Police attack Algonquin families at peaceful blockade

Police attack Algonquin families at peaceful blockade of highway 117 in northern Quebec from Barriere Lake Solidarity on Vimeo.

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Posted: Oct 9 08

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Witnessed: 366 times

Freedom of opinion & expression, Indigenous peoples, Police brutality

blockade, canada, indigenous people, indigenous rights, police brutality, Protest

On Monday, October 6, Police officers in Quebec, Canada, used tear gas and "pain compliance" techniques on Algonquin families from Barriere Lake First Nation, who had erected a peaceful blockade to demand Canada's Conservative government and Quebec honour the 1991 Trilateral agreement, a landmark sustainable development and resource co-management agreement praised by the United Nations and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

They also demanded an end to federal interference in their leadership customs. Earlier this year, the Algonquin community was unjustly placed under third party management by the Federal Government.

To end the blockade, approximately sixty officers and riot police encircled the families, launching tear gas canisters, one of which hit a child in the chest. Nine people, including an elderly women, a pregnant woman, and two minors, were roughly arrested.

While a line of police obscured the view of human rights observers from Christian Peacemaker Teams, officers used severe "pain compliance" techniques on some of the protesters who had secured themselves to concrete-filled barrels, twisting arms, dislocating jaws, leaving them with bruised faces and trouble swallowing.

Media Contacts:
Michel Thusky, Barriere Lake spokesperson: 819 - 435 - 2171;

Norman Matchewan, Barriere Lake spokesperson : 514 - 831 - 6902;

Barriere Lake Solidarity collective:
barrierelakesolidarity@gmail.com 514.398.7432

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