Head Tale

From my personal journal, February 11, 2000:

Settle in to bed (well, a sleeping bag under a cafeteria table) about midnight. Oh, when we get back from grabbing our sleeping bags, I offer to bring a coffee to the security guard and end up having a big talk with him – about how he got the job (military history), his experience on “both sides of the picket line if you know what I mean”, the thin line between legal protest and breaking the law, a bit about the history that has given us our current protocols (sgt-at-arms, etc.)  Up today at 7:30am and Shea’s parents buy me breakfast (we’re in a cafeteria after all!) then basically just hang out people watching while Shea does her homework.  One reporter comes over and interviews Shea for the radio – I think he was putting a spin on “kids skipping school for this protest” story and was surprised when Shea said she was in 3rd year university.

People are starting to draw comparisons between the farmer-led protests that occurred in February 2000 at the Saskatchewan Legislature and the current Indigenous-led protests that have seen “Justice for Our Stolen Children” supporters occupying the Legislative grounds for over 100 days.

There are lots of similarities…
* both protests involved a group of citizens coming together to pressure the provincial government to take action on urgent matters

* in each situation, there was a feeling that there is a lack of government response to each group’s respective requests for assistance or even meetings to explain their position (to be fair, the current government is having a meeting on July 2 with the “Justice For Our Stolen Children” group and I think that there may have been at least some cursory meetings between government and farmers during the 2000 protests.)

* both use(d) well-known symbols of their group in their protests – for the farmers, it was farm equipment and pickup trucks and for the Indigenous group, it is tipis and sacred fires.

* I can’t decide whether to list this as a similarity or a difference but during the farm protests, it was an NDP government that was seen as being less-than-responsive and during the current protests, it’s a Sask Party government that’s seen as being less-than-responsive (interestingly, this may be in part because the NDP was already losing rural areas to the Reform Party and the relatively new Sask Party in 2000 and similarly today, the Sask Party doesn’t see First Nations people as part of their “base”.)

…but there are also differences:
* The Camp For Our Stolen Children protesters have been active for 100+ days (since soon after the Colten Boushie verdict) while the farm protests lasted maybe only a week or two?

* When outside protests didn’t get results, the farm protesters spent part of their time occupying the actual Legislative Building, camping out in the cafeteria for a few days (as referenced above, this group included Shea and myself who spent a night there with her parents who were active in the farm protest movement to the level that her dad had the opportunity to speak to a Standing Committee on Agriculture that met in Regina during the crisis.)

* The farm protesters were more aggressive, burning effigies of politicians and chaining the doors of the Legislature shut at one point whereas the worst thing the First Nations protesters have done (as far as I know) is killing some grass and breaking some bylaws around “erecting structures” and having campfires in the park.

* The farm protesters were evicted after a threat was received (I can’t remember if it was a threat against the farmers or if it was a frustrated farmer directing a threat towards a politician?) I also can’t remember if police were involved in the eviction of the farmers or if the farmers left willingly but the police were definitely involved the first time the “Camp for Our Stolen Children” group were evicted – even though they’d been on the Legislative grounds for over three months at that point and even though arguably the farmers were both more aggressive and more blatantly trespassing (sleeping inside the Legislature rather than on the grounds outside.)

* Social media is obviously more of a factor this time around with people sharing opinions, photos, news stories and more on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and even on the occasional blog! 😉

* Even though they’ve been completely peaceful so far, it’s probably fair to say that the “Camp for Our Stolen Children” is more polarizing, given Saskatchewan’s history of racism and that First Nations people are perceived more negatively than farmers. (To put it another way, in 2000, I don’t remember anyone questioning how farmers were able to take time off to protest or sleep in the Legislature. But that’s a constant charge against the “Camp For Our Stolen Children” protesters, implying all the protesters are unemployed rather than the truth that it’s a mix of unemployed, self-employed, retired people and/or people who have traditional 9-5 jobs but choose to be at the camp when they’re not at work.

* obviously there is a whole different aspect to the politics of protest when its farmers protesting against the government, mainly calling for economic support versus when its Indigenous people who are protesting about a variety of inter-connected issues, but all linked by a failure of the government to recognize treaty obligations/respond positively to the 94 Calls To Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

I guess another similarity is that I got to be a (small) part of each protest – as I mentioned, Shea and I spent a night occupying the Legislature in 2000 along with her mom, dad, and uncle.

Then, earlier this week, we stopped by the “Justice For Our Stolen Children” camp to talk to a few of the people there. Shea was heading out of town today so she stopped by again, this time with her parents to drop off some food and other donations for the camp.

And I guess is there’s one takeaway from all of this – that’s the biggest one for me (and hopefully for anyone reading this as well.)

Because for all the similarities and differences between the two protests, and given the fact that it was the shooting of an Aboriginal youth by a farmer that triggered the current protest, I think the fact that a (now retired) farmer like my father-in-law would make a point to stop and visit the camp and show his support, nearly two decades after his own protest, says a lot about the importance of all citizens’ right to protest, the importance of solidarity, and the importance of not letting the most powerful and/or most vocal in our society divide us and pit us against one another – young vs. old, legitimate vs. illegitimate protesters, First Nations vs. farmers and other false dichotomies.

[Edit: Murray Mandryk of the Leader Post shared an old column of his on Twitter today that clarifies a couple points…
* The farm protesters were removed by police as well (in the middle of the night to boot!)
* He also touches on another similarity that I didn’t mention – both protests are being accused of not having clear goals/defined resolutions.  I’m not so sure this is a legitimate criticism though as I think part of the point of any protest is to raise awareness and set the foundation for future changes that do meet specific goals/result in desired outcomes.  Even this Reddit poster, while saying they’re against the protests but open to changing their mind, is proving the point just by being willing to discuss the issue and showing they want to learn more in a good faith manner.
* Like my own memory, Mandryk confirms that it was unclear whether the threat that was received was targeted at the farm protesters or a politician.
* I sort of alluded to this but another difference is what you might call “awareness” which applies in a couple ways – I think some of the actions of the farmers (burning effigies, chaining doors) might be taken more seriously today than in the past and I also think that today, society in general is more aware of First Nations issues and history than they would’ve been, even at the turn of the century, and that in turn has led to much more support – with positive, supportive comments on social media greatly outweighing negative/trolling/racist comments to even the Mayor of Regina defending the right to protest in a democratic society.