Chief Fox

Yesterday, our small group of fifty delivered a notice to Business Canada. CN had obtained an injunction on Monday, the day previous to the railway blockade. CN only delivered that notice to us later on yesterday. I got a copy only after a CN Cop picked up a copy from the ground and handed it to me. We had already started to leave the area. Although the injunction is not legal, we left the blockade after we made our point. The point is clear, we can shut down the economy.

In 2007, I won a decision against an injunction that was sought by CN. This time their lawyers did not provide notice to us and went to court obtaining the injunction without giving us notice of the injunction or a chance to appear. CN's title comes from the government but the government gets their title from the treaty. When Harper passed the Bill C45 legislation, he nullified the title of CN. Only the treaty guarantees immigrants rights in our lands. In 2007, I went to court and asked Judge Kennedy, how can you give CN an injunctiion against us being on our own land, Kennedy said, CN has title, I asked where did they get title, Kennedy said from Government, so I asked, where did the Government get their title. He went silent and asked, do you have documentation. Of course we did. We gave him a huge amount of documentation.

The doctrine of discovery cannot be upheld in court. We are batting nearly 100% of the land court cases. We win because all the immigrant rights come from Treaty. If the treaties are nullified by Harper legislation, CN, CPR, Enbridge, TransCanada and all immigrant right to access in our lands are endangered.

We can stop all trains in Canada if we had to. If we are forced to do this, our slogan will be Not one toothpick. Jody Wilson Raybould is quoted in the Globe and Mail against blockades. The British Columbia First Nations want Treaty Negotiations and lumber is 50% of the economy of British Columbia but if bloodshed occurs in Canada, Not One Toothpick will be sold to the Americans. There is 2 billion dollars worth of trade a day between Canada and United States. We do not want to be on blockades, we are forced to be there by the Harper legislation.

We need to contact the Americans. They are not our enemy, they can dictate to Harper. The economy of Canada is tied to the United States.

On Tuesday January 22nd and Wednesday 23rd, you will be in Winnipeg with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs summit. We want a resolution authorizing action on the Treaties. If the immigrants who get all their rights from Treaty are jeopardized by the legislation by Harper, we will be in legal position to take action to stop all railway lines.

The three prairie provinces are the most powerful areas for protest by First Nations. The Biggest Railway Lines and Pipelines are all in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We have the ability to bring down the Canadian economy and Americans need to wake up to Harper and his dangerous policies.

We delivered the notice yesterday by blocking CN. IF CN tries to sue us or continue to confront us, they will lose all rights to cross our lands. We can stop them if we had to. We don't want to but we maybe forced into this. A resolution at the Summit by AMC next week is needed to legalize a response by the Treaty Nations.

We are there if the Chiefs want action. According to the attached documentation. CN probably lost ten million dollars yesterday. They will need a few days to catch up to the delays from yesterday. IF they sue us, they should also sue Harper because it is the Harper legislation that caused this. I will abide by the injunction for now but I will appeal the injuction. The Judge never allowed us to appear and we will take him to task for his decision. He has no clue about his legal obligations to the treaty rights of immigrants in our lands. We will revoke those immigrants access rights if we have to and as the judge did, we will do so without notice to the immigrants. We do need to be reasonable but Harper is stupid if he thinks that this is over.

The immigrant court already put their injunction in place without our input. Next week, the Chiefs have a chance to put in place a resolution authorizing blockades if Harper continues to unilaterally change the conditions of treaty without our input. The hell with providing them notice, if they feel they have the right to impose their laws upon us without our input. IF CN didn't get that message yesterday, they will if they continue to ignore the conditions of treaty.

Terrance Nelson

How Dangerous is the situation in Canada?

Written by Terrance Nelson, March 2012

“One thing that police and the army know is that indigenous people don’t have any real supply of guns. The supply of guns is controlled but what the authorities don’t understand is that every one of the 633 reservations in Canada has old cars. In Winnipeg thousands of cars were being stolen every month, our indigenous youth who make up to 95% of the inmates in jail, were in criminal “training schools” on how to steal cars. If ever there was a military showdown between Indigenous people and the Canadian army, the first target would be the railway lines and burning cars would be on every railway line in Canada”

In 1990 during the Oka Crisis, four thousand Canadian troops faced about 30 Mohawks in a tense situation where one police officer had already died. The difference between twenty years ago and today is we understand economics a lot better than we did twenty years ago. Two Ojibway communities in northern Ontario blocked railway lines in support of the Mohawks. Economics not military is what makes the situation in Canada dangerous. The American economy could be blindsided by events north of their border rather than by events in other parts of the world.

