Brett Forester

The RCMP's commissioner says he expresses sincere regret for an extensive spying program that targeted hundreds of Indigenous people following reporting by @brettforester cbc.ca/news/politics/…

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme on the Mounties’ 1970s “Native extremism” surveillance program: “I express sincere regret, and while we cannot change the past, we can and must acknowledge that these actions and their impact continue to be felt today." cbc.ca/news/politics/…

This is why journalism matters. Well done @BrettForester! This is real journalism, filing ATIP requests, challenging systems with questions. Never giving up. And this is why freedom of information requests matter. No level of government should have the power to shut them down.

Sharing via CBC Indigenous • CBC News ‘As resistance movements built momentum in the 1970s, the RCMP spied on Indigenous groups for years. Newly declassified documents obtained by CBC Indigenous detail who the Mounties were watching and how they did it. these files to some CBC Indigenous's Brett Forester explains how challenging it was to get the files in and reveals what motivated the RCMP. #Indigenous #Police #History #CBCNews #CBCIndigenous’

Intelligence dossiers stuffed with documents. Wiretaps. Paid informants. Covert operatives with code numbers like "A-828." A Red Power dissident photo album. Surreptitious surveillance at homes, offices, airports and bars. By @BrettForester cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Amazing, illuminating, important work by @BrettForester and team: The Mounties called it the "Native extremism program." Today, it sounds like a spy novel. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Newly declassified files confirm the RCMP infiltrated and sought to disrupt legitimate political Indigenous organizations in the 1970s in an extensive program of covert surveillance, informants and countersubversion via @BrettForester cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

How RCMP spies infiltrated the 1970s Indigenous rights movement. Secret files reveal Mounties penetrated Assembly of First Nations’ predecessor, spied on Indigenous leaders, @BrettForester reports cbc.ca/news/indigenou… Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com

youtu.be/4MvUim-Oqxk?si… great work by @BrettForester about RCMP surveillance of Indigenous groups and leaders. Includes an interview with me in it

The court said Canada made First Nations dependent by forcing them to relocate to reserves, and that the country has historically "exerted direct control over every facet of First Nations life through legislation, regulations, policies, and practices” including water and housing.

The Federal Court found in separate rulings that Canada has had a duty to ensure First Nations have both safe housing and clean drinking water. Two significant decisions handed down Friday: cbc.ca/news/canada/ma…

"We believe that there's going to be very relevant and very damaging communications revealed in that" disclosure, says RoseAnne Archibald's lawyer. Former national chief says AFN lawsuit to move ahead, settlement talks 'stonewalled' cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Chiefs in Ontario are denouncing the federal government’s delayed introduction of a bill to ensure First Nations have safe drinking water. They're also concerned Canada intends to weaken proposed legislation before tabling it: "This is completely unacceptable."

"They are rushing all of this legislation when it comes to trampling on our rights in the name of the national interest. "Yet we are still living without basic human rights like clean water. It's unfathomable, and it's quite baffling, actually." cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

#New: Assembly of First Nations chiefs voted unanimously to demand the withdrawal of the new Canada-Alberta pipeline deal, while expressing full support for First Nations on the B.C. coast. "A pipeline to B.C.’s coast is nothing but a pipe dream." cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Important journalism via ⁦@BrettForester⁩ cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

The documents show these investigations began in 1988 and evolved into a countrywide surveillance program that became more intrusive after 1990. "Native extremism” was categorized under the umbrella of “domestic terrorism” or “domestic extremism" and terrorism.

This article is a follow-up to two from the summer examining some specific cases — Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake. The CSIS investigations are confirmed in about 1,000 pages of previously secret papers dated from 1988 to 1999. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

“Consistently, in all of these reports, ‘Native extremism’ is identified as a leading priority." #New: How investigating Indigenous activism became a priority at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for at least a decade. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Meanwhile in new money, Ottawa promises $2.3 billion over three years for safe water in First Nations, and $10.1 million over three years for Indigenous consultations on major projects being fast-tracked through the regulatory process.

Indigenous programs face more than $2 billion in budget cuts—but they’re being spared the worst of Ottawa’s proposed government-wide spending reductions— in Mark Carney’s first budget as prime minister. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…