WEBVTT
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[ NARRATOR Wab Kinew ] Had it not sparked fire,
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this story would be like that of many other
low-intensity conflicts over resources,
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waiting to erupt across this oil, gas and
fresh water rich country.
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Back in 2010 the canadian province of new
brunswick granted a texas based company
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South Western Energy
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licences to explore for shale gas.
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in exchange for investment worth 47 million dollars.
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If shale gas extraction goes ahead it will be
a boon to new brunswick's struggling economy.
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The province anticipates it could generate
over 1,000 jobs and 1.5 billion dollars,
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staunching the exodus of workers west
to alberta's oil sands [tar sands].
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[ CRAIG LEONARD, Minister of Energy & Mines for New Brunswick ] To have that kind of revenue
income flow
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and that kind of potential...
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it would have a dramatic impact on the province.
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In fact, one of the studies we looked at
just a few weeks ago
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indicates that shale gas development would actually double the economic growth rates in the province.
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[ NARRATOR ] Three years later, these were
the images from new brunswick
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flashing across canadian television screens.
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RCMP guns trained on First Nations people,
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police cars sent up in flame.
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"We seized a number of firearms
from the encampment at the protest site."
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"We also found explosive devices, a large amount
of ammunition, knives and bear spray."
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"Several shots were fired from within
the encampment."
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"Molotov-style explosives
were thrown at police."
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"And 6 rcmp police vehicles
were destroyed by fire."
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[ NARRATOR ] Faultlines traveled to the province of
new brunswick on canada's east coast
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to find out what went wrong
and ask how it could be set right.
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When Southwestern subsidiary SWN Resources Canada, or "SWIN" as it's locally known,
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began exploring on land
by the Elsipogtog First Nation,
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the community started hearing about fracking,
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the process by which gas is extracted
from shale rock beneath the ground,
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by injecting water, nitrogen, and chemicals.
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Many were alarmed.
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[ SUSAN LEVI-PETERS, Former elected Chief, Elsipogtog First Nation ] Without no consultation
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and people not knowing what's going on,
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and just hearing that we know that the shale gas
is not good for the land and water,
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the protest started,
it's been goin' on for three years now.
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[ DORIS COUPAGE, Elsipogtog First Nation Elder ]
The water, our river, is very very precious to us.
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As we were growing up in the summertime
we'd stay there all summer.
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[ AMANDA POLCHIES, Elsipogtog First Nation Resident ] When I was a kid?
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I got to go play in the woods,
I got to swim in fresh water.
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I'm breathing fresh air.
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Now that I have my own kid, I have my son,
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I want him to experience
the same thing I experienced,
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I want my grandkids to experience that too.
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I don't want to have them have to worry about
going swimming and
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"oh, this water's contaminated
because they're drilling 50 feet away."
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[ NARRATOR ] In early summer, as SWN
carried out seismic testing near the reserve,
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members of the Mi`kmaq community
set out to stop them.
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They set up a protest camp
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and drew the support of the local Acadian community
and environmental groups.
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They scouted for signs of testing
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and for the impact it might be having on the
land and water they rely on and consider sacred.
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[ NO NAME GIVEN ] See you don't want to waste
all this beautiful land right here just for that.
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You know what fracking doe, eh?
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They put a lot of drills holes, the don't just put one,
they put hundreds within the area.
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[ JOHN LEVI, Elsipogtog War Chief ]
We started slowing down SWN,
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we talked to the people,
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and y'know, the best way to gain support
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was we had to sacrifice.
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So there were people that were willing to get arrested for the cause, y'know, for a good cause.
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Y'know, save our water, stop fracking.
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[ NARRATOR ] More than 40 people were arrested.
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Then one day two women chained themselves
to a seismic testing truck,
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and exploration work ground to a halt.
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But the reprieve was only temporary.
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At summer's end, SWN returned.
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[ LEVI-PETERS ] They made a compound in Rexton,
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and they put spotlights on it,
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and then they put a gate on it,
as if it was their trophy,
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they put all these thumper trucks,
about 6, 7 thumper trucks.
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[ NARRATOR ] Elsipogtog community members
lit a sacred fire
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at the exit to the compound
where SWN was parking the trucks.
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The RCMP blocked the adjacent road,
and a blockade went up.
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SWN's vehicles were trapped.
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Another encampment grew, and the Mi`kmaq
Warrior Society was asked to secure it.
