5 RCMP cars get torched in NB. Protestors and arsonists arrested.

[FLAMESRULE]

Not making news here, but there are ~30 FN members protesting at our road near Slave Lake. We don't use ANY fraccing in our production methods as a company (heavy oil), and yet there they are.

Letting our trucks and others pass through, but still a PITA.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by tinordi

lots of a-holes who know jack about the history of aboriginal peoples or the context of these protests in this thread. I honestly live the denunciation off violence and the complete dismissal of 200 years of state sanctioned violence which went a few degrees further than some torched cruisers. Keep it up rednecks.

hahahaha

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

As well, I wanted to respond to someone who mentioned that there is a possibility of being a provocateur...ridiculous. First of all the incidents were within a local provincial police force and not the national force, with a larger amount of local politics at play. Plus, the Quebecois have had their fair share of corruption and scandals within their politics for quite some time now. The RCMP don't give a crap about politics from what I know about them. The RCMP are some of the most highly regarded national police forces in the world. Their internal standards are very, very high, and they only chose the highest quality individuals to even begin training. One of my very good friends is an RCMP officer and from what he has told me regarding the culture of the force they sound like the most dependable and honourable of people available in our society. We should consider ourselves extremely lucky that the RCMP are who they are and not some haphazard corrupt group trying to cut corners and use violence to get a quick resolution to events like this one.

Thanks for the laughs. The RCMP have a proud history of acting like dirtbags and thugs.

[Resolute 14]

Lol. That pack of cowards and thugs are now threatening media covering their thuggery. Guess they don't want their pitiful actions covered on the six o'clock news.

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

I also take it that if a fracking company thought there was gas beneath your backyard and they "consulted" with you by telling you they were going to drill a well in your back yard you'd just take it lying down?

Correct me if I am wrong but I have always thought that you don't own the land under your property or the air space over your property.

Is this different for aboriginals?

[19Yzerman19]

^It may well be and arguably should be. Rubecube was making the point earlier (well, in broader fashion) that attempting to fit aboriginal title into the rubric of Western property law based on a fee simple concept doesn't necessarily work. The whole point is that those concepts don't apply to first nations, whose interaction with land is historically totally different from the European notion of ownership for the purposes of cultivation.

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Lots of a-holes who know jack about the history of aboriginal peoples or the context of these protests in this thread. I honestly love the denunciation of violence and the complete dismissal of 200 years of state sanctioned violence which went a few degrees further than some torched cruisers. Keep it up rednecks.

This is a joke, right? Or does denouncing present violence somehow tacitly condone previous violence suffered by the ancestors of those committing the present violence?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Thanks for the laughs. The RCMP have a proud history of acting like dirtbags and thugs.

I stand by what I said. I should also add that I have never had any extra fondness for military or police powers and would consider myself a pacifist, so if there was something to be concerned about with the RCMP I wouldn't be flying the flag so adamantly. I think you need your comment to be true to justify your position, whether it is actually true or not.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Lots of a-holes who know jack about the history of aboriginal peoples or the context of these protests in this thread. I honestly love the denunciation of violence and the complete dismissal of 200 years of state sanctioned violence which went a few degrees further than some torched cruisers. Keep it up rednecks.

Oh give me a break. This is like a bunch of toddlers bleating "but he did it firrrrrrrrst!" Grow up. Seriously.

[icecube]

Tweet from journalist Laura Brown, who had her vehicle and equipment seized (Which has now been returned)...

@01LBrown "Making a statement to be clear, it was only about 5 people- They should not blanket the rest of those inv. w/ shale gas movement"

The NB chiefs have made a statement condemning any violent acts. Despite the rhetoric around here, this has overwhelmingly been a peaceful protest.

The RCMP who were pepper spraying women and elders in the face should be held accountable for helping ignite the violence in the first place.

[Flash Walken]

Looks like truth and reconciliation does not apply to mineral wealth.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Lol. That pack of cowards and thugs are now threatening media covering their thuggery. Guess they don't want their pitiful actions covered on the six o'clock news.

This I don't understand. I thought the whole point of the protests was to get media coverage so they could air their grievances in public. Why attack reporters? What good can come of this?

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Rerun

This I don't understand. I thought the whole point of the protests was to get media coverage so they could air their grievances in public. Why attack reporters? What good can come of this?

Probably some young hot heads.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I stand by what I said. I should also add that I have never had any extra fondness for military or police powers and would consider myself a pacifist, so if there was something to be concerned about with the RCMP I wouldn't be flying the flag so adamantly. I think you need your comment to be true to justify your position, whether it is actually true or not.

I have family who are officers in the RCMP and some of the stories I've heard are quite frankly disgusting.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Minnie

Oh give me a break. This is like a bunch of toddlers bleating "but he did it firrrrrrrrst!" Grow up. Seriously.

Finally, someone has the guts to call it like it is. A concise and objective breakdown of 250 years of oppression and institutionalized violence. Kudos.

[Minnie]

You're welcome.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Rerun

This I don't understand. I thought the whole point of the protests was to get media coverage so they could air their grievances in public. Why attack reporters? What good can come of this?

Because media videotaping thugs torching things tends to lead to very easy convictions in court.

We're talking about people who are the equivalent of the black block when it comes to G7 protests. There are those who want to send a message via the protest, and there are those who simply want to burn things. It is the latter group that doesn't want the media around.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by blankall

Totally different situations. Mandela was made President of South Africa in 1994. If, isntead of making a black man President, they had continued to isolate blacks on small patches of land and then proceeded to enter those small patches to plunder for resources, Mandela's work wouldn't have been done. Conversely, if an aboriginal chief was Prime Minister of Canada, we'd have a different result.

Mandela is an example of the power of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Originally Posted by blankall

I agree that they went to far with burning the cars. That being said, they weren't killing children either. Considering we've seen cop cars burnt in recent riots in Toronto and Vancouver, it's hardly just Aboriginal people who are committing these acts. What's happening to the Aboriginal people is also a lot more important and emotional than having your physically weak hockey team lose a Stanley Cup final.

Once again, I would try and see things from their persepctive. This is unceeded land. The government sent in hundreds of armed men to support an oil copanies right to mine. Yes they had a court injunction, but it was from a court that the aboriginal people never consented to jurisdiction under (at least not without severe duress).

To be clear I don't think anyone, white, blacks, reds, pinks, purples, browns, anyone should be resorting to violence.

[chemgear]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10...of-opposition/

The people of the Elsipogtog First Nation will continue their fight against shale gas exploration in New Brunswick, the community’s chief said Monday as he criticized the RCMP for the way it handled a protest last week that spiralled out of control.

“What the RCMP put our people through was almost horrendous, to say the least,” Aaron Sock told a news conference.

Elsipogtog member Amy Sock lifted her arms to show bruises on her biceps that she says she received when she was arrested at the protest site.

Assistant commissioner Roger Brown, the RCMP’s commanding officer in the province, has defended the police response, saying officers seized firearms and improvised explosive devices that were a threat to public safety.