Canada The RCMP have 'let down' Indigenous fishers facing violence in Nova Scotia: minister

‘Terrorizing our people’: N.S. Mi’kmaw fishers have property vandalized, lobsters destroyed

On Tuesday night a facility was 'swarmed and vandalized' by commercial fishermen, said Chief Michael Sack of the Sipeknet'katik First Nation.The incidents, the latest in continuing tensions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia, allegedly occurred at two locations, one in Central West Pubnico, N.S., and the other in New Edinburgh, N.S.

Nova Scotia RCMP had six officers charged with offences related to domestic violence since 2012. Two Cape Breton Regional Police officers were also charged, along The RCMP says any officers who commit intimate partner violence can face a range of disciplinary action, including losing their job.

( Nova Scotia RCMP /Twitter). Leather said the killings appear to be, "at least in part, very random in nature." The first reports of an active shooter The organization is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia , whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing.

OTTAWA — The RCMP in Nova Scotia have failed to properly protect Indigenous people embroiled in an ugly dispute over lobster fishing, Canada's Indigenous services minister said Monday.

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Marc Miller was one of four federal cabinet ministers who took part in a news conference that followed a turbulent weekend in the southwestern corner of the province, where a lobster pound was burned to the ground and police accused one person of assaulting a Mi'kmaq leader and another of setting fire to a van owned by an Indigenous fisherman.

"Indigenous people have been let down by the police, those who are sworn to protect them," Miller said as he opened the news conference in Ottawa. "The protection of people on both sides has to prevail, and clearly that has not been the case up until now."

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In an interview with The West Block's Mercedes Stephenson, Blair said police have been "on scene right from the outset," and "in significant numbers."In an interview with The West Block's Mercedes Stephenson, Blair said police have been "on scene right from the outset," and "in significant numbers.

The victims of the attack in the Portapique area of Nova Scotia included a 23-year member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ). “This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history.” The waterside community of Portapique is about 80 miles from Halifax, the

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Miller said even though Indigenous people have experienced discrimination throughout Canada's history, the Indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia have stood up for their rights without resorting to violence.

"It is a testament to who they are that they do so peacefully," Miller said. But he said he fears the violence could lead to loss of life, adding, "We must reach a resolution."

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the Mounties are doing their job. "The police are, in fact, acting," he said. "I'm absolutely confident that the RCMP know their job."

Blair said additional officers had been deployed to respond to the increasingly violent dispute, which started Sept. 17 when the Sipekne'katik First Nation launched a self-regulated commercial fishery outside of the federally designated fishing season.

Mobs are attacking Indigenous fisheries in Nova Scotia. Here’s what’s going on

Tensions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishermen have come to a head over fishing rights in Nova Scotia — a dispute that has a history spanning hundreds of years. In 1999, Canada's Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case R. v. Marshall that several treaties signed in the 1760s granting the Mi'kmaq the right to harvest and sell fish were still valid. The over 250-year-old agreement, known as the Peace and Friendship Treaties, specified that the Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq had the right to earn a "moderate livelihood." The Sipekne'katik First Nation would go on to open its own fishery in St. Mary's Bay, N.S.

On April 18–19, 2020, Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings and set fires at 16 locations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia RCMP responded to a firearms call at a residence in Portapique, N.S., a rural community located Stevenson’s husband is also a teacher. “We send our love and care to them as they face this sudden Nova Scotia shooting: RCMP confirm suspect had police uniform, ‘mock-up’ police vehicle.

The public safety minister said Nova Scotia RCMP are now able to draw on RCMP resources from other provinces within the Atlantic region to counter "reckless violence and racist threats." And he said an RCMP boat was in the area, along with a vessel from the Canadian Coast Guard.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office issued a statement Monday saying he had spoken with Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil on Sunday, and they "condemned the appalling violence" and agreed that respectful dialogue was key to resolving the dispute.

