[ NARRATOR Wab Kinew ] Had it not sparked fire,
this story would be like that of many other low-intensity conflicts over resources,
waiting to erupt across this oil, gas and fresh water rich country.
Back in 2010 the canadian province of new brunswick granted a texas based company
South Western Energy
licences to explore for shale gas.
in exchange for investment worth 47 million dollars.
If shale gas extraction goes ahead it will be a boon to new brunswick's struggling economy.
The province anticipates it could generate over 1,000 jobs and 1.5 billion dollars,
staunching the exodus of workers west to alberta's oil sands [tar sands].
[ CRAIG LEONARD, Minister of Energy & Mines for New Brunswick ] To have that kind of revenue income flow
and that kind of potential...
it would have a dramatic impact on the province.
In fact, one of the studies we looked at just a few weeks ago
indicates that shale gas development would actually double the economic growth rates in the province.
[ NARRATOR ] Three years later, these were the images from new brunswick
flashing across canadian television screens.
RCMP guns trained on First Nations people,
police cars sent up in flame.
"We seized a number of firearms from the encampment at the protest site."
"We also found explosive devices, a large amount of ammunition, knives and bear spray."
"Several shots were fired from within the encampment."
"Molotov-style explosives were thrown at police."
"And 6 rcmp police vehicles were destroyed by fire."
[ NARRATOR ] Faultlines traveled to the province of new brunswick on canada's east coast
to find out what went wrong and ask how it could be set right.
When Southwestern subsidiary SWN Resources Canada, or "SWIN" as it's locally known,
began exploring on land by the Elsipogtog First Nation,
the community started hearing about fracking,
the process by which gas is extracted from shale rock beneath the ground,
by injecting water, nitrogen, and chemicals.
Many were alarmed.
[ SUSAN LEVI-PETERS, Former elected Chief, Elsipogtog First Nation ] Without no consultation
and people not knowing what's going on,
and just hearing that we know that the shale gas is not good for the land and water,
the protest started, it's been goin' on for three years now.
[ DORIS COUPAGE, Elsipogtog First Nation Elder ] The water, our river, is very very precious to us.
As we were growing up in the summertime we'd stay there all summer.
[ AMANDA POLCHIES, Elsipogtog First Nation Resident ] When I was a kid?
I got to go play in the woods, I got to swim in fresh water.
I'm breathing fresh air.
Now that I have my own kid, I have my son,
I want him to experience the same thing I experienced,
I want my grandkids to experience that too.
I don't want to have them have to worry about going swimming and
"oh, this water's contaminated because they're drilling 50 feet away."
[ NARRATOR ] In early summer, as SWN carried out seismic testing near the reserve,
members of the Mi`kmaq community set out to stop them.
They set up a protest camp
and drew the support of the local Acadian community and environmental groups.
They scouted for signs of testing
and for the impact it might be having on the land and water they rely on and consider sacred.
[ NO NAME GIVEN ] See you don't want to waste all this beautiful land right here just for that.
You know what fracking doe, eh?
They put a lot of drills holes, the don't just put one, they put hundreds within the area.
[ JOHN LEVI, Elsipogtog War Chief ] We started slowing down SWN,
we talked to the people,
and y'know, the best way to gain support
was we had to sacrifice.
So there were people that were willing to get arrested for the cause, y'know, for a good cause.
Y'know, save our water, stop fracking.
[ NARRATOR ] More than 40 people were arrested.
Then one day two women chained themselves to a seismic testing truck,
and exploration work ground to a halt.
But the reprieve was only temporary.
At summer's end, SWN returned.
[ LEVI-PETERS ] They made a compound in Rexton,
and they put spotlights on it,
and then they put a gate on it, as if it was their trophy,
they put all these thumper trucks, about 6, 7 thumper trucks.
[ NARRATOR ] Elsipogtog community members lit a sacred fire
at the exit to the compound where SWN was parking the trucks.
The RCMP blocked the adjacent road, and a blockade went up.
SWN's vehicles were trapped.
Another encampment grew, and the Mi`kmaq Warrior Society was asked to secure it.
