New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance wants 'unanswered questions' looked at surrounding incident on Oct. 17 that led to 40 arrests
COLE HOBSON
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance is asking the provincial government for an independent, public inquiry into events surrounding the Oct. 17 clash between shale gas protesters and the RCMP that led to an eruption of violence and 40 arrests along Route 134 near Rexton.
The group believes the people of New Brunswick have a right to know the reasons behind the escalation in the use of force used by RCMP, with the group saying there are 'many unanswered questions' about what transpired along the highway that day.
Jim Emberger, a spokesman for New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, said the discussion in the past couple of months has been about the demonstration and protests, but they want to return the dialogue to the pertinent information and scientific studies surrounding shale gas itself.
Yesterday was International Human Rights Day and the group used the opportunity to echo the concerns expressed in an Amnesty International letter to Premier David Alward and his cabinet dated on Nov. 1.
That letter stated that unless steps are taken to rebuild the relationship with Indigenous Peoples with respect to resource development, further incidents could occur.
Amnesty International said in the letter that this incident 'could have been avoided had the province acted in a manner consistent with its obligations to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples under Canadian and international law.' The Alliance believes that if Amnesty International is raising concern about human rights issues in New Brunswick, citizens should be concerned as well.
'We would like an independent public inquiry to examine what role this failure to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples may have played in the events leading up to Oct. 17,' said Emberger. 'An independent, impartial inquiry held at arm's length from government is necessary because the provincial government itself played a role in those events.' It was during that October confrontation that the Mounties noted they found guns and firebombs at the protest camp and while the two sides squared off in the middle of Route 134 several police vehicles were set on fire. Some protesters claim the weapons were planted by police and the police cars were set ablaze by police 'agents provocateurs' but the end result was 40 arrests and six protesters behind bars facing charges ranging from weapons offences to assaulting police officers to unlawfully confining security guards who felt they couldn't safely leave from behind the barricaded compound.
Alward has called it a 'black eye' on the province and said in a Moncton speech on Monday that he was troubled by what SWN was put through during their seismic exploration process, but was pleased they 'persevered' through the controversy.
Alward said it's easy to be against things, 'but very rarely do these opponents bring forward alternative ideas,' he said, noting it's 'difficult to argue with those who use misinformation and false statements to promote fear and division within our communities. But I believe the truth cannot be silenced.' Emberger contended that the government has been acting with blinders on, as he said for three years groups like theirs have been ready and willing to present alternative options and factual information to the government.
'They are not responding in any way to options that have (been presented) in three years,' he said, noting everything they've put forward has been based on peer-reviewed science and reliable reports.
The Alliance represents community groups and voices from across New Brunswick who are opposed to unconventional oil and gas development. While putting forward information about the potential risks of unconventional oil and gas development, the group also explore and promote clean energy and economic alternatives.
Emberger said they have seen studies showing that as an example, the clean energy economy in Massachusetts has created close to three times as many direct jobs as in Pennsylvania with jobs related to shale gas development.
Emberger said with the support their group has throughout the province, he has a hard time believing Alward's assertions that most of what he's hearing on the ground is overall support for the industry.
'It's not like we're not telling anyone, but if you're not listening you won't hear it,' he said.
'We will admit that shale gas will do something, but it's up to the government to make the case that it's the economic and even more than that environmentally correct thing to do in particular in terms of all the news of all the climate change (issues).' Emberger believes different methods, other than force, could have been used to achieve the goal of enforcing the injunction on Oct. 17 and believes it didn't have to come to what it did.
'This was civil disobedience and people were prepared to be arrested and had been all summer,' he said. 'The fact that people were surprised early in the morning as the first thing they saw were people with sniper rifles, sitting in fields all around. That's not going from step one to step two, that's going from step one to step 15. So our question is, OK, what did you know that made you think that you had to go to a military-style assault on what has been a peaceful demonstration?' In the aftermath of the Oct. 17 incident, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown said threat to public safety posed by lethal weapons and escalating tensions at the Rexton blockade forced them to take action against protesters.