The lobster dispute is a sensitive issue for the Trudeau government, which has made reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous people a top priority.

The decision to dispatch more officers to Nova Scotia follows complaints from Indigenous leaders who have pointed to images on social media that appear to show Mounties standing by while protesters vandalized property and allegedly assaulted Sipekne'katik Chief Mike Sack last week.

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Commercial fishermen in Nova Scotia object to the Sipekne'katik First Nation's new lobster fishery , which is based on a 1999 Supreme The RCMP are a paramilitary group created to control and police indigenous people. This mandate has literally never changed, but we're just very used to the RCMP

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Sack could not be reached for comment Monday.

Miller made it clear that Ottawa will be taking action to ensure the Mi'kmaq can exercise their constitutionally protected treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood from fishing.

"The acts of violence we have seen in the past days and weeks are disgusting, unacceptable and racist in nature," he said.

Miller also stressed that the new Indigenous fishery represents a tiny fraction of the traditional lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay, where the Sipekne'katik First Nation is now fishing.

The Sipekne'katik band has awarded 11 lobster fishing licences to 11 boats working in St. Marys Bay, each with a maximum of 50 traps aboard. By contrast, the commercial fishery in the bay allows for 90 vessels carrying up 400 traps each. That total includes three commercial vessels operated by the Sipekne'katik band.

In recent weeks, some non-Indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia have staged protests to highlight the fact that even though the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the treaty right to fish, hunt and gather for a moderate livelihood, the court also said Ottawa retains the right to regulate the fisheries for conservation purposes.

More RCMP officers deployed in Nova Scotia to keep peace in lobster fishery: Blair

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says more RCMP officers have been deployed to respond to the escalating treaty dispute between commercial fishers and Mi'kmaq fishers in southwest Nova Scotia. Speaking in an Ottawa news conference with three other ministers, Blair said Nova Scotia RCMP are now able to draw on RCMP resources from neighbouring provinces within the Atlantic bubble. "The RCMP reports that they have deployed ground resources, resources on the water, liaison teams and investigative resources required to maintain the peace and uphold the law at that location," Blair said.

Ava Perry of Kitchener, Ont., is donating the money she was saving to go to university to the family of RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, the officer killed in

Canadian Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said on Friday he watched "in disgust" a graphic video of an RCMP officer in Nunavut ramming the door of

They say Indigenous fishers should not be allowed to fish outside the the federally regulated season because that could harm lobster stocks.

Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan, who represents a rural fishing community in Nova Scotia, said conservation "underpins everything we do," adding that the lobster stocks in Nova Scotia remain healthy.

"We will never move forward with a plan that threatens the health of the species," she said.

Jordan did not answer when asked if the treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood extended to fishing outside the regular season.

When the dispute erupted in September, Jordan made it clear that Ottawa was opposed to fishing outside the season.

As for the definition of what constitutes a moderate livelihood, Jordan said that must be determined by negotiations with each First Nation. She said a blanket definition was not an option. "It's a very complex issue and it varies between communities," she said. "We can't tell First Nations what a moderate livelihood is."

Jordan also confirmed that a "ministerial representative" would soon be named to facilitate discussions with non-Indigenous commercial fishermen.

In Ottawa, NDP critic Charlie Angus also took aim at the RCMP. "What's really disturbing is the lack of action by the RCMP," he told a news conference. "The federal government needs to send a clear message that we have to be willing to protect Indigenous treaty rights."

On another front, Blair confirmed that the suspect accused of assaulting Chief Sack on Oct. 14 had been released from custody with conditions.

Sack has criticized the RCMP for being "useless" in the face of violence. And on the weekend he called on Ottawa to send in the military to keep the peace.

Blair dismissed that request Monday, saying the incidents in Nova Scotia require a police response, not a military operation.

"It is a peacekeeping operation and it is the responsibility of the police," he said.

— With files from Michael MacDonald in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2020.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press