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posted by janrinok on Monday March 24 2014, @03:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-don't-want-you-to-have-a-voice dept.

Appalbarry writes:

"The National Post reports that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was involved in planning a response to First Nations "Idle No More" protests.

The legible parts of the report and corresponding PowerPoint presentation, however, show that Ottawa, helped in no small part by CSIS, was planning for every eventuality, concerned by the decentralized, leaderless nature of the protests and the multiple motivations and influences that drove them.

CSIS had previously denied it had any role in monitoring the movement. After reports last summer that the spy agency and its anti-terrorism section had been keeping a watchful eye, the agency said it was only assessing threats against the Idle No More protesters.

Idle No More was a pacifist, grassroots campaign by native organizations to press the government to address their issues. Despite government and CSIS claims to the contrary it was assumed that they were under surveillance.

Canada has a long history of secret surveillance of protest and left wing groups."

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Dale on Monday March 24 2014, @04:02PM

    by Dale (539) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 24 2014, @04:02PM (#20299)

    The only safe assumption at this point is that everything we do is monitored and known. Governments have always had their hands in groups that are unhappy or "subversive" in their minds. Before they had to physically send people to do it. Now they can just scoop up most of the information automatically and process it as they see fit. It doesn't make it right, but any group wanting to protest or have activities have to account for the point that everything they do is known to some government entity.

    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Monday March 24 2014, @05:29PM

      by davester666 (155) on Monday March 24 2014, @05:29PM (#20357)

      yes, and any group that were to try to avoid being monitored in this way, by using end-to-end encryption or something else, automatically makes them MORE suspicious, enabling CSIS and the RCMP do basically do whatever they want to be able to access your communications.

      It's the basic "well, you refusing to give me permission to search your car gives me probable cause to search your car."

  • (Score: 2) by hubie on Monday March 24 2014, @05:04PM

    by hubie (1068) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 24 2014, @05:04PM (#20332) Journal

    I understand pushing the state surveillance angle to the story, but any area that is used to getting organized or unorganized gatherings makes sure to plan for a wide variety of potential events. You want to know things like who is coming, who else might be coming because the first group will be there, how many are expected, how will they arrive and leave, etc., what do we do if X happens, how do we evacuate people if something happens, what if violence breaks out, and so forth. Part of that process is going to want to know what is known about the group that will be gathering. I would presume if, for example, a bunch of English football fans wanted to assemble in a city on St. Patty's day with $1-drafts all day, that (if it was in the US) the FBI and local police would be involved in the planning. I don't think you'd want to change your process just because this group is a bunch of pacifists and this other group are neo-Nazis.

  • (Score: 1) by dpp on Monday March 24 2014, @06:47PM

    by dpp (3579) on Monday March 24 2014, @06:47PM (#20428)

    Whilst I live in Canada and sympathize with the First Nation's movement, as well as share the disgust of many about our government's apparent lack of consideration of this "cause of the people"...

    I'm also in the IT industry...

    I have to admit that every time I heard about these protests on the radio, I'd think -

    "ITIL No More!" - there's something worth taking to the streets over! :)

  • (Score: 2) by MrGuy on Monday March 24 2014, @07:21PM

    by MrGuy (1007) on Monday March 24 2014, @07:21PM (#20457)

    From TFS: "Canada has a long history of secret surveillance of protest and left wing groups."

    Name me a country that doesn't. The US investigated Martin Luther King like he was Al Capone.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 25 2014, @08:01AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 25 2014, @08:01AM (#20855)

    The first thing you do when you want to abuse and extract natural resources of an area, is you destroy the natives. Yes, destroy.

    And the peaceful protests are the worst fear of any government, since they make it harder to bring out the guns and declare hunting season opened.