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SWN was losing $54,000 each day
their vehicles remained on the lot,
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guarded by private security.
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So they obtained a court injunction
against the site's occupants,
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which the RCMP could enforce at any time.
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As the threat of police action loomed,
tension on the site escalated,
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and on October 17th, the day before
the injunction was set to expire...
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the RCMP moved in.
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I don't know why they couldn't wait til the deadline.
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I don't understand, y'know,
I can't speak for the RCMP.
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[ VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE ] ...anyone that
continues to do so [ I.E. STAY IN THE AREA ]
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will be arrested and removed from the area
by police...
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[ JASON AUGUSTINE, District Chief, Mi`kmaq Warrior Society ] ... "drop that gun", What gun?
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I had a cellphone in my hand,
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and a fast light in my hand,
cause it was still dark out, eh?
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[ NARRATOR ] Jason Augustine is a district chief
with the Mi`kmaq Warrior Society.
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He was on traffic duty that morning.
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[ AUGUSTINE ] And they told me again
"drop that gun!",
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"It's not a gun!" I told them again,
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and the next thing I know they were
already like that on me,
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like they had their guns on me and everything.
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And that's when the chaos started.
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[ YELLING/ BANGS ]
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[ NARRATOR ] Suzanne Patles was sleeping
in the woods nearby.
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She did the first thing you'd expect the defacto
spokesperson for the Warrior Society to do:
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she logged onto Facebook.
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[ PATLES YELLING ] Get your guns off me!
This is a phone!
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Hey! This is a phone! I have no gun!
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[ PATLES ] And I sent out a message
and I said everybody's always said
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to let them know when shit gets real,
I said how much more real can this get?
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When there's guns drawn on you
first thing in the morning when you wake up.
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[ AUGUSTINE ] The RCMP's jumped me
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and they were bashing my head with their boots
til they knocked me out.
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Took a lot to knock me out
while I was hanked up and I was on the ground.
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[ NARRATOR ] Suzanne was in a car
trying to upload a second video
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when the RCMP arrested her too.
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[ PATLES ] All i seen was one officer
like go to throw his assault rifle
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like towards the windshield,
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and I went to go put my head down like that,
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and it went through the windshield
and hit the top of my head,
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and at that moment I was pulled out of the car
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and hit several more times
with the assault rifle in the head.
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[ NARRATOR ] As word got out that the raid was underway, people began arriving from the rez.
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[ PROTESTER ] Can you drink money?
Can you drink money?
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You must have a lot of money to drink?
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[ NARRATOR ] The elected chief of Elsipogtog,
Aaron Sock, and 8 of his coucil members
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tried to cross the line of RCMP
to find out what was going on.
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Roger Francis's sister
was one of those councilors.
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[ ROGER FRANCIS, Elsipogtog First Nation ]
I warned them not to be physically grabbin'
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our council members, our council;
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and I told him I'll use any force necessary
I have to use to stop you guys.
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And when the RCMP grabbed my sister, yanked her,
I just lost it.
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[ NARRATOR ] Francis was arrested
and charged with assaulting a police officer.
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A great grandmother Doris Coupage
also joined the crowd at the police line.
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[ INDISTINCT TALKING ]
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"... we are North American Indians...
whether you ... or not..."
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On the sides, there were these dogs
and police with ammunition,
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and the women here, have their feathers.
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I went there with my rosaries,
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and the other ladies were chanting and drumming.
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[ POLCHIES ] They're yelling "move back!
Move back!",
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so we didn't move, we stayed there,
we linked arms and we stayed there,
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and we were pushing against them,
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and then all of a sudden, like,
pepper spray comes out of nowhere,
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and I looked back and I seen Doris,
she had gotten sprayed in the face,
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and all she had was her rosary.
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It didn't hit you at first, but it did and then uh,
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there was young boys standing
who came over and grabbed me
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cuz you would have been knocked down, like,
those cops when they push push push!
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[ NARRATOR ] The picture of a great grandmother
pepper sprayed by police
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had a profound effect on the people
of Elsipogtog,
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but it wouldn't be the only lasting image
from that day.
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[ POLCHIES ] I just had this feather,
I didn't know what to do,
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and the first thought in my mind was:
pray.
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So I kneeled down in the road
and I started praying.
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I was praying for Doris, and I was praying
for the other women that had gotten sprayed,
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and I was praying for my people,
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hoping that this will end peacefully,
nobody will get hurt, nobody would die.
