Exposing ON-F.I.R.E.

Exposing ON-F.I.R.E. The following is the text of a pamphlet exposing ON FIRE, an anti-Native organization in Ontario, put together by Anti-Racist Action Toronto. For copies of the original pamphlet, contact Anti-Racist Action (Toronto) P.O. Box 291, Station B, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5T 2T2 Phone: (416) 631-8835 Web-site: http://www.web.net/~ara SET FIRE TO ON F.I.R.E.! exposing and opposing anti-Native hate Hundreds of angry protesters, toting signs decorated with the slogans "No more special privliges" and "Keep our Parks" confronted a single Native man at the Pinery Provincial Park in April 1996. Maynard T. George, an Ojibwe, had come to the park simply to inform the superintendent of his intent to take legal action to reclaim the park, which is First Nations territory. George, inside his van, was surrounded while protesters taunted, "come out George," and shouted racist remarks such as,"Where's your teepee?" Many in this mob of settlers are members of the Ontario Foundation for Individual Rights and Equality (ON F.I.R.E.). Since the summer of 1995 settlers living in Lambton County and surrounding areas (on the western shore of Lake Huron, north-west of Sarnia) have organized themselves to spread their anti-Native, racist rantings publicly through the organization ON F.I.R.E. Origins of ON F.I.R.E. ON F.I.R.E. was formed in October 1995, one month after the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) murder of Stoney Pointer Dudley George. ON F.I.R.E. boasts around 1300 members, concentrated, but not limited to, Lambton County and surrounding areas. This F.I.R.E. was organized in response to the re-occupation by the Stoney Point People, the Aazhoodenaang Enjibaajig, of their traditional Aazhoodena territory, aka Ipperwash Provincial Park. But, ON F.I.R.E. doesn't want to "limit" itself to the concerns of settlers in this area. The Foundation is burning to spread their blaze of hate to other Ontarians and the provincial and federal governments, as well as aggressively reaching out to other settler organizations and the media in order to expand the anti-Native lobby in Ontario. Stoney Pointers Return Home In 1942, during World War 2, the federal government invoked the War Measures Act and removed the Stoney Point People from their territory to create a military base. Stoney Pointers, who were promised that the land would be returned to them at the close of the war, dispersed to the nearby Kettle Point reserve and cities and towns across Ontario. On May 6, 1993, the Stoney Point People re-entered their traditional territory, pitching tents and lean-tos on the grenade ranges of Camp Ipperwash. Stoney Point men, women and children re-occupied the barracks in July of 1995. By midnight July 25, military personnel had left the base and the Stoney Pointers have held this territory since. On September 4, 1995 Stoney Pointers peacefully re-occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park, part of Stoney Point territory. There was excessive Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) build-up even though no Stoney Pointers were armed. Two days later, on Sept. 6, 1995, the OPP advanced on the Stoney Pointers inside the park killing Anthony O'Brien Dudley George. ON F.I.R.E. Mobilizes Against Stoney Point The park has remained closed to tourists since the Stoney Point re-occupation in 1995. Settlers in ON F.I.R.E., some of whom own businesses around Ipperwash Provincial Park, seem more upset that the Stoney Point re-occupation has cut into profits from the local tourist trade than they are about the shooting death of Dudley George. In March 1996 ON F.I.R.E. presented a petition to the provincial government requesting that the Tories remove the Stoney Pointers from the park, where a Stoney Point burial ground is located, so that the park could open for the 1996 tourist season. What's more, ON F.I.R.E. demanded, in a letter to Prime Minister Chretien, third party status in government negotiations with First Nations regarding the former military base and park. Only an overblown sense of their own importance could make ON F.I.R.E. settlers beleive that profits from the tourist trade are more important than upholding Canadian treaties with sovereign First Nations! Sympathy for the OPP ON F.I.R.E. is also upset that the OPP can't do their job. A letter sent to the OPP by Rick Schultz, ON F.I.R.E. Past-President, requested that the OPP ask the RCMP to police the territory occupied by Stoney Pointers. When OPP officer Kenneth Deane, charged with criminal negligence inthe shooting death of Dudley George, went to court last August ON F.I.R.E. members came to support Deane. ON F.I.R.E. members told reporters at the court house that they regretted that the OPP hadn't shot more Natives (London Free Press, Aug. 14, 1996, B3). Recruiting Ontario Cottagers Capitalizing on anti-Native sentiment amongst non-Native outdoor sportsmen and cottagers, ON F.I.R.E. has sought and gained support across Ontario as well as in Michigan and Ohio. In November 1995, officials from ON F.I.R.E. set up an information table at the Federation of Cottagers of Ontario (FOCA) Annual General Meeting in Toronto and discussed the formation of ON F.I.R.E. NORTH chapters with FOCA representatives. Cottagers, outdoor "sportsmen" and the recreational industry are some groups intent on denying First Nations' rights to self-determination, territory and hunting and fishing rights. Many settlers feel that their privileges to recreational angling and hunting are threatened by Indigenous people's assertion of their rights to live, hunt and fish on their traditional territories. In September 1995, settlers in the Grey-Bruce area of Ontario went as far as trashing and burning the fishing boats of the Chippewas of Nawash. They stole thousands of metres of nets right out of the water. Feelings spilled over into the streets of Owen Sound, where one Native Man was beaten and 3 others assaulted and stabbed in separate incidents. ON F.I.R.E. Past-President Rick Schultz, is also a member of the West Ipperwash Property Owners Association, which opposes a land claim filed on West Ipperwash Beach. Many non-Natives have cottages (and some own permanent residences) on West Ipperwash Beach which illustrates the similar agenda of cottagers and