THE British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) announced on Friday that it will be publishing a trove of heavily-redacted documents disclosed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) regarding the alleged spying on peaceful protest and organizing activities of Indigenous groups and environmentalists who were opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project.
The documents will be released on Monday morning and made searchable on a website called the “Protest Papers”.
The complaint, filed in February 2014, alleged that CSIS was monitoring Dogwood Initiative, ForestEthics (now Stand.Earth), Sierra Club BC, Leadnow.ca, and the Indigenous #Idlenomore movement.
The complaint further alleged that CSIS was sharing this information with the National Energy Board (NEB) and petroleum industry companies. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the body responsible for CSIS oversight, held secret hearings in 2015 to find out what really happened. A confidentiality order by SIRC prevented the BCCLA from making the decision and documents public, but this order has now been partially lifted.