bill C-51 comprising the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act (SCISA) would significantly expand the power of the state to surveil and profile ordinary, law-abiding Canadians.”