Brown said on Oct. 18 at a press conference that in addition to 40 arrests and the six police cars being destroyed, several shots were fired by persons unknown within the encampment, potentially deadly explosives were seized and police officers discharged 'soft rounds' of bean-bag-like projectiles and pepper spray.
He said experts had to defuse several improvised explosive devices found at the blockade, where protesters had been encamped for close to three weeks.
'Some contained shrapnel and had the potential to seriously injure or kill,' Brown said. 'This was no longer a peaceful protest, and there was a serious threat to public safety.' Emberger said the presence of legally owned hunting rifles at a campsite in New Brunswick during hunting season isn't cause for alarm. He said it also seems suspicious that despite the police cars lit on fire, there hasn't been an arrest made for arson in relation to the incident. As for the other dangerous weapons found, he said he couldn't comment as he never saw them, but he would like to see some context provided by the RCMP on what was found and how it was discovered.
'From what we can see,' Emberger said, 'there was no threat to public safety until police, advancing with drawn guns and accompanied by dogs and snipers in camouflage, attacked unarmed civilians, including women and children, with pepper spray and non-lethal rounds.' A request for comment from the Premier's office was not returned by press time.
In the end, Emberger said he doesn't believe the government will act on their request for an inquiry.
'Do I have confidence the government will actually do anything about this … I think the answer is no,' he said, noting he believes the Alward government will ultimately lose the next election based on their 'my way or the highway' attitude on issues.
He added that in the new year their group, in co-ordination with others to be named, will be doing a concentrated education and electoral campaign about issues relating to shale gas.
The NBASGA said they and other anti-shale groups have been engaged in peaceful education, discussion and debate for three years and it is their intent to continue.
The group said it recognizes that peaceful protest may include civil disobedience, but never violence, and feel acts of civil disobedience have occurred only because of government refusal to address citizen concerns in any meaningful way.
'The current and continuing threat of violence was initiated by the RCMP and government in the Rexton raid,' said Emberger. 'This violence has drawn the public's attention away from the important issues, and also from the coverage of recent significant scientific, economic and political reports and events concerning shale gas.'
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance is asking the provincial government for an independent, public inquiry into events surrounding the Oct. 17 clash between shale gas protesters and the RCMP that led to an eruption of violence and 40 arrests along Route 134 near Rexton.
The group believes the people of New Brunswick have a right to know the reasons behind the escalation in the use of force used by RCMP, with the group saying there are 'many unanswered questions' about what transpired along the highway that day.
Jim Emberger, a spokesman for New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, said the discussion in the past couple of months has been about the demonstration and protests, but they want to return the dialogue to the pertinent information and scientific studies surrounding shale gas itself.
Yesterday was International Human Rights Day and the group used the opportunity to echo the concerns expressed in an Amnesty International letter to Premier David Alward and his cabinet dated on Nov. 1.
That letter stated that unless steps are taken to rebuild the relationship with Indigenous Peoples with respect to resource development, further incidents could occur.
Amnesty International said in the letter that this incident 'could have been avoided had the province acted in a manner consistent with its obligations to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples under Canadian and international law.' The Alliance believes that if Amnesty International is raising concern about human rights issues in New Brunswick, citizens should be concerned as well.
'We would like an independent public inquiry to examine what role this failure to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples may have played in the events leading up to Oct. 17,' said Emberger. 'An independent, impartial inquiry held at arm's length from government is necessary because the provincial government itself played a role in those events.' It was during that October confrontation that the Mounties noted they found guns and firebombs at the protest camp and while the two sides squared off in the middle of Route 134 several police vehicles were set on fire. Some protesters claim the weapons were planted by police and the police cars were set ablaze by police 'agents provocateurs' but the end result was 40 arrests and six protesters behind bars facing charges ranging from weapons offences to assaulting police officers to unlawfully confining security guards who felt they couldn't safely leave from behind the barricaded compound.
Alward has called it a 'black eye' on the province and said in a Moncton speech on Monday that he was troubled by what SWN was put through during their seismic exploration process, but was pleased they 'persevered' through the controversy.