The National Day of Action on June 29^th 2007, exposed the fact that a month long national stoppage of railway traffic in Canada would cripple not only the economy of Canada it would also destroy the economy of the United States. The 2008 economic meltdown shows how vulnerable the U.S. economy is today. The difference between a political action organized by the Chiefs in Canada on the 2007 National Day of Action and a covert operation by First Nation individuals is like night and day. A covert operation involving burning cars on every railway line would almost be impossible to stop despite all the Canadian military and police being alerted to the potential.

The Canadian Security and Intelligence Services and the CIA are well aware of the potential for violence in Canada and are monitoring indigenous people in Canada more and more. A recent novel entitled “Uprising” by former Lieutenant Colonel Bland explores the potential for indigenous violence. Bland is a trained military person who does not understand indigenous people and how warrior societies function as individuals without an army type hierarchy. Bland’s book neglects to exam economic consequences. Indigenous people in Canada aren’t in caves in Afghanistan, they are here in the heart of the North American economy.

In the last decade, the 34 million people in Canada have purchased over 2 trillion dollars worth of American exports. In those ten years, Canada made over $500 billion in trade surpluses with United States. In that decade, Canada sold Americans $2.5 trillion dollars worth of exports. Canada pumps 2.5 million barrels of oil per day to the States and under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. has “security of energy exports”. Less known than oil coming from Canada is the entire eastern U.S. seaboard is powered up by electricity generated in northern Quebec and Ontario.

Cables released under the Wiki leaks show the United States Embassy in Ottawa raised concerns with Washington regarding indigenous people in Canada, “as long as Canada lacks a clear definition of aboriginal rights or a uniform model for negotiations, effective mechanisms to resolve aboriginal grievances in a timely manner will remain elusive”.

Eighty-seven percent of all Canadian exports flow to the United States and seventy-two percent of all foreign investment in Canada comes from the United States. Canadian and American economies are intertwined, what affects one, affects the other.

On August 18^th 1999, Steven Leslie Pound, an employee of Canadian National Railways, provided an Affidavit to the Court of Queen’s Bench testifying to the negative effect that a railway blockade would have on Canadian National Railway. At paragraph 17 of that Affidavit he stated

“I am advised by Dennis Cousineau from CN’s Office of Economics and Financial Planning, and do verily believe, that the average negative daily impact on CN’s revenue from a cessation of train operations in and across Manitoba would be approximately $5.6 million”

That was thirteen years ago, but even then, negative daily impact would have been $5.6 million, 5.6 million dollars a day on CN's revenue but much more impact on all the business that depend on CN. That doesn't include Canadian Pacific Railways, or the impact on other transportation services, this was the impact in Manitoba alone, not a national railway stoppage.

At paragraph 18, he expands on who would be affected.

“A cessation of train operation in Manitoba would also have a significant impact on CN’s customers and others. The main customers in Manitoba affected by interrupted rail service include Dominion Malt, PetroCanada, Shell Canada, Cargill Grain, Agpro Grain, Crown Packaging, Allied, United Grain Growers, Pouwel and Gardenwine. Customers who would be affected by an interference with time sensitive intermodal shipments include TransWestern, Western Canada Express and Clark. A disruption in rail service would affect grain shipments to various ocean ports, including Churchill and Thunder Bay, impacting on the business operations of Saskatchewan Pool, UGG, Cargill, Paterson, Agpro, amongst others, and could result in a shutdown of elevators in Thunder Bay and Churchill”

In 1990 during the Oka crisis, Ojibway First Nations in Ontario, Pic Mobert and Pays Plat First Nations supporting Mohawks blockaded railway lines. The potential for a North American economic meltdown if Mohawks were killed was very real. Americans are aware of the potential. On January 1^st 1994 the Mayan uprising in Chiapas Mexico caused international investors to begin pulling $8 billion dollars from stocks of American companies doing business in Mexico. President Clinton was forced to lend Mexico $30 billion as the American dollar tumbled in value.

The United States economy is much weaker today than it was in 1994. The American ability to respond to financial crisis is far different today than it was in 1994 and a conflict in Canada would have much more impact to the American economy than the 1994 Chiapas uprising. The difference between trade with Canada in 2012 compared to the 1994 trade between Mexico and the United States is not even comparable. The economic ties with Canada makes it a much bigger risk for the United States.

In 1994, the American economy was strong, the U.S. federal debt was under five trillion dollars, today U.S. federal debt is over fourteen trillion dollars. The 2008 economic meltdown left America in a situation where they may not be able to respond as effectively to another severe economic jolt. Americans can no longer just print more money or borrow their way out of the next financial meltdown.

Something as significant as conflict in Canada would blindside the Americans. There are numerous studies, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Report, and Senate of Canada papers that warn of the potential for violence in Canada. Much of these documents gather dust while the Government in Canada ignores solutions.

