CORNWALL - On day three of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in Cornwall, half the day was spent in departure from the complaint - an alleged incident of racial profiling - and was instead spent on a tense, philosophical debate about Mohawk perspectives on Canadian laws and regulations.
Early in Wednesday's session, the complainant's aides suggested the tribunal take the time to watch a 20-minute excerpt from a 1969 National Film Board of Canada documentary about Akwesasne's border issues. The aides, who represent Teiohontathe Fallan Davis, said the clip would provide historical context to the border discussion, but it ultimately wasn't played for the tribunal.
"It's not a new problem, and that's what the video shows," said one of Davis' aides, who said she is a community elder.
Davis has no legal counsel at the tribunal, which began Monday. Davis claims on Nov. 18, 2005 she was targeted for an unjustified search by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) because of her race, age and gender. One year later, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Davis alleges stress from the incident, as well as radiation from an X-ray of her vehicle, forced her to abort her child one month later.
CBSA lawyer Sean Gaudet questioned Davis about her opinion and adherence to general Canadian law to get a sense of her state of mind at the time of the incident.
"Any law passed by the Government of Canada -- you're not bound to that?" Gaudet asked.
Davis suggested she's not bound by Canadian law, but says she sees logic in certain laws, such as following posted speed limits in Akwesasne.
Gaudet's cross-examination of Davis was tense at times. She would often begin to question the CBSA lawyer in response to his questions.
"How often do you cross the border?" she asked Gaudet from the witness table.
Davis at times insisted to know what notes Gaudet was reading as he questioned her, and that the tribunal should watch a video filmed the day of the incident. The content of the vehicle was not addressed by the tribunal.
The two also had a number of exchanges over semantics.
"Are you a member of Akwesasne?" Gaudet asked.
"No," Davis answered.
"Where do you live?" Gaudet asked.
"Akwesasne," she responded. "I'm a resident, not a member."
Davis said she's also not "bound by" a remission order for Akwesasne residents that allows them relief from taxes on items brought into Canada from the U.S.
"The border doesn't apply to me because I'm the first people of the land," said Davis, who wore a single black mitten on her left hand for most of Wednesday's testimony.
Davis did not declare her goods purchased in the U. S. the day she claims she was targeted by the agency. Declaration, Gaudet said, is necessary to benefit from the remission order, even though she doesn't recognize it.
"Why did you not think you had an obligation to pay taxes?" asked tribunal chairperson Rejean Belanger.
"Because it's on my land," Davis said. "My house is right there."
Under questioning from Gaudet, Davis appeared to deviate from answers submitted in her statement to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. At one point she said a customs agent had asked her questions about declaring goods, but in her statement to the commission she said no declaration questions were asked.
Davis also suggested parts of her statement to the commission, dated Nov. 2006, had been penned a year earlier, and may have contained incorrect information because she was in a state of "semi-shock" at the time. It's a state of mind that persists to this day, she added, at least when she has to cross through customs.
In her statement to the commission, Davis also indicated that she had no previous problems with the CBSA prior to the incident in November of 2005. But Gaudet raised at least two documented incidents, including one in August 2005 when Davis didn't have identification and lost her temper with a CBSA agent.
Gaudet asked if she intentionally ignored the previous incidents when she wrote her statement to the commission.
"I wasn't ignoring it, I wasn't thinking of it," Davis replied.
Gaudet suggested there was another incident that Davis had failed to relay to the commission. He produced a document that indicated Davis had her vehicle seized by the CBSA in 2004. Davis, however, was not driving the vehicle, and Gaudet did not indicate why Davis' former vehicle had been seized.
Belanger rejected the seized vehicle documents as an exhibit, noting it could have been produced "months ago". If it had been produced earlier, he said, the tribunal would have had sufficient time to study the vehicle seizure documents and potentially have called the driver of the seized vehicle as a witness.
In relation to the incident on Nov. 18, 2005, Davis acknowledged that she had been upset when her vehicle had been searched. She admitted to swearing at the customs agents several times throughout the procedure.
"Yeah, I told him to f--k off, back off, and get out of my space," Davis testified.
The tribunal resumes Thursday with the conclusion of the CBSA's cross-examination of Davis.