The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes, is the dictionary definition of the word “terrorism”. Assembly of First Nations Chief, Phil Fontaine can be seen to be a supporter of terrorism, and for this reason, the government of Canada should cease to recognize him as a representative of First Nations people, the massive majority of whom are not terrorists, and do not support terrorist tactics. Nothing positive can come from dealing directly with him or anyone who shares his views.

Recently, a video called “When Justice Fails, Stop the Rails” was uploaded to Youtube. This video encourages Native Canadians to sabotage and blockade railways as a means to force the Canadian government into concessions. Threatening to commit a crime that will damage the economy, as a means of political manipulation is economic terrorism, if anyone is injured or dies as a result of said crime, it is terrorism in its purest form.

Phil Fontaine had a chance to unequivocally condemn this video and the threat it communicates, but, instead, he chose to offer up feeble justifications for it. He has explained that conditions on reserves are compelling people to make these threats. “The frustration, the anger, is real. There is despair in our communities. The federal government should be reaching out to us.”

To be fair he said that he does not condone the tactics advocated in this video, but it is important to note that he did not condemn them. There is a very important difference. When Fontaine says that he still believes that "diplomacy is the most effective way of bringing about change”, he fails to say that diplomacy is the ONLY effective way of bringing about change.

While he says that he prefers negotiation, he refuses to use his influence to help prevent imminent acts of economic terrorism, the commision of which, are directly tied to whether or not his concerns are addressed satisfactorily by the government with which he is supposedly engaged diplomatically.

On Tuesday, Fontaine warned Ottawa that progress must be made quickly on land claim issues in order to prevent a summer of protests. What form are these protests expected to take? I believe that a summer of protests are to include railway blockades such as the ones called for in “When Justice Fails, Stop the Rails”.

In other words, for Phil Fontain, extortion is a type of "diplomacy".

Aboriginal leaders have named June 29, as a national day of peaceful protest, but Chief Terrence Nelson, the obviously and undoubtedly racist Chief of Roseau River First Nation in Manitoba is making plans for a day-long rail blockade. “There is only two ways to deal with the white people to have effective resolutions of issues. You either pick up a gun and deal with the issue, or you stand between the white man and his money. On June 29, we will be standing between the white man and his money.”

It is ironic, in a primitive sort of way, that Chief Nelson would think the best way for First Nations people to get more money from the federal government, which I think, in his manner of expression, must be closely related to “the white man”, would be to “stand between the white man and his money.” If Chief Nelson and aboriginal people in general want more money from the white man, the wrong way to go about it would be to stand between the white man and his money. If the white man has less money, First Nations people can hardly hope to get more of it. Chief Nelson would be erecting a blockade between himself and his own money.

It would be amusing to consider at great length the foibles of Chief Nelson, the financial planner, but it is important to note that what he is planning to commit a criminal act.

Terrorism, under the Anti-terrorism Act is defined as any action “committed in whole or in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause with the intention of intimidating the public with regard to its security, including its economic security.”

Shawn Brant has been arrested and charged criminally for organizing just the sort rail blockade several weeks ago, that Chief Nelson says that he is going to conduct on June 29. If what Shawn Brant did is a crime, then Chief Nelson is certainly guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime. Maybe the RCMP doesn’t watch CBC, because if they did, they would have all the evidence they need to put Chief Nelson behind bars.

Fontaine has not expressed any intention to directly participate in any criminal activity, so he doesn’t need to be in jail, but since he fails to condemn the criminal activity, and attempts to leverage the existing threat of terrorism in order to advance a political agenda, the Canadian government should refuse to acknowledge him. Fontaine has served the Canadian government with a warning. He has let it be known that protests and blockades and sabotage will be the result if he is not appeased. If the Canadian government continues to negotiate directly with him, then it has acknowledged blackmail as a legitimate negotiating technique.

If extortion is rewarded with the desired results, then more extortion will follow. Perhaps the Harper government should tell the Assembly of First Nations that any tax revenue that the Canadian government loses as a result of rail blockades will be deducted from the 10 billion dollar budget that is allocated every year for First Nations programs. Blackmail should be answered with blackmail. This situation threatens the prosperity of everyone in this country, it could not possibly be a bad political move for Harper.

Bob Kismet

bobkismet@gmail.com