SWN was losing $54,000 each day their vehicles remained on the lot,
guarded by private security.
So they obtained a court injunction against the site's occupants,
which the RCMP could enforce at any time.
As the threat of police action loomed, tension on the site escalated,
and on October 17th, the day before the injunction was set to expire...
the RCMP moved in.
I don't know why they couldn't wait til the deadline.
I don't understand, y'know, I can't speak for the RCMP.
[ VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE ] ...anyone that continues to do so [ I.E. STAY IN THE AREA ]
will be arrested and removed from the area by police...
[ JASON AUGUSTINE, District Chief, Mi`kmaq Warrior Society ] ... "drop that gun", What gun?
I had a cellphone in my hand,
and a fast light in my hand, cause it was still dark out, eh?
[ NARRATOR ] Jason Augustine is a district chief with the Mi`kmaq Warrior Society.
He was on traffic duty that morning.
[ AUGUSTINE ] And they told me again "drop that gun!",
"It's not a gun!" I told them again,
and the next thing I know they were already like that on me,
like they had their guns on me and everything.
And that's when the chaos started.
[ YELLING/ BANGS ]
[ NARRATOR ] Suzanne Patles was sleeping in the woods nearby.
She did the first thing you'd expect the defacto spokesperson for the Warrior Society to do:
she logged onto Facebook.
[ PATLES YELLING ] Get your guns off me! This is a phone!
Hey! This is a phone! I have no gun!
[ PATLES ] And I sent out a message and I said everybody's always said
to let them know when shit gets real, I said how much more real can this get?
When there's guns drawn on you first thing in the morning when you wake up.
[ AUGUSTINE ] The RCMP's jumped me
and they were bashing my head with their boots til they knocked me out.
Took a lot to knock me out while I was hanked up and I was on the ground.
[ NARRATOR ] Suzanne was in a car trying to upload a second video
when the RCMP arrested her too.
[ PATLES ] All i seen was one officer like go to throw his assault rifle
like towards the windshield,
and I went to go put my head down like that,
and it went through the windshield and hit the top of my head,
and at that moment I was pulled out of the car
and hit several more times with the assault rifle in the head.
[ NARRATOR ] As word got out that the raid was underway, people began arriving from the rez.
[ PROTESTER ] Can you drink money? Can you drink money?
You must have a lot of money to drink?
[ NARRATOR ] The elected chief of Elsipogtog, Aaron Sock, and 8 of his coucil members
tried to cross the line of RCMP to find out what was going on.
Roger Francis's sister was one of those councilors.
[ ROGER FRANCIS, Elsipogtog First Nation ] I warned them not to be physically grabbin'
our council members, our council;
and I told him I'll use any force necessary I have to use to stop you guys.
And when the RCMP grabbed my sister, yanked her, I just lost it.
[ NARRATOR ] Francis was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer.
A great grandmother Doris Coupage also joined the crowd at the police line.
[ INDISTINCT TALKING ]
"... we are North American Indians... whether you ... or not..."
On the sides, there were these dogs and police with ammunition,
and the women here, have their feathers.
I went there with my rosaries,
and the other ladies were chanting and drumming.
[ POLCHIES ] They're yelling "move back! Move back!",
so we didn't move, we stayed there, we linked arms and we stayed there,
and we were pushing against them,
and then all of a sudden, like, pepper spray comes out of nowhere,
and I looked back and I seen Doris, she had gotten sprayed in the face,
and all she had was her rosary.
It didn't hit you at first, but it did and then uh,
there was young boys standing who came over and grabbed me
cuz you would have been knocked down, like, those cops when they push push push!
[ NARRATOR ] The picture of a great grandmother pepper sprayed by police
had a profound effect on the people of Elsipogtog,
but it wouldn't be the only lasting image from that day.
[ POLCHIES ] I just had this feather, I didn't know what to do,
and the first thought in my mind was: pray.
So I kneeled down in the road and I started praying.
I was praying for Doris, and I was praying for the other women that had gotten sprayed,
and I was praying for my people,
hoping that this will end peacefully, nobody will get hurt, nobody would die.
[ NARRATOR ] A photo of that moment
was taken by a reporter from Aboriginal People's Television Network.
