The Squamish Five (sometimes referred to as the Vancouver Five) were a group of self-styled " urban guerrillas" active in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action. The five were Ann Hansen, Brent Taylor, Juliet Caroline Belmas, Doug Stewart and Gerry Hannah.

Campaigns

The group's first action was in 1982: vandalizing the British Columbia Ministry of Environment offices. They began training with stolen weapons in a deserted area north of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and stole a large cache of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

belonging to the Department of Highways. On the morning of May 30, 1982, Hansen, Taylor, and Stewart travelled to

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

and set off a large

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

at the Dunsmuir BC Hydro substation. The damage was extensive, causing over $3 million CAD in damage and leaving four transformers damaged beyond repair. Nobody was injured.

Litton Industries bombing

In October 1982, the five filled a stolen pick-up truck with of dynamite and drove from Vancouver to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Their target was Litton Industries, a company producing guidance components for the controversial American

cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

s many feared would increase the risk of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

"Wimmin's Fire Brigade" and Red Hot Video firebombing

The bombers fled Toronto for

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"''. They subsequently firebombed three franchises of Red Hot Video, a chain of video pornography stores which had attracted the attention of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activists and the local community and was accused of selling snuff films as well as violent and paedophilic pornography. The majority of the stores closed or changed names. 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.

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.Hamilton, Dwight. "Inside Canadian Intelligence", 2006 Punk band D.O.A released a pair of benefit singles, ''Right to Be Wild'' and ''Burn It Down'', for the arrested members.

Legacy

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.interview with Juliet Belmas in Earth First! Journal
In 1987, experimental filmmaker Oliver Hockenhull released '' Determinations'', an avant-garde documentary which criticized the political undertones in media coverage of the Squamish Five. In 1988,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

released an award winning

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

entitled '' The Squamish Five''. The film's cast included Nicky Guadagni as Ann Hansen, Michael McManus as Brent Taylor, Robyn Stevan as Juliet Belmas, Albert Schultz as Doug Stewart, and David McLeod as Gerry Hannah.Greg Quill, "They're the only terrorists we've got eh?". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', November 5, 1988.

References

External links

Militant Feminism: An Explosive Interview with and Urban Guerilla
Interview with Juliet Belmas in May/June 2010 issue of Earth First! Journal

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050827185052/http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/vancouverfive.html , date=August 27, 2005 . 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.

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. Defunct anarchist militant groups Defunct anarchist organizations in North America Guerrilla organizations Canadian anarchists Canadian anti-capitalists Anti-pornography movements Organizations based in Vancouver Quantified groups of defendants Trials in Canada Direct action Terrorism in Canada Paramilitary organizations based in Canada Anarchist terrorism