Lawyer explains why 1995’s Gustafsen Lake stand-off deserves inquiry
Posted February 4, 2016 10:33 pm.
Last Updated February 4, 2016 10:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) – More than 20 years after a month-long armed deadlock between First Nations and the RCMP in BC’s interior, the people involved in the Gustafsen Lake standoff are still hoping for an inquiry.
The situation saw the use of 400 police officers, SWAT teams, snipers, armoured vehicles and police helicopters and planes.
It all began with a spiritual sun dance taking place on ranch land in July of 1995. The dancers were asked to leave and were insulted by the threats by local ranchers.
The dancers decided not to leave, set up an encampment and bolstered their presence with younger First Nations.
The RCMP sent in an Emergency Response Team, surprising the camp, which then recruited more militant and armed individuals to join them.
The stand-off finally ended in September, but not before thousands of rounds of ammunition were fired at the protesters.
“These people were characterized as domestic terrorists,” says Don Campbell, a Kamloops lawyer who defended members of the Shuswap nation charged with offences related to the standoff.
He says an inquiry would highlight what he considers excessive force used by RCMP that summer.
One example he provides involves officers planting an explosive device on a road to the camp. A truck carrying two of the occupiers blew up. That prompted the two to run into Gustafsen Lake. Officers in an armoured vehicle fired warning shots at them, while the vehicle itself was shot at by another activist.
A shoot-out ensued.
“We’ve got a number of people inside that armoured vehicle firing thousands of rounds. Then you’ve got officers on the periphery of the camp firing rounds. They expended 20,000 rounds of ammunition. They basically mowed down dozens of trees,” says Campbell.
One woman was injured in the barrage of bullets.
In addition, he believes RCMP deliberately misled the public to justify their actions.
“It was an unfortunate and unnecessary escalation that likely could have been prevented by a very structured negotiation between elders and more senior members of the RCMP.”