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[ NARRATOR ] A photo of that moment
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was taken by a reporter from Aboriginal
People's Television Network.
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RCMP vehicles were set ablaze.
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While Amanda Polchies was being arrested,
the photo went viral.
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Why do you think people connected with it so much?
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Because like, it's a struggle,
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you can see the struggle if you look at the picture,
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it's like, you have all of these RCMP officers,
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and they can do so much.
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And then there's a woman kneeling down
in the middle of the road with a feather.
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[ COPS YELLING ] Move back! Move back! ...
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[ NARRATOR ] After the RCMP raid,
the conflict continued to smolder.
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The premier of New Brunswick
refused to back down on shale gas.
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[ PREMIER ALWARD ] We're not talking
moratorium, today;
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what we're talking about very much is the um, the issues that took place yesterday.
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[ NARRATOR ] Chief Sock was blunt about
what he wanted.
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[ CHIEF AARON SOCK ] Basically, y'know,
for the RCMP to back off,
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SWN to back off, and to give us some time
to try to heal and reflect on what happened.
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[ NARRATOR ] This is the Elsipogtog RCMP station.
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People have been telling me that there's been
attempts to burn this station down
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the past few nights.
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Burn marks all along these rafters...
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right under the singe marks there's this beer bottle
which has been turned into a Molotov cocktail.
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Shows that there's a lot of anger in the community
against the RCMP.
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That anger was also turned on the media.
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[ REPORTER ] What began as a peaceful day
turned tense when...
00:11:22.598 --> 00:11:26.688
[ NARRATOR ] when a few protesters forced a TV
crew to abandon their satellite truck
00:11:26.688 --> 00:11:29.136
and seized a reporter's car and gear.
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[ REPORTER ] When I asked if I could get
my camera equipment,
00:11:31.408 --> 00:11:34.329
they said it was theirs, that they were seizing it too.
00:11:34.329 --> 00:11:37.883
[ NEWSCASTER ] The group of protesters
has seized his vehicle and camera...
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[ NARRATOR ] Isolated from a conversation
about colonialism,
00:11:40.758 --> 00:11:43.648
news reports seemed to amplify
old stereotypes.
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[ EZRA LEVANT ] "...but it was the eco-rioters
themselves who used true violence."
00:11:47.058 --> 00:11:51.112
[ NARRATOR ] And some of the commentary
was just plain out of touch.
00:11:51.112 --> 00:11:53.929
This op-ed in one of Canada's national newspapers
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calls the confrontation here between
the community and the RCMP
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a "rude dismissal of canada's generosity"
[ quote from Rex Murphy ]
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It's this type of media sentiment
which is common in canada
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which makes indigenous people skeptical
that the rest of the country
00:12:07.046 --> 00:12:09.626
is willing to take their arguments seriously.
00:12:12.328 --> 99:59:59.999
For more than a century, the Indian Act
has denied economic opportunity.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The nation to nation relationships
set out in many treaties has been ignored;
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and until 1996 the government-funded
residential school system
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
set out to "kill the Indian in the child".
