The Canadian government faced a real dilemma when hundreds of its citizens showed up at the Ottawa headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) holding “Search & Rescue Warrants” for the draft documents for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Operation SalAMI’s strategy combined the usual petitions, letter-writing campaigns, legal demonstration, etc., with an unequivocal ultimatum, civil disobedience training on the premises of the Canadian parliament and the drama of the Search & Seizure Operation, a type of nonviolent direct action.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/TheDilemmaDemonstration">The Dilemma Demonstration</a></b> by Philippe Duhamel.

Tactic Information

Intervention type: 

Intervention Tactics - Resistance

Objective: 

To pressure the government to act according to its professed values and at the requests of its citizens

Sector initiating tactic: 

Civil society

Sector intended to affect: 

Government