Defend Shawn Brant!

Labour Must Defend Native Rights

Native people and their supporters protested across Canada on June 29 in a National Day of Action called by the Assembly of First Nations. Marches and rallies were held in several cities, some joined by capitalist politicians paying hypocritical lip-service to Native rights. In the Bay of Quinte area of Eastern Ontario, Mohawks took more militant action, blockading a highway and the main CN rail line connecting Montreal and Toronto. This followed earlier rail and highway blockades in the same area, as well as the ongoing occupation of a gravel quarry, part of a tract long subject to a Mohawk land claim.

In the wake of the June 29 protest, police arrested Mohawk activist Shawn Brant. Charged with mischief and breaching bail conditions, Brant was detained for several weeks until he was finally released on bail on August 30. During his release, Brant may not so much as leave his house without police permission. He faces further court proceedings beginning October 5.

In a statement titled “Refusing to Be Silent” (ZNet, 21 August), Brant’s wife Sue Collis contrasted the government’s hard-line stance toward aboriginal militants to its treatment of union leaders during the 1995-97 labour Days of Action against the Ontario Conservative government:

“The economic repercussions of the labour movement’s rotating and escalating city shut-downs far surpassed June 29th, and yet no labour leader was ever jailed, let alone charged…. The message appears to be if you are Indian, somehow your grievances do not warrant the same respect or attention. You are to suffer in silence.”

In calling the mass labour actions of the mid ’90s, the union tops sought to blow off anger at the Tory government’s attacks, while working to rebuild illusions in the opposition NDP social democrats and bourgeois Liberals. Nonetheless, these strikes and protests gave a sense of the immense potential power of organized labour. It is precisely this social power that sometimes makes the capitalist rulers think twice before unleashing the full might of state repression.

The working class is central to capitalist production, in the factories, resource and transport industries that generate profit for the ruling class. Thus it is uniquely placed to spearhead successful struggle on behalf of the many victims of capitalist exploitation and oppression. Labour mobilizations in defense of Native rights would not only bolster the struggles at hand, but would aid in winning workers to the understanding that their class interests lie in fighting to sweep away the entire capitalist system.

We print below a September 1 protest letter sent by the Partisan Defense Committee to Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant. Messages of support and donations for Shawn Brant’s legal defense can be sent to: Tyendinaga Legal Defence Fund, c/o 10 Britain Street, Toronto ON M5A 1R6.

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The Partisan Defense Committee protests the arrest of Native activist Shawn Brant and demands that all charges against him be dropped immediately. Brant, a member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community of the Bay of Quinte and a cabinet maker by trade, faces nine criminal charges arising from his participation in Native rights protests including during the June 29 Assembly of First Nations Day of Action. Activists from Tyendinaga set up road and rail blockades to raise awareness of the plight of aboriginal communities across Canada plagued by police repression, poverty and rampant suicides.

After voluntarily surrendering to police on July 5, Brant was held in custody for nearly two months before finally being released on onerous bail conditions on August 30. The persecution of this courageous militant is a blatant political assault on Native rights and on all those who speak out and mobilize on behalf of the oppressed. It shows yet again the contempt that the Canadian ruling class holds for the lives of aboriginal people, who have suffered untold torments under the racist, capitalist system.

Before turning himself in, Brant declared: “I hope they don’t believe putting me in jail puts the issue in jail.” Shawn Brant, as well as your government, can rest assured that the struggle for the liberation of Native people and all other oppressed minorities will go forward despite state repression. We demand: Hands off Shawn Brant! Drop all the charges now!