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In the past, Indigenous people in canada
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
have not shared equally int he benefits
of resource development in their homelands.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The unemployment rate on the Elsipogtog
First Nation is estimated at 80%.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Now, they fear the next phase of development
will damage the lifeblood of their culture:
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
water.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ SUSAN LEVI-PETERS ] So right now what's happening is... Idle No More,
First Nations people are sayin we've had enough.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Our young generation are gettign educated,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
so now we're starting to say hey, this is wrong,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
how you're treating us is wrong.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So now when they want to take the water
and the land, we're saying no way,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
y'know, this is enough.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] As round dances and drum circles
swept canada last winter, a movement was born,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
taking its name from a Twitter hashtag:
Idle No More.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And it was catalyzed by opposition to a law that has removed Federal protection
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for amny of the country's waterways.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It reawakened a lot of people,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and a lot of people were uprising,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and the most important thing that
brought everyone together was the water.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That was the one thing that, um,
reverberated all across the country,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that we needed to ensure the water's protection.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] It was a spirit of Idle No More,
and the social networks it created,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that emboldened Elsipogtog's resistance
to SWN's exploration work,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and caused people to come out
to face down the RCMP.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It was scary that day.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You have all those grandchildren, why wouldn't you just stay back, how come you decided to go to the front?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You don't even think about that.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The women are the protectors of the water,
aren't they?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Stuff like this happens with SWN resources,
a company based in the united states,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
comin' down to make money in canada,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
not consult First Nations in the first place,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
y'know, it's just gone too far.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It scared me, but I didn't wanna run away.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Cause I don't want them here.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I don't want SWN here,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and I felt like making a stand was
the only thing that was left.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Cause nobody was listening.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Why do you think it always
comes down to a confrontation like that
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
between police and y'know Indigenous people?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Like I said it's like you're a second class citizen,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and things are not gonna change,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
unless the government of canada recognizes
our First Nation rights and who we are,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
like, we can't be just bullied over any more.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Being bullied, not being listened to,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
there's a legal standard grounded in the canadian constitution that's supposed to avoid these issues.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When mining and energy companies want to
carry out activity
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that stands to compromise an aboriginal or treaty right, like for example access to water or land,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the Crown has a duty
to consult the First Nations affected
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in proportion and to the extent that they will be
impacted by the development.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This is the New Brunswick legislature,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where the premier and the members of
the legislative assembly sit.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In this part of canada, for practical purposes,
this is the Crown.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There was no consultation before the government awarded SWN licences to explore 3 years ago,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but since the deal was done, they say they've
done more than required.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ CRAIG LEONARD ] We've had ongoing dialogue
with chief council,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and again it's... a lot of the consultation that has been taking place
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is talking about that framework of...
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
if there is something there, where do we go,
uh, in terms of discussion
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
on how to move forward... with it.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Uh, very little actually gets discussed about
the actual seismic work,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because everybody recognizes that, uh, there's...
no impact uh... to environment land use,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
or treaty rights from that.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Do you feel that the province has fulfilled its duty to consult?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ CHIEF SOCK ] No.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I don't.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] But the duty to consult
is not explicitly defined in law.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Instead, it has been shaped and tested
by court challenges,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and it does not give First Nations
the right to veto projects.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So one of the contentious parts
of the duty to consult
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is what happens when some members
of a community like Elsipogtog say "no",
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"at any price"?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ CRAIG LEONARD ] It's a challenge to
get to that next stage,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where you really want to talk about what
the potential for economic benefits are,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
if you don't know what the resource actually is,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
what the total pie looks like, and who's
going to get the different pieces of that pie.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] In his first year as Chief,
Sock participated in the consultation process,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as part of an umbrella group
of New Brunswick Chiefs
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that organized information sessions
about SWN's work,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and sought to negotiate a revenue-sharing
agreement with the government.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But after a summer of protests,
he and his council withdrew.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ CHIEF SOCK ] Being a new Chief, I don't
quite understand yet how this came to be,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but what I do understand is my community doesn't
want it, and I stand with my community.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I listened to them and if that's what
they want me to fight, that's what I'll fight.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] As they pursue their struggle,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
many in Elsipogtog say the government doesn't
have the authority to allow SWN to work here
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
without their consent.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And they're drawing on the treaties that
the Mi`kmaq signed with the British 3 centuries ago.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Treaties that outlined a peaceful relationship
but did not cede land or water to the Crown.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We're protecting it not just for us.
We're protecting it for everybody.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The Anglophone, the Francophone,
the Irish, anybody,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because it says in our treaties, the peace and friendship treaties,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
everybody is welcomed in Canada, provided you
dont ruin the land and water.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Two days after the raid
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
community members and warriors marched from the former blockade site and took to the highway.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"Turn it around! Turn it around!"
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"Go that way, that's not our problem.
Turn it around, go..."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] We're here on Highway 11,
this is the main thoroughfare through this area.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Protesters have just moved from the blockade
over here, and have shut down passage here.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They're allowing the remaining cars that were sort of
trapped int he middle of the protest to go through,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but they're stopping people in transit
through this area.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Across the country,
First Nations communities were on alert,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
watching what would happen next.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There were rumours that the army was on standby,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and that warriors from other nations
were coming to stand with the Mi`kmaq.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"*We're gonna have a meetin' with all of the people,
_and you guys are gonna say_ what you want done,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
what you guys want blocked, who you want protected.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"The Warrior Society is going out there ___,
no more division, OK?"
