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cape breton
July 2009 
The Mounties always get their WOMAN too!
mimi
The mounties kept Rita under surveillance for many years, keeping us safe from the likes of her. rolflmao!! That's her singing in the video below: You be the judge.....
Rita MacNeil Home I'll Be
Rita MacNeil calls RCMP probe 'a little bit silly'
Updated Tue. Aug. 5 2008 5:52 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Popular Maritime singer Rita MacNeil said she had no idea she was under RCMP surveillance during an investigation into the 1970s Canadian feminist movement. In an interview with CTV Newsnet from her home in Big Pond, N.S., MacNeil called the investigation "a little bit silly."
Two historians recently uncovered files showing RCMP spies infiltrated the women's liberation movement in Canada. Investigators conducted undercover surveillance on marches and rallies, and compiled biographical sketches on some participants, including MacNeil.
"It was a time of awareness and women fighting for specific causes that meant a lot to us," such as daycare and equal pay for the same job, said MacNeil. "As far as my part, I wrote a lot of songs."
Her album 'Born a Woman' reflects the songs of that period, she added.
One of the uncovered RCMP reports from a March 1972 meeting of feminist groups in Winnipeg stated MacNeil attended the event with a group called the Toronto Women's Caucus. The report's undercover source noted MacNeil composed women's lib songs.
"I was there to learn about the rights of women and the rights of men, and what we should do together to better the world," said MacNeil of her involvement in the movement. She added that she is taking news of the investigation in stride.
"I don't know how else to take it. All I can do is laugh."
she had been involved in feminist groups in the early '80's. "They were being spied on because at the time they were perceived to be very radical," added Hewitt about the feminist groups. Hewitt explained that the RCMP didn't have a clear mandate on what they were doing during the investigation of feminists at the time, and didn't have a clear idea of what subversion was. He added that the Mounties downplayed the significance of the feminist groups because they were more familiar with investigating male protest groups. "When you look at Canadian society, the way it has changed over the last 40 years, it has changed dramatically, especially when it comes to gender relations and these women's groups are largely responsible for that," said Hewitt.
The FBI was conducting similar surveillance of feminist groups in the United States at the same time, added Hewitt.
Access: Public
Boy, do we all feel safer now. Thank you for the up date on this ”hardened criminal. ”
I've got this all figured out now. The Mounties are getting paid to listen to lovely voices. Who knew???????
Wow! I find this fascinating and perplexing at the same time. Having worked in the area of women's issues and participated as a feminist activist… I have never thought about the posibility that this would be a national issue requiring sureillance.
Really makes you wonder …… does everyone who expresses a “public” view contrary to “the government” warrant such attention? In a way, it is kind of heartening to think that the men felt so threatened by those of us who dared to speak out. But as a tax-payer, I'd say the Canadian government rarely gets their priorities straight - just wish I had all the money they invest into the stupid things they do. This one pretty much takes the cake though, on the stupidity scale!
Oh, almost forgot to mention - I love her singing and have several of her albums - she's one heck of a wonderful role model for women in this country!!!!
~~^v^~~
Gemstar,
Don't worry, the Canadian government doesn't have the monopoly on getting their priorities straight or doing crazy things. Come on over neighbor….Welcome to America.
PS : she does have a beautiful voice.
Oh weren't we so radical back in the 70's! I heard that the Mounties kept files on people.
My Dad would say, “don't make trouble or they will put your name in a book.” and my sister and I laughed. Who knew?! he was right! My sister and I tried to sign up people for the Green Party in the 80's (I think). It was rumoured that the RCMP was watching, but we never believed it. They might have a file on me. OH THAT WOULD BE SO……..///??? SILLY.
Lots of young Canadians are amused and distressed to find that their grandmothers and grandfathers were under surveillance by the RCMP , but they now have fabulous and funny records of stupid surveillance reports. “ Subject was seen entering the deli and talking to unkown subjects. he ordered a pastrami on rye……”
Hey Terrill,
If you were involved in “radical” women's issues,( or is it “radical women” issues)…..
there might be a file on YOU! We radical women were a threat - to the nation, I guess.
In the 70's, I worked at 2 different companies where women had to wear a dress or skirt and blouse/sweater. There was a big froufrahaah when pants suits came in. They were outlawed at first. Another company I worked for, the manager told me that I had to wear nylons even in the summer, said, “I don't want to see any bare toes hanging out.” No wonder we wanted to burn our bras and wear pants!!
