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ESGENOOPETITJ, NB - Prayer vigil needed for the next 16 hours as Canadian government prepares for raid on Burnt Church.

Today members of the Esgenoopetitj First Nation (EFN) received a call from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) saying there would be a raid on EFN lobster traps tomorrow morning at 11:00 Atlantic Time (10:00 EST.)

In their last two raids, DFO officers physically attacked members of the EFN and accompanying human rights observers on the water, ramming and sinking several boats. Video footage that played all over Canada showed the officers clubbing people who fell into the water after their boats were sunk and spraying them with pepper spray.

Accordingly, members of the Esgenoopetitj band of the Mi'kmaq nation and CPT are asking supporters to join them as they conduct their prayer service on the Burnt Church wharf tomorrow morning. They are further calling CPT and EFN supporters constituents to maintain constant prayers throughout the night, perhaps as a relay (e.g. one person could agree to pray from 8-9pm, another from 9-10, etc.)

Constituents should pray for the empowerment of the EFN as they engage in this nonviolent witness, for the opening of the hearts of the DFO officers as they prepare to challenge nonviolent resistance with violence and for the Canadian government to respect the treaties they signed with the Mi'kmaq on a nation-to-nation basis.

Because the DFO has maintained that the EFN are laying much greater numbers of traps than the EFN have recorded according two their management plan, members of EFN have twice agreed to accompany DFO officers on a joint counting expedition. They furthermore have agreed to remove any traps that did not have EFN fisheries management tags on them. On both occasions, the DFO canceled the expeditions, including one that was to happen today. Instead, after saying they would not participate in the joint counting tomorrow, DFO officers said they were going to confiscate all traps.

When asked by the media whether there would be confrontations on the water between the EFN and the DFO officers tomorrow, a spokesperson for the EFN said simply, "We are calling for everyone to pray."