anti-Native hate groups. Settler Paranoia ON F.I.R.E. members are also paranoid about how well their own settler government will represent the ON F.I.R.E. frontier spirit. In fact, ON F.I.R.E. and the OPP Officers Union both call for the resignation of Ron Irwin, the Federal Minister of Indian Affairs. Why? According to Ron MacIntyre, former president of ON F.I.R.E. Irwin is not suited to his job because, "It is obvious he's an ally of the native lobbyists and doesn't represent the interests of the 97% of Canadians who don't live on reserves." (Sarnia Observer, Oct. 23, 1995, A1) ON F.I.R.E. has also found Irwin guilty of releasing documents which prove that there is a Stoney Point burial ground in Ipperwash Provincial Park. On top of that, Irwin won't even meet with ON F.I.R.E! Anti-Native Hate Across Canada There are also F.I.R.E. chapters in British Colombia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. There is also a federal organization, CAN F.I.R.E. Less inhibited than their Ontario counterpart, BC F.I.R.E. has cozied up with the "mainstream" of Canada's right-wing. Several of the leading members of BC F.I.R.E. are connected to the Reform Party. Greg Hollingsworth, President of BC F.I.R.E., was on the payroll of the Reform Party until he took up his role in BC F.I.R.E. BC F.I.R.E. members, such as Director Judy Kilgore and Marsha Gilbert are also Reform Party members. And, the BC F.I.R.E. internet homepage is linked to the National Citizens Coalition, a highly funded, fringe right organization, the Conservative Canadian Homepage, the Canadian Firearms Homepage and BC Report, a mainstream right-wing magazine popular in Western Canada. Another Reform Party Associate, Mel Smith, is the author of the rhetorical book, Our Home or Native Land?, the bible of the F.I.R.E.s. Smith's book advocates for the assimilation of First Nations people into mainstream, white, Canadian society. In order to complete assimilation, Smith argues: * that inherent self-government should be repudiated; * some government treaties with First Nations should be ignored or interpreted "modestly" and; * all government programs relating to Native peoples should be phased out, i.e. First Nations people should be made "Canadian." Smith is a paid consultant for the Reform Party's Indian Task Force Hearings and a columnist for BC Report. Reform Party connections to the F.I.R.E.s are apparent in Ontario as well. Brian Richardson, an ON F.I.R.E. cofounder and 45 year old local high school english teacher, (Sarnia Observer, May 24, 1997, A3) recently resigned from the Foundation because he didn't want his candidacy as a Reform MP to tarnish the image of ON F.I.R.E. Past Canadian governments, Richardson complains, governed by giving special status to certain groups based on race, language, gender and culture. So, if the OPP started shooting at ON F.I.R.E. members, would Richardson and his buddies stop whining about equality? Jack Boyd is the owner of local newspaper, The Forest Standard. This made propagandizing for ON F.I.R.E. easy for Jack's wife Pat, ON F.I.R.E. past communications director for ON F.I.R.E. and former mayor of Forest. Following the shooting death of Dudley George in September 1995, Pat Boyd remarked of the intense police presence in the area that, "I'm sure the police provide a sense of security. The general population is happy to have protection." Fred Thomas, mayor of Bosanquet, also parroted ON F.I.R.E. rhetoric insisting that, "The laws of Canada and Ontario must be enforced equally for all Canadians... This reign of terror must stop." (Sarnia Observer, Sept. 5, 1995) Creating fear of the Stoney Pointers through the implied need for several hundred OPP officers in fatigues, while simultaneously using excessive force against them is intended to criminalize and dehumanize the Stoney Pointers shot at by OPP officers. ON F.I.R.E. Linked to Mackenzie Institute ON F.I.R.E. distributes a deceitful 'briefing note', "The Ipperwash Protests - An Unfinished Drama", prepared by John C. Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute for the Study of Terrorism, Revolution and Propaganda. The Mackenzie Institute is a right wing "think tank" founded in 1986 and is linked to the Northern Foundation, the North American Region World Anti-Communist League, Paul Fromm's Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform and many other far right organizations as well as the Reform Party and the Canadian Armed Forces. Thompson has also written briefing notes on the Mohawk Warrior Society and the Canada crisis at Oka one of which, "The Long Fall of the Mohawk Warriors", is also distributed by ON F.I.R.E., both through their internet web site and at meetings. In "The Legacy of Oka", published by the Mackenzie Institute, Thompson suggested that the Army's involvement at Oka gave the Warrior Society a moral victory in the eyes of the public. It was then recommended that the Canadian state hire, equip and train police forces with the idea of using them as a counterinsurgency force to be used for any future confrontations with First Nations. These heavily-armed police forces would be used quickly, with no time taken for "prolonged negotiations." The actions of the OPP at Stoney Point last summer suggests that the recommendations of the Mackenzie Institute have been read by members of the government. "Equal Rights" = Empty Rhetoric Fascists use "freedom of speech" as a smokescreen to disguise racism and increased fascist violence against people of colour, Jews, queers and others. The anti-Native lobby uses the rhetoric of "equal rights" to hide colonial oppression and genocide of First Nations people in Canada. Native people across the Americas have been mistreated by settlers since first contact. Theft of land and other resources such as wildlife is constant in Canada's colonial history. ON F.I.R.E.'s ignorance of the Stoney Point People's indigenous right to self-determination and use of their territory is simply one more piece in a long, unbroken chain of settler complicity in colonial theft. Indigenous people in Canada remain sovereign, yet ON F.I.R.E. insists on forcing First Nations people to be "equal" - to surrender sovereignty and become fully "Canadian." Forced assimilation into Canadian society is nothing less than a seemingly "nicer" means of genocide.