(en) Canada, Why you should support Idle No More - a pamphlet from Common Cause* Hamilton

You have most likely heard of the Idle No More movement that has sprung up across Canada 
recently. The most publicized element is that Chief Theresa Spence (of the Attawapiskat 
Nation) is on a hunger strike until Stephen Harper meets with her and other Indigenous 
leaders. What gets lost in the news cycle is that this meeting is supposed to be a real 
discussion and not just a symbolic gesture. ---- This movement is not just about getting 
individual leaders into a room and talking: the demands for autonomy for all Indigenous 
nations and against corporate destruction of the environment are what this movement is 
really about. These issues affect white workers and immigrants (old and new), and 
supporting the Idle No More (INM) movement is also supporting our own communities and our 
future generations.

Autonomy

It is important to remember that the meeting between Chief Spence and Steven Harper is 
supposed to be a meeting between separate independent nations: just like the treaties we 
signed are between separate independent nations. Last year, the Canadian State formally 
apologized for the cultural genocide of Native groups through the residential schools, but 
to this day Native voices are still being silenced and criminalized while racist policies 
and environmental destruction continues.

We as white workers and immigrants need to demand the Canadian state to honour the 
treaties it signed, not line up for more photo-ops and lip services. Honouring the 
treaties means acting towards the Indigenous communities as equals. They should be 
responsible for all the decisions on their lands, and should be a legitimate partner on 
policies that affect all Canadians.

Native autonomy will actually increase the autonomy of white workers and immigrants as 
well. Autonomy means that decisions over the water, land, and other resources should be 
made by the people living and working in the region: these decisions should not be made by 
CEOs, share holders, unaccountable leaders, or politicians thousands of miles away from 
the people that will be affected.

The struggle against ecological destruction

The ongoing pillaging of Native land in the name of generating corporate profits has been 
another primary motivator for the INM movement. The Canadian state has played a central 
role in facilitating this process. By ignoring and defying treaties and introducing new 
legislation to weaken environmental protection laws, the Canadian Government is attempting 
to further enrich corporations and the 1% at the expense of the environment.

The ecological destruction is not just occurring on native territories, but across Canada 
and the world. Native lands are often targeted with the worst forms of destruction and are 
often denied the healthcare that is needed to deal with the destruction: Chemical Valley 
(or Aamjiwnaang Nation) near Sarnia is just one example.

One of the main concerns of the INM movement is the dangerous oil pipelines (and the 
inevitable toxic spills that come along with them) that are being built or re-purposed in 
order to transport toxic sludge from the Alberta tar sands. One such pipeline is 
Enbridge?s Line 9, which runs through Hamilton between Sarnia and Montreal. These 
pipelines must be opposed and stopped by natives, white people, and immigrants working 
together.

Some of us care very deeply about the ecological crisis that the whole world is facing. 
The problem is that not many are doing that much about it: writing letters, signing 
petitions, and giving money to Green Peace are not working. Indigenous communities have 
always been on the front lines resisting environmental destruction: both on their lands 
and outside them. Supporting the INM movement is supporting the people fighting this 
ecological crisis on behalf of all workers across the planet.

Attacking racism and white supremacy

Supporting the INM movement is part of fighting the white supremacy and racism that is 
endemic in Canada. Racism or white supremacy are not just bad ideas held by particular 
individuals, but rather a system that has a real material impact on our day to day lives. 
Chronic underemployment and incarceration - the result of generations of genocidal 
policies ? of Native and other people of colour are some examples of the way white 
supremacist power structures are maintained in Canada.

This means fighting white supremacy requires more than going to a protest or having a 
black friend (or two). Fighting white supremacy means attacking racism in urban 
working-class struggles (in our unions, workplaces, & neighbourhoods) and convincing our 
co-workers and neighbours to support the struggles of Native people.

Obviously, immigrants and people of colour have clear reasons for opposing white 
supremacy, but white Canadians will benefit from fighting it as well. Maintaining white 
supremacy and racism is a main way that capitalism continues to keep us divided and 
exploited. White workers have got more in common with our racialized neighbours and native 
protesters than we do with our white bosses, or white police, or billionaire CEOs. Our 
interests lie with those who are dispossessed, are exploited, who suffer as a result of 
ecological destruction - not those who benefit from this activity.

Blockades and economic disruption

Since the inception of the Idle No More movement, its participants have employed a variety 
of tactics. Demonstrations in urban centres, ?flash mobs? in shopping malls, round dances, 
large marches, blockades? the sometimes spontaneous and diverse nature of these actions 
has allowed the movement to remain dynamic while it continues to grow in size and influence.

In particular the blockading of rail lines and highways may prove to be the most potent 
weapon in this arsenal. This is because blockading the flow of goods and services, unlike 
a static rally or protest, has a direct economic impact on the corporations and bosses who 
are among the profiteers of environmental destruction.

White workers also use ?blockades? in the form of strikes. When the CP workers were 
fighting for their pensions earlier this year, their strike stopped the trains too. The 
Harper Government responded by legislating them back to work almost immediately. The state 
was quick to act because they realize the vulnerability of these transportation networks 
and the power that is gained by shutting them down.

Whether striking, shutting down highways, or blocking trains, the tactic of blockading and 
economic disruption is an important tactic employed by both non-native workers and Native 
protestors: to claim that white workers? disruptions are legitimate and native groups? 
disruptions aren?t is racist. Respecting blockades is like respecting picket lines, and 
choosing not to cross them is a strike against ecological destruction & racism, and an act 
of solidarity with Native autonomy.

What you can do

1) The most important things is to talk to your neighbours and coworkers about Idle No 
More, and how native struggles affect us as white & immigrant workers. It is important 
that these conversations are heard in our lunchrooms, sidewalks, parks, and coffee shops 
if we want real change.

2) If you do contact your regional politician, please make sure the conversation or letter 
is not just about Harper meeting Chief Spence but instead is about how they should 
recognize Native autonomy and their solutions to environment destruction.

3) Make a sign supporting Idle No More, and put it in your window so the neighbourhood can 
see it. Get your kids to colour it and make it look beautiful; oh, and talk to them about 
Indigenous issues while your at it.

4) Go and visit one of the blockades or round dance, and show your solidarity with the 
Idle No More movement. Important note: don?t be shy & make sure you participate in the 
dancing and music (that is how all of us make friends).
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* Anarchist organization