By Terrance Nelson
First Nation Anishinabe Roseau River
Censored News
Abas,
FARS News Agency
Thank you for publishing my article as is. I realize that the
length of the article was an issue but required to deal with extensive
documentation of the information.
It is 8 p.m. on the evening of Sunday June 23 here in Winnipeg.
Tomorrow, at 2 p.m., I will be in court facing the Attorney General of
Canada, the Attorney General of Manitoba and the Canadian National
Railway who want the court to put a permanent injunction on our people
from "trespassing" on CN railway lines.
In January 2013, we blocked a main railway line in Manitoba. In
minus 34 degree Celsius for six hours. On January 15, a day before the
blockade, CN got a temporary injunction while no one was there from us
to oppose the injunction and we were served that injunction about two
hours before we left the railway blockade. CN wants not only a permanent
injunction, they want costs, plus damages which will be millions of
dollars. They want to intimidate our people. Once they get the court
injunction, we will move to begin boycotts of British Columbia lumber
sold in the United States. We have support amongst people in the United
States.
Everything we have done is peaceful and we sent the government
advance notice of the blockade. January 16, 2013 was a commitment by the
Chiefs to put pressure on Canada with action. AIM Winnipeg blocked a
railway line. When railway lines are blocked by covert activity, the
situation will become far worse. For now, there is peace in Canada,
it will not last.
Publishing the article gives many people around the world the
ability to anticipate what will happen in Canada. Americans have ignored
the issues in Canada for a long time. In 1989, we organized THE RUN FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS, and we ran 1,000 miles from Winnipeg to Chicago to try to
wake up Americans to the human rights issues in Canada. More recently,
as Chiefs, we were in Washington 12 days before the first Inauguration
of President Obama. We were there to ask the incoming Obama
administration to do something about the environmental devastation that
the sale of oil to the United States was doing to northern Alberta in
the Tarsands.
Nothing has happened from the American Government. They have
ignored all our efforts to get them to do something about human rights
violations in Canada. The American government will condemn Iran for
voicing concerns about human rights violations in Canada but the
American government itself will continue to ignore those issues.
On Thursday June 27, AIM Winnipeg will hold a Press Conference and a
meeting to organize our own investigation process on five murdered and
missing indigenous women whom the City of Winnipeg Police and RCMP have
not solved. Shaun Lamb who is charged with three murders of indigenous
women in Winnipeg has stated that he has information on five other women
who were killed. One of our AIM leaders has been speaking to Lamb.
Winnipeg Police Officer Sutherland laughed at Lamb in an interview,
refusing to listen to what Lamb is saying. Totally unprofessional, all
leads and information must be investigated not ignored. Robert Picton
would have been caught years earlier if Vancouver police had been more
diligent. Picton would not have killed 49 women if police had done what
they were supposed to. They ignored leads just like they are doing here
in Winnipeg.
Thank you for publishing the article, it is my hope that other
countries will question Canada and its treatment of indigenous people. I
will follow up with information on the Dakota people who are facing
court in September for selling cigarettes. Another group, the Cree in
northern Manitoba is facing court action by HudBay who is mining in
their territory without permission from the indigenous people. The Cree
face a $400 million lawsuit by HudBay for the blockade done by the Cree.
Meanwhile, the mining of sixty different metals and minerals continues
every day in Canada, all the while, Canada refuses to pay anything to
the indigenous people for those natural resources.
Terrance Nelson
