Brett Forester

"They stuck to us like glue ... Time to go home to bed? They followed us. They had rooms right across the hall from us. And we decided this must be the RCMP." New: Mounties spied on 'Father of Nunavut' in 1970s amid fears of Inuit-Dene alliance cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Update: Former AFN national chief Ovide Mercredi urges Indigenous leaders who were spied on to file a class-action lawsuit. Amnesty International in Canada is backing their demands: "This is appalling. It's a complete violation of Canada's obligations." cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

'What we have learned through recent reporting confirms what our Elders and our leaders and our nations have said for generations — that the RCMP have always monitored our First Nations leadership...' says AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson. aptnnews.ca/?p=286784

In a press conference on Thursday, First Nation leaders were in Winnipeg to demand an apology and federal inquiry into the RCMP’s Indigenous surveillance program and assurance that it is still not being used today under a different name. youtu.be/Jkt_JaaN9ck

The Assembly of First Nations is rejecting the RCMP's recent statement of regret for a secret surveillance program that targeted hundreds of Indigenous people. Such statements are "not a sufficient response," Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak wrote to the PM. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

Brett Forester of CBC Indigenous set out to discover how much time & effort Canada spent spying on Indigenous activists. After 5 years, multiple access to information requests, complaints to the information commissioner and one court challenge, @brettForester found the answer.

Uncovered documents show the RCMP was not just watching Indigenous leaders in the 1970s, but developing policies that allowed it to disrupt political organizing. @BrettForester reveals how a “native extremism” policy authorized surveillance aimed at Indigenous resistance.

Two First Nations chiefs are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to apologize for saying he could “outlast” a First Nations woman who was protesting over mercury poisoning in her community of Grassy Narrows. #cdnpoli ca.style.yahoo.com/first-nations-…

RCMP surveillance of Indigenous leaders was ‘completely wrong’: Tagak Curley “It’s like being accused, wrongfully accused, for a crime we didn’t commit,” Curley said, stating he and other leaders were treated as if they were “non-Canadians.” nunatsiaq.com/stories/articl…

"It really breaks my heart to see how targeted he was," said Manuel's daughter Doreen, a filmmaker, residential school survivor and mother of three, in a February interview. "It must have been like walking in sand for him.” Though if it was, he didn't show it.

The surveillance was most intense between June 1975 and June 1976, when the electronic surveillance branch produced more than 150 reports. In July 1975 alone, spies produced 27 individual reports from inside NIB—nearly one per day—indicating full-scale infiltration.

Canada used spies, infiltration and physical and electronic surveillance against George Manuel—one of the most widely respected First Nations leaders in modern history, documents show. The secret agent was code numbered A-828. cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

The president of the Métis National Council says the RCMP's response to an extensive spying program that targeted hundreds of Indigenous people falls short. cbc.ca/news/politics/…

Getting access to RCMP 'Native extremism' files took 4-year fight. 'National security' cited in 42-month delay by Library and Archives Canada cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

"Consultations with [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] are necessary to ensure that LAC does not inadvertently disclose sensitive information that is exempted from disclosure, including information that could pose real dangers to national security," Crown lawyers wrote.

"Release of information which could lead to the identity of a human source would not only put that individual in danger but would also have a negative impact on the service's present-day human source program," CSIS said, according to LAC's court filing.

The Canadian government argued, in court, that it needed four years to review an RCMP intelligence dossier on the Assembly of First Nations precursor to protect CSIS’s modern source recruitment program, among other things. Thanks to my colleagues for this.cbc.ca/news/indigenou…

@MarkKersten @BrettForester Yes, requests can be made by individuals if it is their file. Others can make requests for individual files if the person in the file has been deceased for more than 20 years.

Good to see Carney recognizing an apology should be made for the RCMP's spying program against Indigenous leaders. A remaining Q is whether those surveilled / their relatives can access the files the RCMP collected. I'd be worried the gov't will otherwise destroy them.