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The Toronto Star reports that the Assembly of First Nations exchanged information about protests with the Mounties

Author

Compiled by Debora Steel

Volume

30

Issue

12

Year

2013

The Toronto Star reports that the Assembly of First Nations exchanged information about protests with the Mounties and provincial police and developed common stances leading up to a national Aboriginal day of action in the summer of 2007. RCMP documents reveal that RCMP and Ontario and Quebec police met for the “first time in history” with then AFN national chief Phil Fontaine to “facilitate a consistent and effective approach to managing Aboriginal protests and occupations.” Reporters Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs write that “the RCMP’s heightened collaboration with the AFN coincided with the start of a sweeping federal program of surveillance of Aboriginal communities and individuals engaged in land rights activism that continues today.” During the day of action, RCMP worked within the AFN’s Ottawa headquarters to ensure a “seamless flow of information.” All communications were reviewed by both the AFN and RCMP to “ensure consistency and accuracy,” documents reveal. “These exchanges with police are more evidence that the federal government thoroughly co-opted the Assembly of First Nations under Phil Fontaine,” said Russell Diabo, an Aboriginal policy analyst who advised the AFN in the 1990s.