Abolish C-IRG: Send a message to Michael Duheme

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goal: 250

This Wednesday, Leadnow joined a coalition of over 50 organizations and impacted communities in releasing a collective response to the massive number of incidents of violence, assault, unlawful conduct, and racism of the C-IRG police unit in Canada. Here is an excerpt from the Open Letter:

The Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) was formed by the RCMP in 2017 in response to anticipated Indigenous resistance to industrial resource operations in the province of British Columbia (BC), specifically the Coastal Gaslink and Trans Mountain pipelines.

Over the years, activists have filed hundreds of individual complaints and several collective complaints¹ to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC). In addition, journalists at Fairy Creek² and on Wet'suwet'en³ territories have brought lawsuits against the C-IRG, land defenders at Gidimt'en have brought civil claims⁴ and sought a stay of proceedings⁵ for Charter violations, activists at Fairy Creek challenged an injunction⁶ on the grounds that C-IRG activity brings the administration of justice into disrepute and launched a civil class-action⁷ alleging systemic Charter violations.

Given the serious nature of the allegations against C-IRG, we call on Canada, BC, and the RCMP E-Division command to immediately suspend all C-IRG duties and deployment.

Will you help ramp up the pressure? Send a message to Interim RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme now.

If you'd like to send a message to other powerful decision-makers, you can do so at these links:
Email Federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino: https://act.leadnow.ca/Abolish-CIRG-Mendicino/
Email BC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth: https://act.leadnow.ca/Abolish-CIRG-Farnworth/

Email Michael Duheme

Subject

Dear RCMP Commissioner,

I am writing to you with the urgent and critical demand to immediately suspend the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) unit of ‘E’ Division. My lack of faith in any other process or form of accountability is based on the following facts:

- The C-IRG unit has been impervious to criticism and taking accountability for unlawful conduct. As early as 2020, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) submitted a complaint to the CRCC for the RCMP concerning C-IRG’s implementation and enforcement of a checkpoint and exclusion zone in Wet’suwet’en territory. The BCCLA alleged that the zones constituted “improper and unlawful actions” of “overbroad scope.” Yet these zones were also erected at Fairy Creek by C-IRG.
- In 2021, Teal-Cedar’s request to extend its injunction against Fairy Creek activists was denied citing “substantial infringement of civil liberties” conducted by the C-IRG. Despite national outcry at the invasions of Wet’suwet’en territory, the C-IRG continued to terrorize protesters and journalists.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and six other groups submitted the complaint on July 21 against the RMCP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) for alleged “egregious behaviour and unlawful arrests” made at a protest area at Argenta-Johnson’s Landing.
- By 2022, then, the CRCC received over 500 complaints in areas where C-IRG is active. Only a handful were ever investigated. 
- The Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation filed a civil suit against the RCMP, the Minister of Justice, and CGL’s private security force, Forsythe Security that covers hundreds of incidents of C-IRG harassment, including theft, intimidation, surveillance, targeting, and unlawful arrests in their camp. The unlawful conduct continues, unabated.
- In March 2023, the CRCC finally agreed to a systemic review of C-IRG, bowing to pressure from land defenders at Fairy Creek, Wet’suwet’en, and Argenta Landing. By then, journalists at the Narwhal had also joined to file a lawsuit against the RCMP.
- And international human rights bodies also seemed unable to urge any kind of political accountability from the federal and provincial governments, issuing three rebukes against the governments of Canada and BC that “have escalated their use of force, surveillance, and criminalization of land defenders to intimidate, remove and forcibly evict Secwepemc and Wet'suwet'en Nations from their traditional lands.” As well, a scathing report was released by the Special UN Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples on the use of police forces in Wet’suwet’en territory.
 
Given this lack of accountability and the serious nature of the allegations against C-IRG, I demand the immediate suspension of C-IRG while the CRCC System Review proceeds.

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Interim RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme

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Abolish C-IRG: Send a message to Michael Duheme

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