Native America Callling: Demands for action grow as details of Indigenous surveillance program surface

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First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders across Canada are calling for an investigation into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

That’s following a report by CBC Indigenous that uncovered evidence of a secret surveillance program targeting Indigenous organizations and individuals using wiretaps, informants, and counter subversion tactics from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The report confirms what many Indigenous communities long suspected.

Also, reflect on 150 years of the Indian Act, the Canadian federal statute that defines First Nations membership or “Indian Status.” A new bill in Canada’s parliament could significantly expand status eligibility for thousands of individuals and their descendants.

Russ Diabo (Kahnawake Mohawk), First Nations policy analyst

Daniel Sims (Tsay Keh Dene First Nation), associate professor of First Nations Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia