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A federal department and the country’s spy agency closely monitored the activities of the aboriginal “Idle No More” movement in late 2012 and early 2013, with the intelligence agency claiming it was doing so not over fear of protests getting out of hand, but to protect the activists from potential violence by others.

A series of “weekly situational awareness reports” from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada reveals a rigorous cataloguing of Idle No More’s activities.

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Each report begins: “This is a weekly report that provides current information and the status of activities that threaten public safety in relation to issues affecting Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.”

The reports were produced between December 2012 and February 2013. They contain long lists of the dates and locations of planned Idle No More demonstrations.

Idle No More presented a very realistic potential for economic disruption, which definitely caught the radar

Aboriginal Affairs spokesperson Gen Guibert said the information in the reports was culled from sources including media, social media, Aboriginal Affairs regional offices, and First Nations.