Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights
Showing posts with label BC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BC. Show all posts

October 17, 2017

Sheriffs at Door: Enbridge trying to shut down environmental group, seize assets





Now! Enbridge trying to shut down environmental group and seize assets


Update at 1 p.m. local time: Enbridge appears to have backed down following widespread exposure today.
Enbridge said on Twitter just now, "We have asked the Sheriffs not to seize any assets of Stand.earth and we will not be pursuing the matter further."
Check back for updates.

Press statement by Stand.earth 

October 17, 2017
Censored News
Watch video now: "It is an attempt to intimidate us and bully us. We will not be bullied," Stand member says of Enbridge, after Sheriff said they are seizing their computers, and will return with a moving truck. https://www.facebook.com/standearth/

VANCOUVER, BC - At this moment sheriffs are waiting outside the Stand.earth office at 207 W Hastings on Enbridge's orders to seize all assets of the organization.
This morning our staff was served a notice of writ of seizure and sale, and two sheriffs showed up at our door, demanding to take all of our assets.
This because Stand.earth stood up to the National Energy Board under Harper to fight against inadequate public consultation for Tar Sands pipelines in 2014 and now Enbridge is trying to shut down the organization in order to pay their court costs.
"This is an outrageous act of bullying by Enbridge", says Campaigns Director Karen Mahon. "Enbridge is a massive corporation that earned $4.6 billion last year, yet is demanding Stand.earth pay their court costs, even though time has proven them wrong."
Enbridge sees that Stand.earth is a threat, and is thus trying to stop our work.


One day after we won against forestry giant Resolute in court, pipeline giant Enbridge is shamelessly trying to intimidate us by threatening to seize our computers and furniture. This is pathetic and we won't be intimidated.


Since Monday, Enbridge has been in major headlines three times. 1 The global newspaper The Guardian featured Secwepemc Warrior Kanahus Manuel speaking out against Enbridge on tour in Europe. 2. Enbridge sent Sheriffs to seize the computers and assets of a small environmental group, Stand.earth, in Vancouver B.C., this morning. Enbridge backed down today after a major backlash. 3. On Monday, Trump approved Enbridge's tarsands Alberta Clipper Line 67 pipeline expansion to double in size at the US crossing at Neche, North Dakota. 

-- Censored News

Update Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 by Censored News
Stand.earth didn't back down when the sheriffs came to their door last week with a court order from the bully Enbridge, who wanted to squash this small environmental group. Sheriffs said they were going for a truck to haul away their computers and assets. Thanks to swift intervention by Stand and allies, the monster of dirty crude oil pipelines -- with a Trump card in its pocket -- was slain this time. Here's Stand's latest post: Stand writes, "Did you know that Royal Bank of Canada gave $341 million to finance the Dakota Access Pipeline?"

Tell the world's largest banks to stop financing climate disasters now – www.stand.earth/equadorbanks

Kanahus speaks out in Europe, featured in The Guardian:

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2017/10/secwepemc-warrior-kanahus-manuel-in.html

Trump approves tar sands oil pipeline expansion at North Dakota border:

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/355706-trump-approves-oil-pipeline-expansion-across-canadian-border?amp


August 5, 2016

Mount Polley Blockade: Land Defender injured by Imperial Metals Employee






MT POLLEY BLOCKADE



 NEW! Video!
BREAKING NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAND DEFENDER INJURED BY IMPERIAL METALS EMPLOYEE
Censored News
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, at NAIS

On August 4, 2016, the Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Societies and Allies, including Ancestral Pride gathered in front of the Imperial Metals Mount Polley Mine to mark the second year anniversary of British Columbia’s largest catastrophic industrial disaster devastating one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, home to the world’s second largest sockeye salmon run.
The Allied Land Defenders including youth, Elders and women temporarily blockaded the mine site for the day, allowing workers to leave but not re-enter. In this process, an Imperial Metals employee attempted to violently breach the line of Elders, women and children at the mine entrance with their vehicle. Sacheen of Ancestral Pride, in an attempt to stop the vehicle was herself assaulted and sustained serious injuries and was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. She has since been released and will be filing a report against the driver of the vehicle and is further seeking legal guidance.
Media Contact: Kanahus Manuel and Sacheen
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On August 4th 2014, the largest industrial disaster was unleashed into Secwepemc Waters and onto Unceded and Unsurrendered Secwepemc Lands as Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley tailings dam failed after years of unenforced warnings from the Province of British Columbia regarding the integrity and capacity of the dam, spilling 24 million cubic metres of toxic mine waste into the area.
First, it should be clearly stated, the Provincial Government has no legal jurisdiction on unceded and unsurrendered Territory to be issuing any of the permits that they have issued to Imperial Metals Mount Polley Mine. Second, Imperial Metals has refused to clean up the toxic tailings left on the Land and in the Water and has not been held responsible for any of the mass destruction it has caused and continues to cause to and in Unceded and Unsurrendered Secwepemc Territory.
That the Province has continued to issue the Mount Polley Mine permits to re-open and operate at full capacity is not only absolutely unacceptable but criminal. The Province’s active aiding and abetting of Imperial Metals’ large scale industrial destruction on Secwepemc Lands is a continuation of genocide against the Secwepemc People. These actions have not and will not be tolerated.
“The Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society will not be stopped. Imperial Metals Mount Polley Mine will not be allowed to be re-opened.”

