Trans Mountain, a Crown corporation, wouldn’t say what it does with the information it is gathering
Kanahus Manuel, centre, is the focus of many of Trans Mountain Corporation’s activity reports that were obtained by CBC News. (Courtesy of Kanahus Manuel)
The federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation is monitoring pipeline opponents and designating some as persons of interest who warrant closer scrutiny, according to internal records provided to CBC News.
The Trans Mountain documents show its security officials recorded the names of individuals who posted anti-pipeline videos and statements on social media, along with the names of those tagged in the posts or who shared the content.
Trans Mountain also singled out two individuals it considered to be persons of interest — labelled “POI” in the documents — and compiled information on their movements and their interactions with different protest groups targeting other resource projects.
A person of interest is a police term used to identify an individual who may be a witness or connected to a crime, but is not a suspect.
In one instance, outlined in the documents, a Trans Mountain security official reported the company had uncovered the legal name of an activist, labelled a “core POI” who was using an alias. The documents detailed the movements of the individual, past activist history and their relationship with other protest and Indigenous groups.
Scrutiny of Tiny House Warriors
“New information about a core POI confirms the Tiny House Warrior Camp [which refers to a protest camp in northern B.C.] is attracting some fringe and more extreme activists,” the document says.
The Tiny House Warriors set up five tiny houses last year in an area around Blue River, B.C., which is about 230 kilometres north of Kamloops. The group also has a second camp about 60 km north of Blue River, in an area around Valemount near the Moonbeam Bridge, where they have set up a yurt.
The area where both camps are set up is in the path of the pipeline project and within the territory of the Secwepemc Nation, which those in the camp say has not consented to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, though some bands in the nation have signed onto the project.
The activities of individuals connected to the Tiny House Warriors is a prime concern in the documents. MORE
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