https://canadians.org/blog/public-security-and-public-interest-which-public-who-decides
[links in online article]
Public security and public interest: which public? Who decides?
August 7, 2019 - 10:19am
This blog is part two of a series looking at corporate interference in
democracy and quashing of public protest. Read the first one here.
We’re seeing a number of questionable actions coming from different arms
of government under the guise of ‘public security’ and ‘public
interest’, like Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s “war room” and the RCMP
handing information with Enbridge about land and water protectors
blocking pipelines in BC.
‘Public security’ is a tricky phrase. Canada has treaty responsibilities
that it is not living up to, and CSIS is actively supporting the
suppression of Indigenous land defenders to the benefit of private
interests like Enbridge and a broad network of fossil fuel companies.
Canada has consistently for 152 years tried to quash the full
realization of a treaty-based relationship with Indigenous nations, and
consistently removed Indigenous nations from their land through
legislation, culture of dispossession, and force (and before
confederation Canada’s predecessors were doing the same). Black
communities have been criminalized and surveilled since slavery - even
in Canada. Two great reads on these topics include Policing Indigenous
Movements by Andrew Crosby and Geoffry Monaghan, which captures modern
surveillance and criminalization of Indigenous land and water
protectors, and Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard, which is a
“comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned
surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada.”
I am generally skeptical of the phrase ‘general public’ because there
are so many diverse communities with particular histories, needs, and
visions. When the government uses this term to justify its actions we
should be equally cautious. Whose interests are they really protecting?
Whose are being set aside in favour of a particular public? Are the
interests being served even public at all?
There are loads of communities and groups that are not being served by
the surveilling of climate justice movements - primarily the people who
are trying to have their needs met through that movement, like
Indigenous peoples, fishers, farmers, women, coastal communities, and
beyond. Just last week the joint review panel for the massive Teck tar
sands mine said the project would be ‘in the public interest’ even
though the report says the mine would likely “significantly” and
“irreparably” harm Indigenous communities and local ecology.
When governments and government institutions use their power to decide
which public gets to be secure, we need to look deeply at whose
interests are being served and use our power as a movement to name those
interests. In these cases, CSIS, the RCMP, and the Premier of Alberta
are using their power to serve the interests of the fossil fuel industry
at the expense of everyone and their ability to participate in democracy.
What can we do? Be on guard for corporate rhetoric
We’re seeing that politicians, police forces, and just about any
democratic institution in Canada is susceptible to manipulation by
corporate interests. The way these institutions describe Canada’s
current reality and the actions we must take to address our challenges
matter a lot - these are the stories of who we are as a society and who
we can become. If these stories are always tainted with industry
interests, the only stories available to the masses will be those that
include fossil fuels, mass exploitation of Indigenous lands and
resources, and continued social division, racism, and xenophobia.
One example of this is former Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver’s
accusation that the climate justice movement is full of ‘radical groups’
‘hijacking’ our democracy to push a ‘radical ideological agenda’ (I talk
about this more in this blog). To me the exact opposite is true - what
could be more radical than a small group of super wealthy corporate
elites aiming to alter the life-sustaining composition of the atmosphere
so they can accumulate unimaginable wealth in the short term?
We can challenge these stories and present more realistic and hopeful
alternatives. Movements across the world have been re-storying our
futures for generations, and we can’t stop now. This is what we’re
trying to do with the Green New Deal - we’re working across movements to
gather up the needs and dreams of communities across the country so we
can envision and move toward a future drastically different from the
corporate capture and exploitation of today.
Another way we're trying to challenge these mainstream narratives about
who is actingn in the 'public good' is by pushing for accountability and
honesty from the RCMP. Will you send an email to Ralph Goodale demand
the release of the investigation into police misconduct during the
anti-fracking struggle in Elsipogtog in 2013?
Please help us see the RCMP investigation report released - send an
email to Minister Ralph Goodale and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki!
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