August 4, 2016

BC: Secwepemc Blockade Mount Polley Mine Site

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Update: Land defender injured by Imperial Metals employee at blockade
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/08/mount-polley-blockade-land-defender.html





Thank you Tori Cress for sharing photos of today!

August 4, 2016: BREAKING: SECWEPEMC BLOCKADE MOUNT POLLEY MINE SITE

Contact: Kanahus Freedom (Manuel)
kanahusmanuel@gmail.com
Censored News
Secwepemc land defenders and allies have set up a road blockade at Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine on the two year anniversary of the devastating tailings pond spill. Kanahus Freedom (Manuel), a member of the Secwepemc Women's Warrior Society says that the community is exercising its sovereignty and taking direct action, as the government of British Columbia recently issued a new operating permit to the mine.
“The province has no jurisdiction to be issuing permits to companies illegally operating on our Sovereign Territories without the free, prior, informed consent of the Secwepemc Tribal Peoples.”
Imperial Metals and the BC government claim to have the support of the Secwepemc, but in reality rely on select political figures and elected officials that do not represent the interests of the Secwepemc people or constitute their traditional sovereignty. “The DIA chiefs of the Soda Creek and Williams Lake Indian Bands have no jurisdiction or authority to support the re-opening of the Mount Polley mine,” states April Thomas, Secwepemculecw Grassroots Movement, who lobbied and presented to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) this past April regarding human and indigenous rights abuses on Secwepemc territory at the hands of government and industry.
The August 4, 2014, Mount Polley spill has been described as the the largest environmental disaster in British Columbia's history. It occurred when the mine's tailings pond dam gave way and unleashed 10 million cubic metres of contaminated water and 4.5 million cubic metres of metals-laden silt into Hazeltine Creek, Polley Lake and Quesnel Lake on the way to the Fraser River Watershed.
Despite government and industry promises at the time of the spill, very little in the way of site remediation has been done to clean up the toxic spill. A May 2016 report from the BC Auditor General Carol Bellringer found that the "monitoring and inspections of mines were inadequate to ensure mine operators complied with requirements.”
“As long as Imperial Metals and the government that backs them continue to devastate our lands with no accountability, we will take whatever action necessary to defend our lands. There will be an escalation in resistance, solidarity and pressure against their corporate interests. Today’s blockade is just the beginning.”
The Mount Polley blockade is part of a Resistance Gathering, a series of events taking place at the site that are commemorating the anniversary of the spill. The action and gathering has the support of a wide range of organizations and individuals, including non-Indigenous organizations like No One is Illegal and many local residents who have been alarmed by the environmental devastation--in many cases driven from their homes by the spill.

More photos at:


July 25, 2015

Google enforces takedown order on Censored News: Anonymous member killed


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By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

Google has enforced a takedown order on Censored News and removed this article from Censored News: 'Canadian police kill Anonymous member defending Native land from dam.'  
Google has not provided the specifics as to why it was removed. 
Meanwhile, there are many articles on the web with the same information. 
The important point is that there are conflicting reports on the reasons police shot the Anonymous member James Daniel McIntyre, known as jaymack9, and there should be a real investigation. 
There is also a need for more news coverage on Treaty 8 land and water rights, and the battle of First Nations Treaty 8 to halt the Site C dam in BC. 
Among the many threats is the flooding of lands of medicinal plants. 

