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

urban guerrilla An urban guerrilla is someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare or domestic terrorism in an urban environment. Theory and history The urban guerrilla phenomenon is essentially one of industrialised society, resting both ...

s" active in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action. The five were

Ann Hansen Ann Hansen is a Canadian anarchist and former member of Squamish Five, Direct Action, a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization known for the Litton Industries bombing, 1982 bombing of a Litton Industries plant, which made components for Ameri ...

, 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 The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is a ministry of the government of British Columbia in Canada. The ministry is responsible for the effective protection, management and conservation of the province's natural resources. It i ...

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 ...

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 Germa ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and set off a large

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

at the Dunsmuir

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, with the excep ...

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 ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Their target was

Litton Industries Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States named after inventor Charles Litton Sr. During the 1960s, the company began acquiring many unrelated firms and became one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. ...

, a company producing guidance components for the controversial American

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...

s many feared would increase the risk of

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

"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 Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary ...

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 ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activists and the local community and was accused of selling

snuff films A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

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 Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

, 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 1988,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

released an award winning

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

entitled '' The Squamish Five''. The film's cast included

Nicky Guadagni Nicky Guadagni (born August 1, 1952) is a Canadian actress who has worked on stage, radio, film and television. Life and career Originally from Montreal, Nicky Guadagni majored in drama at Dawson College and went on to train at the Royal Academy ...

as Ann Hansen, Michael McManus as Brent Taylor,

Robyn Stevan Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 t ...

as Juliet Belmas,

Albert Schultz Albert Hamilton Schultz (; born July 30, 1963) is a former Canadian actor, director and the founding artistic director of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company. He resigned his position with Soulpepper after sexual allegations against Schultz bec ...

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. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', November 5, 1988.

References

{{Reflist

External links

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

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