RCMP vehicles were set ablaze.
While Amanda Polchies was being arrested, the photo went viral.
Why do you think people connected with it so much?
Because like, it's a struggle,
you can see the struggle if you look at the picture,
it's like, you have all of these RCMP officers,
and they can do so much.
And then there's a woman kneeling down in the middle of the road with a feather.
[ COPS YELLING ] Move back! Move back! ...
[ NARRATOR ] After the RCMP raid, the conflict continued to smolder.
The premier of New Brunswick refused to back down on shale gas.
[ PREMIER ALWARD ] We're not talking moratorium, today;
what we're talking about very much is the um, the issues that took place yesterday.
[ NARRATOR ] Chief Sock was blunt about what he wanted.
[ CHIEF AARON SOCK ] Basically, y'know, for the RCMP to back off,
SWN to back off, and to give us some time to try to heal and reflect on what happened.
[ NARRATOR ] This is the Elsipogtog RCMP station.
People have been telling me that there's been attempts to burn this station down
the past few nights.
Burn marks all along these rafters...
right under the singe marks there's this beer bottle which has been turned into a Molotov cocktail.
Shows that there's a lot of anger in the community against the RCMP.
That anger was also turned on the media.
[ REPORTER ] What began as a peaceful day turned tense when...
[ NARRATOR ] when a few protesters forced a TV crew to abandon their satellite truck
and seized a reporter's car and gear.
[ REPORTER ] When I asked if I could get my camera equipment,
they said it was theirs, that they were seizing it too.
[ NEWSCASTER ] The group of protesters has seized his vehicle and camera...
[ NARRATOR ] Isolated from a conversation about colonialism,
news reports seemed to amplify old stereotypes.
[ EZRA LEVANT ] "...but it was the eco-rioters themselves who used true violence."
[ NARRATOR ] And some of the commentary was just plain out of touch.
This op-ed in one of Canada's national newspapers
calls the confrontation here between the community and the RCMP
a "rude dismissal of canada's generosity" [ quote from Rex Murphy ]
It's this type of media sentiment which is common in canada
which makes indigenous people skeptical that the rest of the country
is willing to take their arguments seriously.
For more than a century, the Indian Act has denied economic opportunity.
The nation to nation relationships set out in many treaties has been ignored;
and until 1996 the government-funded residential school system
set out to "kill the Indian in the child".
In the past, Indigenous people in canada
have not shared equally int he benefits of resource development in their homelands.
The unemployment rate on the Elsipogtog First Nation is estimated at 80%.
Now, they fear the next phase of development will damage the lifeblood of their culture:
water.
[ SUSAN LEVI-PETERS ] So right now what's happening is... Idle No More, First Nations people are sayin we've had enough.
Our young generation are gettign educated,
so now we're starting to say hey, this is wrong,
how you're treating us is wrong.
So now when they want to take the water and the land, we're saying no way,
y'know, this is enough.
[ NARRATOR ] As round dances and drum circles swept canada last winter, a movement was born,
taking its name from a Twitter hashtag: Idle No More.
And it was catalyzed by opposition to a law that has removed Federal protection
for amny of the country's waterways.
It reawakened a lot of people,
and a lot of people were uprising,
and the most important thing that brought everyone together was the water.
That was the one thing that, um, reverberated all across the country,
that we needed to ensure the water's protection.
[ NARRATOR ] It was a spirit of Idle No More, and the social networks it created,
that emboldened Elsipogtog's resistance to SWN's exploration work,
and caused people to come out to face down the RCMP.
It was scary that day.
You have all those grandchildren, why wouldn't you just stay back, how come you decided to go to the front?
You don't even think about that.
The women are the protectors of the water, aren't they?
Stuff like this happens with SWN resources, a company based in the united states,
comin' down to make money in canada,
not consult First Nations in the first place,
y'know, it's just gone too far.
It scared me, but I didn't wanna run away.
Cause I don't want them here.
I don't want SWN here,
and I felt like making a stand was the only thing that was left.
Cause nobody was listening.
[ NARRATOR ] Why do you think it always comes down to a confrontation like that
between police and y'know Indigenous people?