Update: 
Google Blogger bullying the little people: Take down order and more for Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2015/07/google-blogger-bullying-little-people.html

A Yahoo search will take you to the same information that Google has censored: (Search words: 'Anonymous Treaty 8 dam Dawson Creek' ) https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AtLcXo9z6d.91RHOBmsLKsKbvZx4?p=Anonymous+Dawson+Creek+dam+Treaty+8&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-314&fp=1


September 20, 2013

Tahltan First Nation coal protesters prepare for arrests


Rhoda Quock hugging 9-year son, Caden with Tahltan Elder Bertha Louie at protest camp againt coal mining project in the Pacific coast province of British Columbia.
Photo Credit: Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition

Tahltan First Nation protesters of coal mine project prepare for arrests

February 23, 2011

Agent Orange exposed in toxic genocide targeting Indian communities

Agent Orange was used in the US, BC and Ontario, prior to and after the Vietnam War

Update in the news: Agent Orange sprayed along Ontario roadways until the 1980s:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/02/24/agent-orange-ont-highways485.html?ref=rss

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
PINAL MOUNTAINS, Ariz. -- Arizona was one of 21 states where Agent Orange was stored, or tested, prior to and during the Vietnam War, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The site in Arizona was in the Tonto National Forest in the Pinal Mountains near Globe, in the Apaches homeland.
The Department of Defense published studies showing that exposure to Agent Orange has led to adult onset diabetes. Medical studies have linked exposure to brain tumors, and diseases in grandchildren of those in contact with Agent Orange. The severe deformities and birth defects resulting from Agent Orange exposure of pregnant women in Vietnam can be seen online in the photos of their children.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs reveals that Agent Orange was tested and used in Florida and Texas as early as 1944. But even after it was banned in the US, it was sprayed in Canada.
In Canada, Agent Orange was sprayed in British Columbia during the 1980s. At Kapuskasing, Ontario, Agent Orange was sprayed about 20 kilometers from a First Nations community.
Agent Orange spraying in Gagetown and surrounding communities in Canada had far reaching effects, since soldiers from around the world trained there.
The spraying at Kapuskasing reveals the pattern of the US and Canada of targeting areas with Indian communities. Kapuskasing was not only the site of Agent Orange spraying, but was also the site of a WWI prisoner of war camp and later a power plant.
In a pattern of toxic genocide, areas near and on Indian communities have been used as prisoner of war camps, power plant sites and toxic waste dumps.
In Arizona, the WWII prisoner of war camps included sites on Gila River Indian Community and Colorado River Indian Nations. Coal-fired power plants are now on and around many Indian Nations, including the Navajo Nation. The Western Shoshone in Nevada and Goshute in Utah continue to be targeted with toxic and nuclear waste dumps.
Navajos in New Mexico, Havasupai in Arizona and Lakotas in Nebraska and the Dakotas are targeted with new uranium mining that could contaminate their drinking water. During the Cold War, Navajos, Acomas and Laguna Pueblos worked in uranium mines without protective clothing and many died of cancer and respiratory diseases. Today, radioactive tailings are strewn on the Navajo Nation.
Dene in Canada, like the Dine' in Arizona, were never told of the dangers of uranium mining during the Cold War, and worked in the uranium mines without protective clothing. In the Pueblos, the radioactive dust blew on their foods as they ate.
In the case of the Goshute in Utah, their neighbor continues to be a biological and chemical warfare testing site, the US military's Dugway Proving Ground.
John H.W. Hummel is pressing for an investigation of the use of Agent Orange in and around Indian communities in Canada and the United States.
"I think that herbicides (contaminated with dioxin) were sprayed on many of the forests and traditional territories of Indigenous people in North America. I think that this has harmed the health of many people," Hummel told Censored News.
"The infamous 'Agent Orange' was sprayed by the forest industry upon large tracts of Canadian forests in Ontario, New Brunswick, British Columbia and likely elsewhere in Canada and probably on American forests too.
"This should be investigated. It may well impact thousands of Indigenous people on this continent," Hummel said.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs now provides a list of sites where Agent Orange was tested and stored, beginning in 1944, in the US.
As more people who were exposed to Agent Orange develop cancer and other serious health problems, the liabilities multiply for the US. Veterans and other victims are now fighting for justice, both at Veterans hospitals for treatment and in court for restitution.
The US Veterans Affairs website states that Agent Orange was used to remove foliage providing cover for the enemy during the Vietnam War.
"Agent Orange was the most widely used of the herbicide combinations sprayed. Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam were tested or stored elsewhere, including some military bases in the United States," the Veterans Affairs website states.
