Today across the country, people awoke to reeling images of violence and racism carried out against Mi’kmaq fishers. Many people are asking key questions such as why the RCMP has not pro-actively intervened and defended Mi’kmaq leadership and fishers, what are the economic realities of the fisheries in Mi’kma’ki, and what conservation considerations are at play.
There are a lot of moving parts to the conflict that is ongoing in St Mary’s Bay, Nova Scotia: It is a highly-charged situation, borne out of generations of colonialism, decades of government mishandling and neglect, and months of growing racially-motivated tensions.