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former green party of canada leader Joan Russow is putting the government on notice that she won’t be victimized by the new wave of post 9-11 crackdowns by police.She’s suing the federal government for being placed on a secret RCMP threat list four years ago. She’s also claiming damages over a defence department list that included the Green party “under a category of groups that have a greater bond among its members than to its country.”
Russow, who filed the claim last month, alleges that her inclusion on the RCMP list was “politically motivated” and that her press credentials were revoked at the 1997 Vancouver Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) as a result of “instructions from the prime minister’s office.”
She maintains that “being on a list that has been known to be circulated to third parties and possibly other countries may have influenced her access to work and her freedom of movement because of her designation as a threat and because of the innuendo associated with that designation or with belonging to a group disloyal to her country.”
Says Russow: “I hope to get an apology and some damages, but primarily it’s a call for the government to remove all citizens (from government lists) who have engaged in guaranteeing human rights, protecting the environment, preventing war and conflict and ensuring social justice.”
Lyse Cantin, a spokesperson for the federal Department of Justice in Vancouver, had no comment.