Like I said it's like you're a second class citizen,
and things are not gonna change,
unless the government of canada recognizes our First Nation rights and who we are,
like, we can't be just bullied over any more.
[ NARRATOR ] Being bullied, not being listened to,
there's a legal standard grounded in the canadian constitution that's supposed to avoid these issues.
When mining and energy companies want to carry out activity
that stands to compromise an aboriginal or treaty right, like for example access to water or land,
the Crown has a duty to consult the First Nations affected
in proportion and to the extent that they will be impacted by the development.
This is the New Brunswick legislature,
where the premier and the members of the legislative assembly sit.
In this part of canada, for practical purposes, this is the Crown.
There was no consultation before the government awarded SWN licences to explore 3 years ago,
but since the deal was done, they say they've done more than required.
[ CRAIG LEONARD ] We've had ongoing dialogue with chief council,
and again it's... a lot of the consultation that has been taking place
is talking about that framework of...
if there is something there, where do we go, uh, in terms of discussion
on how to move forward... with it.
Uh, very little actually gets discussed about the actual seismic work,
because everybody recognizes that, uh, there's... no impact uh... to environment land use,
or treaty rights from that.
[ NARRATOR ] Do you feel that the province has fulfilled its duty to consult?
[ CHIEF SOCK ] No.
I don't.
[ NARRATOR ] But the duty to consult is not explicitly defined in law.
Instead, it has been shaped and tested by court challenges,
and it does not give First Nations the right to veto projects.
So one of the contentious parts of the duty to consult
is what happens when some members of a community like Elsipogtog say "no",
"at any price"?
[ CRAIG LEONARD ] It's a challenge to get to that next stage,
where you really want to talk about what the potential for economic benefits are,
if you don't know what the resource actually is,
what the total pie looks like, and who's going to get the different pieces of that pie.
[ NARRATOR ] In his first year as Chief, Sock participated in the consultation process,
as part of an umbrella group of New Brunswick Chiefs
that organized information sessions about SWN's work,
and sought to negotiate a revenue-sharing agreement with the government.
But after a summer of protests, he and his council withdrew.
[ CHIEF SOCK ] Being a new Chief, I don't quite understand yet how this came to be,
but what I do understand is my community doesn't want it, and I stand with my community.
I listened to them and if that's what they want me to fight, that's what I'll fight.
[ NARRATOR ] As they pursue their struggle,
many in Elsipogtog say the government doesn't have the authority to allow SWN to work here
without their consent.
And they're drawing on the treaties that the Mi`kmaq signed with the British 3 centuries ago.
Treaties that outlined a peaceful relationship but did not cede land or water to the Crown.
We're protecting it not just for us. We're protecting it for everybody.
The Anglophone, the Francophone, the Irish, anybody,
because it says in our treaties, the peace and friendship treaties,
everybody is welcomed in Canada, provided you dont ruin the land and water.
[ NARRATOR ] Two days after the raid
community members and warriors marched from the former blockade site and took to the highway.
"Turn it around! Turn it around!"
"Go that way, that's not our problem. Turn it around, go..."
[ NARRATOR ] We're here on Highway 11, this is the main thoroughfare through this area.
Protesters have just moved from the blockade over here, and have shut down passage here.
They're allowing the remaining cars that were sort of trapped int he middle of the protest to go through,
but they're stopping people in transit through this area.
Across the country, First Nations communities were on alert,
watching what would happen next.
There were rumours that the army was on standby,
and that warriors from other nations were coming to stand with the Mi`kmaq.
"*We're gonna have a meetin' with all of the people, _and you guys are gonna say_ what you want done,
what you guys want blocked, who you want protected.
"The Warrior Society is going out there ___, no more division, OK?"
[ NARRATOR ] Less than an hour after the blockade started here, it's been taken down.
The only reason there's no traffic here is because the RCMP is holding vehicles back.
So the group is heading back to the main camp now, blockade on, blockade off.
Most of all, there were rumours that the RCMP was on the move.
Now this is probably the 10th time we've heard that the police are here,
or are getting ready to move in.