Peaceful Co-existence, a Treaty right of both whites and natives

“ it is the desire of Her Majesty… to obtain the consent thereto of her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty and arrangement with them so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty…” “And the undersigned Chiefs do hereby bind and pledge themselves and their people strictly to observe this treaty and to maintain perpetual peace between themselves and Her Majesty’s white subjects, and not to interfere with the property or in any way molest the persons of Her Majesty’s white or other subjects”

Not to interfere with the property… of Her Majesty’s white subjects is a treaty right granted by indigenous people to the people who immigrated to Canada. It is a treaty right that is contingent upon Her Majesty fulfilling the conditions of treaty.

CN's and CPR’s title to the land railway tracks run on comes from the Canadian government, whose right to grant deeds and titles within indigenous territories comes from treaties. When Canada fundamentally breaches the treaty conditions, titles and deeds granted by Canada is jeopardized. Even the Supreme Court of Canada decided that indigenous people have inherent rights. “Aboriginal title is a legal right derived from the historic occupation of Tribal lands by Native people. It is not something that was given to native people by some government, by Royal Proclamation, or by the signing of a treaty” Justice Dickinson, Supreme Court of Canada.

The government of Canada has no intention of returning to the bargaining table as long as Indigenous people continue to allow Canada to do whatever it pleases with treaties. As long as Canada can continue to export natural resource wealth to the Americans without any payment to the indigenous people, Canada will not negotiate.

The Tarsands of Alberta contain 1.4 trillion barrels of oil and forty percent of that oil is recoverable under present day technology. At one hundred dollars per barrel, that forty percent is approximately $60 trillion worth of recoverable oil. There are over 60 metals and minerals mined in Canada, all done with little or no payment to indigenous people.

The lifestyle of every Canadian is subsidized by the sale of natural resource wealth and as indigenous people are kept impoverished at the 72^nd of the United Nations Living Index. There will be no solutions implemented until a crisis is reached.

Not only are the railway lines vulnerable to closure by covert operation but the oil pipelines now sending 2.5 million barrels of oil per day to the United States would be a target if indigenous people and the government of Canada were in military conflict. Pumping stations like the Gretna Depot in southern Manitoba would be vulnerable as it pumps over one million barrels of oil per day to Midwestern United States. Under its own safety procedures Enbridge and TransCanada pipelines shut down after three days of limited access.

Canadian Crude Oil Imports: Increasing Importance To The United States

09/29/2010 01:15PM

U.S. consumers are sometimes surprised to learn that our single largest foreign source of crude oil is Canada, which surpassed Saudi Arabia as the leading supplier to the United States in 2004 and has continued to hold that position. Since 1990, total U.S. crude oil imports from Canada have increased by 1.3 million barrels per day, accounting for 40 percent of the 3.1 million barrel per day growth in total crude oil imports since that date. Over the last decade alone, the share of U.S. crude oil imports coming from Canada has increased from 13 percent to 22 percent.

From January through June 2010, 2.0 million barrels per day of Canadian crude oil were imported into the United States, of which 1.2 million barrels per day went into the Midwest. According to the Canadian National Energy Board, almost half of the crude oil exported to the United States was either synthetic crude or blended bitumen from the Alberta oil sands. Bitumen, a heavy, viscous type of hydrocarbon extracted from the oil sands, is blended with lighter hydrocarbons to allow it to flow through pipelines. It then may be upgraded into a relatively light, sweet synthetic crude oil that can be used by most refineries.

The recent shutdown of two pipelines bringing Canadian crude oil to the U.S. demonstrated the growing importance of these imports. On September 9, the Enbridge Lakehead System had to shut down its Line 6A pipeline due to a crude oil leak in Romeoville, Illinois. This incident followed the discovery of another leak and a shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 6B late in July. Line 6A is a major source of light synthetic, heavy, and medium Canadian crude oils for seven refineries in the Midwest and Pennsylvania, and many of the affected refineries have limited alternate supply sources. Fortunately for Midwest consumers, Enbridge was able to restart Line 6A on September 17 and Line 6B on September 27.

While numerous factors may have been in play, markets apparently reacted to the September 9 outage of Line 6A, as prices for benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil and Midwest gasoline rose discernibly until it became apparent that the line would be returned to service quickly. WTI prices rose by $3 per barrel in conjunction with the outage despite very high inventory levels at the Cushing, OK hub. Wholesale spot conventional gasoline prices in Chicago rose by 25 cents from September 9 to 13, and EIA’s weekly retail gasoline survey reported on September 13 that Midwest regular gasoline had risen by over 10 centsper gallon during the week, while the national average was up just 4 cents per gallon during the same period.

Prices returned to prior levels after the restart of Line 6A and the price impact of this incident was mitigated by the fact that the outage occurred as gasoline demand began showing seasonal declines and refineries were going into their planned autumn maintenance schedules with the available buffer of high crude oil and refined product stocks.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

One of the biggest problems that United States has is that they take Canada for granted. They let Canada tell them that there is no problem in Canada.

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