Anyone watching “Mad Men” - a fabulous TV series that depicts office life at that time, where the men ruled, everyone smoked, women wore pointy bras. Catch it if you can.
Dear Gemstar,
I am so glad you are here and visited my blog. Thank you and (((hugs)0
Rita has such a sweet voice, and she is loved by many Canadians coast-to-coast.
Rita under surveillance by the Mounties - IMAGINE!!! - my Maritimer friends say “imagine”all the time, even more than “eh”
The RCMP keeping files on feminist women, particularly on Rita McNeil, now that is comical :)
I agree that it is rather perplexing, Terrill. In the 1970s there was so much talk about surveillance of American anit war protestors. I always perceived that our human rights were more firmly entrenched on this side of the border. It is a bit of a shock to learn that the RCMP were monitoring the activities of peaceful female activists.
In 1970 I was a student at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. A group of female students staged our own protest by wearing pants to school, and we were all sent home to change. We actually had skirts in our lockers, but made the best of enjoying a lovely warm autumn morning away from school. The local newpaper ran an article about our protest. It said that Westdale was apparently becoming a private school for boys….hahahaha. Maybe the RCMP has a file on me too :)
Well I suppose mimi there could be a file on me. In true feminist definitions I am more of a socialist feminist but I am sure this would be putting too fine a point on things lol. I think I missed most of the dress code issues as I graduated from highschool in 1976 and didn't work in office settings until the early 90's… however, addressing issues of support for national childcare, preventing violence against women and fair wages for work of equal value have all been part of my efforts towards change… and continue to be.
I too am a fan of Rita and listened to her long before she became famous. I just love that voice!
she definitely is covert
maze daaarling,
I think you're on to something - she probably was a Mole!
She could hide a lot of recording devices under that caftan…….
+Hey Elizabethanne, thanks for stopping by!
Wow! you and your friends were real Trouble Makers! That newspaper bit was hilarious.
i went to high school in the 50's (Yes, I am real old) and we never could wear pants. I got my first pair of jeans (Carhartts with the red plastic heart) in 1955. Once a year, we could wear jeans to high school - it was called “Scrag Day”
Does “scrag” have a different meaning today?
Hi Mimi:
My pleasure..this was a fun thread to partcipate in.
We are all beautiful, ageless women…at least that is what I keep telling my body ;)
Liz
this would be a great blog to help reactivate the Canada Pod! hugs
Great idea, Nicole,
Here's the link:
http://pods.gaia.com/o_canada
Come on youse guys, join the Canada, eh pod
I can see this needs a male perspective. The feminist movement! First you burned your bras. That was great! When you saw our reaction you immediately put them back on, with extra padding, and sent your mini skirts off to Goodwill, only to be replaced by the Maxi! There went the age of Aquarius. All this happened in a twelve month span while I was off fighting for freedom. I came back and not a nipple or thigh to be seen in public. And it's one two three, what were we fighting for? It's no wonder those feminist gals got close scrutiny.
HeyHey Bob,
Now this is funny, funny, to hear your male perspective on this. Gosh, we feminists didn't know know how much power we had with our clothes. You naughty guys always like to get peeks of our flesh. I remember the guys at work standing behind my chair and peeking down my blouse. I would holler “you pig”. They'd laugh..
I didn't know you were fighting for nipples, thighs, and boobs, I thought it was about democracy and the American way. Wait, T&A IS THE AMERICAN WAY.
You are one funny guy,
come again…errrrr ..to my blog, I mean…
LOLOL! hmmmm…. well, mimi, my dear, you are being wonderfully effective at getting the o canada pod jumpstarted and perhaps a few other er things as well :):) my sincere thanks
Feminists are aliens from Mars and some are from Venus…what's the opposite of feminist?
Answers too: paul.lowe555@googlemail.com">paul.lowe555@googlemail.com
Have a nice day :-)This is so silly it's pathetic! I actually woke up this morning laughing at how seriously I took GWBush for so long, and now he just looks dumb as a … dumb dumb guy! He has been waiting for someone to call him out for probably, years!
George, what kind of dum dum answer is that? I'm gonna pay you my hard earned taxes for THAT? [I'm not American, but I work all over the place.]
But it's really quite silly what authorities have been doing with our taxes all the time. O my God!
They honestly did seem to know what they were doing… Gosh!! What the hell went that far south?