It should be noted that our release was based on information from mainstream media articles.
Re: Bulletin July 2, 1997 Official Gustafson Lake Author "An Academic Fraud"
Now that the allegations directed toward me through Simon Fraser University (April 1997) have been resolved in my favor, I am developing a file for further litigation. In doing this, it was pointed out to me that S.I.S.I.S. had produced a bulletin (captioned above) on the Internet. I had not seen this (I don't seek information on the Internet under my own name) which is unfortunate because it could have been rectified much earlier. I am surprised that you seemed to have been so careless. You interpreted the meaning of the information you had in ways which had not been, nor could they have been, substantiated. I do not wish to include S.I.S.I.S. in my file, but I do need a retraction. The facts are:
1) I have never been approached by anyone to be an "official Gustafson Lake Author". I have assisted some persons in gathering research for that purpose. This was completed over a year ago.
2) The log of the Surrey Pre-Trial Services Centre will show that I visited with Wolverine for approximately two and one half hours on February 28, 1997. I was in the company of Mr. Noel Martin, a reporter for First Nations Drum.
3) The allegations against me at Simon Fraser University were politically motivated and, at least partially, the result of my active involvement in First Nations political issues at the request of persons in the lower mainland almost all of whom are First Nations people. Academics are not supposed to be activists and I am. Further litigation will make public some of the details. In the meantime, your bulletin is mistaken in its inferences about the reason for my resignation. I do realize, however, that those inferences were made by other media as well.
I have supported many of the causes of First Nations people for years, but even if that were not true, your bulletin appears defamatory by intent and cannot be defended. I think you made a hasty judgment, perhaps on bad advise - and likely involving some of those persons who intiated the allegations in the first place. Could you remove the Bulletin and substitute a retraction? Thank you.
I was forwarded your letter from SISIS for evaluation and a recommendation for action. As you will be very well aware - the authorities mounted a very well documented "smear and disinformation campaign" against the people of the Ts'peten Sundance Camp. Various academics assisted in this process of demonization and manufacture of consent for the malevolent and despicable actions that were taken at the time and afterwards. So we are not unaware of the hurt and damage that results when false or misleading information is circulated. Accordingly, we are prepared to delete the item concerning you from our site and replace it with your letter advising us that those allegations widely disseminated by the mainstream media concerning the authenticity of your academic credentials were untrue.
That being said, Wolverine did not remember talking to you. Had you introduced yourself, and advised him of your longstanding association with the Attorney-General's Ministry and the police, I'm sure he would have remembered you. I find it passing strange that someone like yourself should have seen fit to "interview" him while his criminal trial was in progress. However there were and are many, many such irregularities connected to the Gustafsen matter and many that will have to answer for their actions when a full public inquiry is held, as it must be, into the Gustafsen matter.
Perhaps your own research into the Gustafsen matter is relevant to this process. Is it available or is it secret? It is interesting to note that those who so vigourously championed the "fanatics and terrorists" line at the time of the standoff, seemed to have fallen so very silent in light of the appalling revelations that emerged at what laughingly I must refer to as a "trial". Perhaps one day, someone such as yourself will help to shed some light on some of these darker areas of settler-statecraft in this part of the world.
Please confirm receipt of this message and confirmation of your agreement to the proposed action. I do not believe that SISIS is legally actionable, however we are prepared to delete the material and post your letter appended below to our site. I would also seek your support for a full and comprehensive public inquiry into all aspects of the Gustafsen affair.
S.I.S.I.S.
Thank you for your reply to my e-mail letter re: the S.I.S.I.S. bulletin of July 2, 1997. I agree with your proposed course of action and welcome it. I would, on completion of the action you propose, seek no further redress concerning the bulletin.
Re: Wolverine - I met with Wolverine while he was waiting trial, not during the trial. I had been asked to attend a meeting at the Surrey Pre-Trial Services Centre with Noel Martin to try and address concerns about the alleged mistreatment he had received on several occasions after his arrest including at least one incident at the Pre-Trial Centre. It was believed that I would be able to "override" any attempts by the Sheriff Dept. or the Corrections Branch to engage in a coverup of these events. Whether or not that was true, I thought it was at least worth a shot. I did introduce myself to him - in fact, we had met before. I do think it's interesting that my troubles at the university began within days of my visit and my various public statements concerning the "stand-off" and its aftermath.
No research I have done is secret. I would be pleased to contribute any information I have to a review of this matter. I have given over some of the research to other interested parties, but I believe all of these persons are interested in exposing the "irregularities" of which you speak.