Squamish Five
The Squamish Five (sometimes referred to as the Vancouver Five)[1] were a group of self-styled "urban guerrillas" active in Canada during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action.
| Direct Action | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Squamish Five, Wimmin's Fire Brigade, Vancouver Five |
| Dates of operation | 1981 - 1983 |
| Country | Canada |
| Motives | War against the state |
| Active regions | Canada |
| Ideology | Anarchism |
| Notable attacks | Bombings, Arson |
| Size | 5+ members |
| Part of the Politics series on |
| Anarchism |
|---|
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The five were Ann Hansen, Brent Taylor, Juliet Caroline Belmas, Doug Stewart and Gerry Hannah. They were activists who had become disenchanted and frustrated with traditional methods of activism, believing that by engaging in semi-symbolic propaganda by the deed, they could jolt people into action themselves.
Early actions
The first actions associated with the group included vandalizing the headquarters of AMAX Inc., a mining company which had been granted a special exemption from environmental laws, and offices of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.[2]
After these actions, the group dispersed. Belmas and Hannah retreated to the Rocky Mountains, and Hansen, Taylor, and Stewart moved underground together, becoming more militant. They began training with stolen weapons in a deserted area north of Vancouver, and stole a large cache of dynamite belonging to the Department of Highways.[3] They supported themselves through various forms of fraud and theft.
Bombing campaigns
Cheekye-Dunsmuir bombing
On 30 May 1982, Hansen, Taylor, and Stewart traveled to Vancouver Island and set off a large bomb at the Dunsmuir BC Hydro substation, causing $5 million in damages.[1] Four transformers were damaged beyond repair, but no-one was injured. The hydroelectric project had been criticized by some as environmentally unsound and contributing to the destruction of wilderness on the island. After the bombing, the group again recruited Hannah, a member of the punk rock group Subhumans, well known for his criticism of BC Hydro executives; and Belmas, an idealist from the suburbs who had been radicalized in the process of opposing a retail pornography outlet in her Port Coquitlam neighbourhood.
Litton Industries bombing
In October, 1982, the five filled a stolen pick-up truck with 550 kg (1,210 lb) of dynamite and drove from Vancouver to Toronto. Their target was Litton Industries, a company producing guidance components for the controversial American cruise missiles many feared would increase the risk of nuclear war.[1] The bomb was detonated on October 14, 1982, intended to cause only property destruction. The van was parked in full view of corporate security, with an elaborate "warning box" duct taped to the hood, displaying a message, a digital clock counting down, and a single stick of dynamite to draw attention to the danger. Belmas called the security desk and warned them of the explosion, giving instructions on exactly what to do and where the danger area was. The security personnel, suspecting a hoax, did not respond quickly enough to evacuate the facility before the explosion. The evacuation was just starting when the bomb detonated minutes ahead of schedule, injuring ten people. A storage area where parts were kept prior to production and the offices above and around it were damaged. There was no damage to the back of the factory, where the guidance system was assembled.
'Wimmin's Fire Brigade' and Red Hot Video firebombing
Wimmin's Fire Brigade, Press Release, November 22, 1982
The bombers fled Toronto for Vancouver and ceased their activities as they moved underground together. On November 22, 1982, they emerged as part of a larger group under the name "Wimmin's Fire Brigade".[1] They subsequently firebombed three franchises of Red Hot Video, a chain of video pornography stores which had attracted the attention of feminist activists and the local community and was accused of selling snuff films as well as violent and paedothilic Pornography. The majority of the stores closed or changed names.[4]
As well as the attacks the Wimmin's Fire Brigade released various communiques and press releases up until there arrests.
Ann Hansen alleges in her memoirs that the police were surveilling them at the time of the Red Hot Video action, which would mean the police broke the law to get the evidence needed to proceed with the charges on the earlier bombings.[5] This is backed up by Reporter Alyn Edwards who whilst working for BCTV reported this claim and testified in court as a witness that he'd gained this information from a confidential source in the RCMP.[6]
Arrest and trial
The high-profile crimes attracted major police attention and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was closing in. On the morning of January 20, 1983, an RCMP tactical unit disguised as a road crew captured all five on the road to their training area.[7] The apprehension occurred on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, just south of Squamish, giving rise to the name the media attached to the group. The five received sentences ranging from six years to life. Only Hannah and Belmas, the youngest member, pleaded guilty. Belmas renounced the use of violence as a means to an end and apologized to the victims. Upon hearing her sentence for life, Ann Hansen threw a tomato at the judge. During the trial protestors set fires in the bathrooms of the courthouse.[8]
Legacy
All are now out of prison.
In 2002, Ann Hansen published Direct Action: Memoirs Of An Urban Guerrilla. While she acknowledges tactical mistakes and misconceptions, Hansen maintains that her actions were justified and that capitalism should be challenged through direct action and other forms of protest.
After prison, Juliet Belmas attended Emily Carr University of Art and Design and completed a degree in film. She produced independent art films on the conditions of women in prison and was working on her memoirs as of 2012.[3]
In Popular Culture
In 1989, CBC Television released an award winning docudrama entitled "The Squamish Five".[9]
Caroline Adderson's novel The Sky Is Falling (2010), which portrays a group of young radicalized Canadians living communally in Vancouver in 1984, is both loosely based on these events and refers at key points to the Squamish Five.
The rock band The Dead Milkmen referenced the Squamish Five in "VCW (Veterans of A Censored World)", a live clean version of "VFW (Veterans Of A Fucked-Up World)" from their album Big Lizard in My Backyard.
The plot of the 1984 film Unfinished Business involves anarchists plotting to blow up a Toronto factory that produces parts for nuclear weapons.
See also
- Action directe - A 1970s and 1980s French urban guerrilla group
- Green Anarchism - A branch of anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues
- Anarcha-Feminism - A branch of anarchism combining anarchism and feminism
References
- Antliff, Allan (2004). Only a Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology. Arsenal Pulp Press. p. 75. ISBN 1-55152-167-9. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- Hamilton, Dwight. "Terror Threat: International and Homegrown terrorists and their threat to Canada", 2007
- interview with Juliet Belmas in Earth First! Journal Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Hansen, Ann (2001). Direct Action : memoirs of an urban guerrilla. Toronto: Between the Lines. p. 301. ISBN 9781902593487.
- Hansen, Ann (2001). Direct Action : memoirs of an urban guerrilla. Toronto: Between the Lines. p. 348. ISBN 9781902593487.
- "Squamish Five - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
- Hamilton, Dwight. "Inside Canadian Intelligence", 2006
- Kronbauer, Bob. "Will we soon see a repeat of the Squamish Five domestic terrorism acts of the 80s?". vancouver is awesome. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- Donovan, Paul. Cinema Canada, "The Squamish Five", January 1989
External links
- Militant Feminism: An Explosive Interview with and Urban Guerilla Interview with Juliet Belmas in May/June 2010 issue of Earth First! Journal
- The Vancouver Five (aka Direct Action). Includes an interview with Ann Hansen and an essay by a supporter of the Five in Toronto.
- Direct Action: Reflections on Armed Resistance and the Squamish Five, an audio CD recorded by Ann Hansen, presenting information from her book.
- Belmas court records, court sentencing documents relating to Belmas' court trials.
- How nonviolence protects the state, an essay which discusses the legitimacy of violence in civil unrest; the Squamish Five are cited as examples of the effectiveness of the technique.