3 Apr 2024
Justin Trudeau says allegations ‘extremely troubling’ after officers arrested First Nations men and confiscated their boots and phones
Two First Nations fishermen have said they were forced to walk shoeless for hours in the dark and cold after Canadian federal officers seized their boots and phones.
The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said the allegations were “extremely troubling” amid mounting anger over the treatment of the Mi’kmaw fishermen, whose ordeal has prompted comparisons with the notorious “starlight tours” in which the police routinely abandoned Indigenous people in the bitter cold.
Blaise Sylliboy of Eskasoni First Nation and Kevin Hartling of Membertou First Nation were arrested by federal fisheries officers on the night of 26 March while fishing for elvers in a river in south-west Nova Scotia.
Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/canada-mikmaw-fishermen-left-shoeless