People are really on edge,
and y'know, jump at the mention of a police action.
[ VOICES IN BACKGROUND ] How many cops care do you think?
Five.
Five? Just five?
That's nothing then...
They've been there all day, five is how much they usually have at either end of the road...
"No theres more than that..."
"Listen, she's there, she's there, so stop freaking out.
"You've caused a lot of panic today already, no really.
"There's a cop, on the right, in the field, I see it..."
"I'll go down there myself and I'll go by myself... alright..."
"We need everyone staying in the middle though,
"because they'll think we're rushing the line if we go..."
"Everybody stay here, we don't need everybody to go down and check this out."
[ NARRATOR ] Why do you think people are jumpy like that?
[ SUZANNE PATLES ] They're jumpy because of everything that happened the other day,
and how they just came in and rushed us, has everybody like on their toes,
where they're scared, they're scared the police are going to move in
and come at us with excessive force
because they've been hearin' that the next time they come in they're gonna come in harder.
[ DEREK NEPINAK, GRAND CHIEF OF MANITOBA ] I think we came within hours
of seeing very very significant national incidences occurring.
There's enough people on the ground across the country
to create a great disruption in the peaceful existence of many who take for granted the lands they live on.
[ NARRATOR ] Grand Chief Derek Nepinak and his team had arrived from Manitoba
to assess the situation on the ground.
[ NEPINAK ] I think that there is almost a conflict of interest
when the province has a duty to consult flowing from a constitutional standard,
but yet they also have financial interests in the end in terms of the corporations
ability to convert resources into wealth.
[ NARRATOR ] At the first gathering after the raid, he found a community determined to heal,
but fearful for the future.
[ NEPINAK ] ...and I am concerned about the degree of collusion and collaboration
between corporate interests, the state apparatus, RCMP, and government.
I am concerned about that.
[ NARRATOR ] Just a few days after the raid, SWN appeared ready to resume exploration again.
Seismic testing equipment lay along the highway,
sensors and batteries that would allow geophones to work.
These geophones can reveal what's beneath the surface of the earth,
but in order to do that, they need to operate in conjunction with so-called thumper trucks.
Those trucks were captured behind the blockade near Elsipogtog.
However, during the RCMP raid, SWN was able to drive them out.
SWN Resources Canada declined to speak with us.
Hey hows it going?
My name's Wab, I'm with AlJazeera America.
[ GUARD ] This is private property, so media isnt allowed up here,
so the RCMP's been contacted.
[ NARRATOR ] Oh yeah? You called the cops?
[ GUARD ] I didn't.
[ NARRATOR ] Oh okay.
But in a written statement, they assured AlJazeera,
"SWN has been and will continue to work closely with local authorities and community leaders
to conduct our operations safely and responsibly,
and in full compliance with the laws of the country and province."
In mid november the seismic testing trucks returned to work.
New protest sites sprang up.
And backed by supporters from across the province and the country,
Elsipogtog slowed them down.
SWN obtained another injunction against the protesters.
No one knows if they will stop fracking before it starts,
but the people of Elsipogtog have shown that whether or not a government and a corporation
fulfil their legal duty to consult,
the resolve of grassroots people
still has a power to throw a wrench into resource development projects,
and for development to move ahead,
it's their consent that's needed.
[ SUZANNE PATLES ] I don't think anything is gonna stop the grassroots people,
it's in their hands, I think the power needs to be handed back to the people
because as an Indigenous person
the route to self-determination is always from the ground up approach
because that's who we are as a people.
[ NARRATOR ] The reality they've created on the ground
is enshrined in the United Nations Declaration On The Rights of Indigenous People,
as the principle of free, prior, and informed consent.
And it has helped breathe life into a provincial anti-fracking movement
led by First Nations people.
And while the government of New Brunswick vows to push ahead with shale gas development,
provinces across canada are taking note.
In november, the province of Newfoundland declared a moratorium on fracking.
Meanwhile, as rain turns to snow, and water turns to ice,
in Elsipogtog they're digging in for the winter,
and preparing for the next round.
[ Captions by Radical Access Mapping Project, Un-ceded Coast Salish Territories, 2013 ]