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Less than an hour after
the blockade started here, it's been taken down.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The only reason there's no traffic here is because
the RCMP is holding vehicles back.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So the group is heading back to the main camp now,
blockade on, blockade off.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Most of all, there were rumours
that the RCMP was on the move.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Now this is probably the 10th time we've heard
that the police are here,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
or are getting ready to move in.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
People are really on edge,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and y'know, jump at the mention
of a police action.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ VOICES IN BACKGROUND ] How many cops care do you think?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Five.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Five? Just five?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That's nothing then...
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They've been there all day, five is how much
they usually have at either end of the road...
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"No theres more than that..."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"Listen, she's there, she's there,
so stop freaking out.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"You've caused a lot of panic today already,
no really.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"There's a cop, on the right, in the field,
I see it..."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"I'll go down there myself and I'll go by myself...
alright..."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"We need everyone staying in the middle though,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"because they'll think we're rushing the line
if we go..."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"Everybody stay here, we don't need
everybody to go down and check this out."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Why do you think people
are jumpy like that?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ SUZANNE PATLES ] They're jumpy
because of everything that happened the other day,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and how they just came in and rushed us,
has everybody like on their toes,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where they're scared, they're scared the police
are going to move in
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and come at us with excessive force
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because they've been hearin' that the next time
they come in they're gonna come in harder.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ DEREK NEPINAK, GRAND CHIEF OF MANITOBA ]
I think we came within hours
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of seeing very very significant
national incidences occurring.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There's enough people
on the ground across the country
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to create a great disruption in the peaceful existence of many who take for granted the lands they live on.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Grand Chief Derek Nepinak
and his team had arrived from Manitoba
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to assess the situation on the ground.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NEPINAK ] I think that there is almost
a conflict of interest
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
when the province has a duty to consult
flowing from a constitutional standard,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but yet they also have financial interests in the end
in terms of the corporations
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
ability to convert resources into wealth.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] At the first gathering after the raid,
he found a community determined to heal,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but fearful for the future.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NEPINAK ] ...and I am concerned about the degree
of collusion and collaboration
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
between corporate interests, the state apparatus,
RCMP, and government.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I am concerned about that.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Just a few days after the raid,
SWN appeared ready to resume exploration again.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Seismic testing equipment lay along the highway,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
sensors and batteries that would
allow geophones to work.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
These geophones can reveal what's beneath
the surface of the earth,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but in order to do that, they need to operate
in conjunction with so-called thumper trucks.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Those trucks were captured behind the blockade
near Elsipogtog.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
However, during the RCMP raid,
SWN was able to drive them out.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
SWN Resources Canada declined to speak with us.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Hey hows it going?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
My name's Wab, I'm with AlJazeera America.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ GUARD ] This is private property,
so media isnt allowed up here,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
so the RCMP's been contacted.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Oh yeah? You called the cops?
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ GUARD ] I didn't.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] Oh okay.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But in a written statement,
they assured AlJazeera,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"SWN has been and will continue to work closely
with local authorities and community leaders
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to conduct our operations safely and responsibly,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and in full compliance with the laws
of the country and province."
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In mid november the seismic testing trucks
returned to work.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
New protest sites sprang up.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And backed by supporters from across
the province and the country,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Elsipogtog slowed them down.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
SWN obtained another injunction
against the protesters.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
No one knows if they will stop fracking
before it starts,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but the people of Elsipogtog have shown that whether or not a government and a corporation
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
fulfil their legal duty to consult,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the resolve of grassroots people
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
still has a power to throw a wrench
into resource development projects,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and for development to move ahead,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's their consent that's needed.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ SUZANNE PATLES ] I don't think anything
is gonna stop the grassroots people,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's in their hands, I think the power needs
to be handed back to the people
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because as an Indigenous person
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the route to self-determination
is always from the ground up approach
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because that's who we are as a people.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ NARRATOR ] The reality they've created
on the ground
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is enshrined in the United Nations Declaration
On The Rights of Indigenous People,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as the principle of free, prior, and informed consent.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And it has helped breathe life into
a provincial anti-fracking movement
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
led by First Nations people.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And while the government of New Brunswick
vows to push ahead with shale gas development,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
provinces across canada are taking note.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In november, the province of Newfoundland
declared a moratorium on fracking.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Meanwhile, as rain turns to snow,
and water turns to ice,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in Elsipogtog they're digging in for the winter,
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and preparing for the next round.
99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ Captions by Radical Access Mapping Project,
Un-ceded Coast Salish Territories, 2013 ]