On October 12th, 2023, Mi’kmaw fisherman Copy Caplin appeared in court to fight an attempt by Crown prosecutor Denis Lavoie to summarily dismiss his constitutional challenge as “manifestly frivolous.” Caplin, a Mi’kmaw man from Ugpi’ganjig Eel River Bar First Nation, has been fighting charges under the Fisheries Act for exercising his Aboriginal and treaty rights to fish for food.
DARTMOUTH – When Micmac fisherman Daniel Francis attended the Dartmouth Provincial court on February 15th, 2023 he was accompanied by over a dozen supporters including two former National Chiefs – Del Riley and Putus Hector Pictou. On September 10th, 2021, Francis was pulled over by half a dozen DFO officers while driving a refrigerated reefer truck near Popes Harbour, Nova Scotia. The officers demanded ID from Francis, but they refused to explain why they were pulling him over in the first place.
A group of as many as 200 white people are suspected of participating in a series of violent, racist raids which saw buildings besieged, property damaged, commodities destroyed and (as of last night) at...
Sgt. Joyce’s suggestion that it is a matter of “feeling” or emotion rather than a matter of law removes accountability from the RCMP and distances them from their responsibility in upholding the Supreme court’s decision and protecting the constitutional rights of the Mi’kmaw.
Canada’s criminalization of Onkwehonwe land protectors and silencing of Indigenous reporters directly results from their efforts to usurp land and natural resources that our people have used and accessed as long as the sun has risen.