"The U.S. military herbicide program in South Vietnam took place between 1961 and 1971. Herbicides were sprayed in all 4 military zones of Vietnam. More than 19 million gallons of various herbicide combinations were used. Agent Orange was the combination of herbicides the U.S. military used most often."
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/outside_vietnam_usa.asp#Arizona
"Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam were tested or stored elsewhere, including many military bases in the United States. Below is information from the Department of Defense (DoD) on projects to test, dispose of, or store herbicides in the U.S. For projects outside the U.S., go to Herbicide Tests and Storage Outside the U.S."
Meanwhile, Agent Orange was used in BC, Canada, after the Vietnam War, during the 1980s.
Jorma Jyrkkanen said, "When I was habitat protection technician for the BC Fish and Wildlife Branch between 1981 and 1987, I got a request by the BC Ministry of Forests to use Estron 3-3E in a sensitive area near the mouth of the Lakelse River. Upon examination of the ingredients, I determined that it was in fact one of the Agent Orange (AO) concoctions and rejected the application along with a note to MOF that I was not very pleased that they had entertained such an option. Read more ...
http://jorma-jyrkkanen.livejournal.com/tag/pesticides%20orange
Ontario teens were soaked by Agent Orange spraying done at Kapuskasing: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/940243--star-exclusive-agent-orange-soaked-ontario-teens
The Toronto Star reported that, "records from the 1950s, 60s and 70s show forestry workers, often students and junior rangers, spent weeks at a time as human markers holding red, helium-filled balloons on fishing lines while low-flying planes sprayed toxic herbicides including an infamous chemical mixture known as Agent Orange on the brush and the boys below."
Agent Orange was used in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil (see Wikipedia link in references below.)
"The Brazilian government used Agent Orange to defoliate a large section of the Amazon rainforest so that Alcoa could build the Tucuruí dam to power mining operations. Large areas of rainforest were destroyed, along with the homes and livelihoods of thousands of rural peasants and indigenous tribes," according to Wikipedia.
In Feb., 2011, the Toronto Star exposed the fact that powerline corridors were sprayed with Agent Orange.
Hummel said, "If dioxin contaminated Agent Orange was sprayed along these transmission corridors, the implications are horrendous. Especially for the First Nations and Métis people who may hunt, fish and pick berries anywhere near these corridors. These transmission line corridors pass through many of the First Nation and Metis peoples Traditional territories.
"Dioxin has been linked to approximately 50 diseases and medical conditions: http://www.vva.org/agent_orange.html including Type II Diabetes. If Ontario Hydro, Forest companies, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Natural Resources were spraying Agent Orange all over Ontario, you can bet it happened all over Canada and in the United States as well. We need a truly National, coast to coast, enquiry about all of this."
US sites where Agent Orange was stored and tested, US Department of Veterans Affairs:
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/outside_vietnam_usa.asp#Arizona
Arizona Arkansas California Florida Georgia Hawaii Indiana Kansas Kentucky Maryland Mississippi Montana New York North Dakota Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Washington Wisconsin
Read more at Wikipedia:
Miscarriages and birth defects linked to Agent Orange spraying in US and Vietnam; Dow Chemical and Monsanto produced Agent Orange; Agent Orange used in Australia and New Zealand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
Also see:
VA links Agent Orange to brain cancer in court decision:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/02/prweb5080394.htm
Department of Defense: Agent Orange exposure leads to adult onset diabetes:
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=8662
Recent News Coverage
CANADA:
Agent Orange "soaked" Ontario teens:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/940243--star-exclusive-agent-orange-soaked-ontario-teens
Agent Orange outrage - Timmins Daily Press:
http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2983915
Ontario probes Agent Orange poisoning: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/940878--ontario-probes-agent-orange-poisoning
Agent Orange probe widens: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/941635--agent-orange-probe-widens
Agent Orange spraying in Gagetown and surrounding communities:
http://www.agentorangecanada.com/
LINKS
Transportation Ministry also used Agent Orange, say NDP. Minister investigates. - Winnipeg Free Press:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/transportation-ministry-also-used-agent-orange-say-ndp-minister-investigates-116829673.html
'Sources of Dioxins and Furans in British Columbia':
http://groups.google.com/group/friends-of-agg/browse_thread/thread/1e068b72934933e5
Agent Orange Use in British Columbia: http://jorma-jyrkkanen.livejournal.com/tag/pesticides%20orange
Ontario probes Agent Orange poisoning: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/940878--ontario-probes-agent-orange-poisoning
WHEN DID TRANSPORTATION MINISTER KNOW ABOUT AGENT ORANGE USAGE: Why Does It Take the Opposition to Tell the Truth:
http://www.gillesbisson.com/newsitem.php?id=836
Just added: Sources of dioxins and furans in British Columbia:
http://friends-of-agg.googlegroups.com/attach/ddf3302e6fc3b7b4/img-221143025-0001.pdf?view=1&part=4