Mining, drilling, and logging corporations have been exploiting Indigenous communities for generations. Enabled by the government and unjust laws, they steal land, extract resources, and leave behind polluted water, ruined landscapes, and scarred communities.
When Indigenous activists and community leaders stand up and protest, companies regularly bring in police to silence them and even force them from their own land. In fact, a secretive special unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was created in British Columbia with the sole purpose of suppressing protests.
The Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) was formed in 2017 and basically works on behalf of resource-extraction companies to arrest Indigenous land defenders, suppress protests, and clear the way for extraction projects to proceed.
There are no limits on the unit’s budget or jurisdiction. It takes tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, while operating with minimal government oversight. It’s not even clear how many people work for C-IRG! But what IS clear is that the unit is growing and has dispatch squads all over British Columbia intent on shutting down protests. In fact, the C-IRG was responsible for over 1,100 arrests at clear-cut logging protests at Fairy Creek, Vancouver Island, making it the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.
Dear XXXXXX:
I am writing to demand that the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) be disbanded. It is using millions of taxpayer dollars to silence Indigenous land defenders, undermining British Columbia’s efforts towards climate action and reconciliation.
C-IRG, a secretive special unit of the RCMP created in 2017, has come under scrutiny for their violent tactics, abuse of power, and militarized approach to policing. Hundreds of complaints have been filed against the unit—so many that the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) is currently taking on a systemic review of their actions.
C-IRG has spent $50 million in only six years, and in April 2023 they received another $36 million out of a fund that was earmarked for “public safety.” C-IRG is not keeping the public safe—it’s violently targeting Indigenous people without any oversight or accountability.
British Columbia’s use of a police force to protect pipelines and logging projects, and suppress free speech represents a profound failure to deal with the climate emergency and protect Indigenous rights. I am joining many others who are calling for this new policing unit to be disbanded.
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