Alward said it's easy to be against things, 'but very rarely do these opponents bring forward alternative ideas,' he said, noting it's 'difficult to argue with those who use misinformation and false statements to promote fear and division within our communities. But I believe the truth cannot be silenced.' Emberger contended that the government has been acting with blinders on, as he said for three years groups like theirs have been ready and willing to present alternative options and factual information to the government.
'They are not responding in any way to options that have (been presented) in three years,' he said, noting everything they've put forward has been based on peer-reviewed science and reliable reports.
The Alliance represents community groups and voices from across New Brunswick who are opposed to unconventional oil and gas development. While putting forward information about the potential risks of unconventional oil and gas development, the group also explore and promote clean energy and economic alternatives.
Emberger said they have seen studies showing that as an example, the clean energy economy in Massachusetts has created close to three times as many direct jobs as in Pennsylvania with jobs related to shale gas development.
Emberger said with the support their group has throughout the province, he has a hard time believing Alward's assertions that most of what he's hearing on the ground is overall support for the industry.
'It's not like we're not telling anyone, but if you're not listening you won't hear it,' he said.
'We will admit that shale gas will do something, but it's up to the government to make the case that it's the economic and even more than that environmentally correct thing to do in particular in terms of all the news of all the climate change (issues).' Emberger believes different methods, other than force, could have been used to achieve the goal of enforcing the injunction on Oct. 17 and believes it didn't have to come to what it did.
'This was civil disobedience and people were prepared to be arrested and had been all summer,' he said. 'The fact that people were surprised early in the morning as the first thing they saw were people with sniper rifles, sitting in fields all around. That's not going from step one to step two, that's going from step one to step 15. So our question is, OK, what did you know that made you think that you had to go to a military-style assault on what has been a peaceful demonstration?' In the aftermath of the Oct. 17 incident, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown said threat to public safety posed by lethal weapons and escalating tensions at the Rexton blockade forced them to take action against protesters.
Brown said on Oct. 18 at a press conference that in addition to 40 arrests and the six police cars being destroyed, several shots were fired by persons unknown within the encampment, potentially deadly explosives were seized and police officers discharged 'soft rounds' of bean-bag-like projectiles and pepper spray.
He said experts had to defuse several improvised explosive devices found at the blockade, where protesters had been encamped for close to three weeks.
'Some contained shrapnel and had the potential to seriously injure or kill,' Brown said. 'This was no longer a peaceful protest, and there was a serious threat to public safety.' Emberger said the presence of legally owned hunting rifles at a campsite in New Brunswick during hunting season isn't cause for alarm. He said it also seems suspicious that despite the police cars lit on fire, there hasn't been an arrest made for arson in relation to the incident. As for the other dangerous weapons found, he said he couldn't comment as he never saw them, but he would like to see some context provided by the RCMP on what was found and how it was discovered.
'From what we can see,' Emberger said, 'there was no threat to public safety until police, advancing with drawn guns and accompanied by dogs and snipers in camouflage, attacked unarmed civilians, including women and children, with pepper spray and non-lethal rounds.' A request for comment from the Premier's office was not returned by press time.
In the end, Emberger said he doesn't believe the government will act on their request for an inquiry.
'Do I have confidence the government will actually do anything about this … I think the answer is no,' he said, noting he believes the Alward government will ultimately lose the next election based on their 'my way or the highway' attitude on issues.
He added that in the new year their group, in co-ordination with others to be named, will be doing a concentrated education and electoral campaign about issues relating to shale gas.
The NBASGA said they and other anti-shale groups have been engaged in peaceful education, discussion and debate for three years and it is their intent to continue.
The group said it recognizes that peaceful protest may include civil disobedience, but never violence, and feel acts of civil disobedience have occurred only because of government refusal to address citizen concerns in any meaningful way.
'The current and continuing threat of violence was initiated by the RCMP and government in the Rexton raid,' said Emberger. 'This violence has drawn the public's attention away from the important issues, and also from the coverage of recent significant scientific, economic and political reports and events concerning shale gas.'
No comments:
Post a Comment