And now:"S.I.S.I.S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news articles may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. They are provided for reference only.] POLICE BREAK UP NATIVE PROTEST AT MANITOBA LEGISLATURE Canadian Press, April 6, 1999 WINNIPEG (CP) - Police in riot gear used pepper spray to beat back several hundred protesters who stormed the Manitoba legislature Tuesday. Some were also arrested after breaking past the 40 officers and into the building. The protesters, who were mainly aboriginal, were demonstrating at the opening of the spring session of the legislature. Those who managed to break through police lines were arrested in the foyer and led away in handcuffs. Police used pepper spray in the foyer to clear the crowd, hitting at least one person. But it failed, sending clouds of pepper spray back into the building. A military band, meanwhile, could be heard playing O Canada above the fray. Order was restored about 20 minutes after the protest began after native leaders arrived to calm the crowd. The protesters were demonstrating for jobs, better housing and roads and want the province, not the federal government, to have responsibility for the welfare of status Indians. The protesters repeated the same demands they had two weeks ago when they stormed Premier Gary Filmons office. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- MANITOBA CHIEF ANGRY OVER POLICE CONDUCT AT LEGISLATURE RAMPAGE CBC News WebPosted Wed Apr 7 20:59:46 1999 - http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/ WINNIPEG - Native leaders in Manitoba are holding an emergency meeting today to discuss the fallout from their rowdy rally at the opening of the legislature Tuesday. Grand Chief Rod Bushie says he is outraged that protesters were met by riot police and pepper spray. He says it is appalling that aboriginals are treated that way in their own country. Eleven people were arrested during the demonstration when about 500 people, mostly natives, crashed through barricades and stormed the Manitoba legislature Tuesday. The native demonstrators angry about high unemployment on reserves. They want better housing and roads. They also demanded a personal apology from Premier Gary Filmon over an election scheme. Some Tories secretly funded aboriginal candidates in order to split the vote during the 1995 provincial election. Bushie says the protest was peaceful and the police reacted badly. He and other native leaders are calling for an investigation into what they call police brutality and human rights abuses by the province. But Winnipeg's police chief says the police showed great restraint in the scuffle and many were assaulted by protesters. He says that although the legislature is a public building, no protests are ever allowed inside. The native leader who is thought to have urged the crowd to push their way in, Chief Louis Stevenson, has no apologies for what happened to the native people. "They're getting hurt every day anyways by having a meaningless existence on reserves." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOVEREIGNTY IS THE ANSWER - CANADA IS THE PROBLEM :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
