Repression-proof artist, Franke James, celebrated by BCCLA

Franke James won’t be kept down. And the Harper government has tried pretty hard to do it. 

Her latest posters, “Six Easy Ways to Crush Free Expression” and “Don’t Even Think About Climate Change” are more examples of a feisty and fun-loving nature that's unafraid to go toe-to-toe with Big Brother government tactics. 

These new posters were recently on display with eight years of her work at Performance Works Theatre. She was speaking to a BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) gathering about her personal battle to secure free speech.

The posters and artwork represent a visual record of her determination to speak out about climate change and the right to freedom of expression. She uses vibrant colors, reminiscent of the 1960s, to create posters that combine elements of David Shrigley, Couplandesque Canadiana, Shepard Fairey and Lewis Carroll illustrations. 

They masterfully and playfully mix words and images while keeping close attention to details regarding the use of government documents. 

James’ story is almost Kafkaesque. And nobody tells it better than her in her tongue-in-cheek, illustrated book, “Banned on the Hill: A True Story about Dirty Oil and Government Censorship,” published in 2013.

The book contains a series of stories about her dismay at her government and her dogged detective work to uncover the truth.

In 2011, she was slated to tour her artwork to twenty European cities. The exhibition was designed to inspire people to personally take responsibility for and action against climate change and to reduce the carbon footprint. It was particularly meant to inspire teens. This was a big break for James and she was excited. 

Then Government funding was withdrawn and the sponsoring NGO was coerced by government employees to cancel the tour. The Harper government was tampering with James’ career and credibility.

“The government actually did approve funding for my show….but then in this really Orwellian twist the Deputy Director of Climate Change and the Department of Foreign Affairs killed it,” said James while she pointed out the documents in a poster that supported her statements. 

The problems for James began in 2008.  She wrote an online visual letter to Harper voicing her belief that citizens need not choose between the economy and the environment.  This led to her being placed on a government blacklist.

 By 2011, she had also written a visual essay condemning the extraction of oil from the tar sands. Documents with emails among government officials showed clear disapproval of her voicing opposition to the development of the tar sands.

Ironically, it was the government’s attempt to silence her that propelled her exuberance forth.

“I think they thought, 'We’ll just shut her down and no one will know,'” said James, smiling.

“They never expected that I would dig so hard to find out the truth. But to me, it’s so incredibly shocking even to this day. I mean what the hell are these bureaucrats doing warning an NGO not to show my work. That is unfair.”

When news broke about the canceled tour, the government denied any interference.  James explained that they said “'funding was never withdrawn,' which was a lie. But I couldn’t say it was a lie unless I applied for Access to Information to actually get the truth.”

And she did. It took years but eventually she received over 2,000 documents, researched connections between people, deciphered email threads and relentlessly pursued answers. 

She learned that Environment Canada was working with National Security, that her twitter account was being watched and that her work was classified as a threat to national security. She wrote books and put information online. She crowdfunded to get the truth out and managed to hang her posters in bus stops in Ottawa, Calgary, Wininipeg and Washington, DC.

“This is so fun,” said James repeatedly. Standing in front of a bright pink maple leaf with a swirl of words inside, one of her six new posters about government repression.

“Flag activists for spin control,” she said, reading the words on the poster.  When foreign affairs said there was no political interference in this decision to cancel the show, they were spinning a story. 

They were saying, 'This lady is a flake,' and discrediting me.” 

Then James stepped in front of the next poster, “Sow contempt to justify hatred.”

“This is the cool thing. I’m making these posters to say what’s happening,” said James. 

Pointing to a poster that reads “Classify art as a threat to national security,” James said, “This is really relevant to what is happening to bill C51. The government was hiding stuff about me under this clause of national security. And national security is not just about what you would think about safety and violence, it is also defined as any threat to the economy.”

Though she uses a light, playful hand in her designs, and remains optimistic, this is serious business. 

As Josh Paterson, BCCLA's executive director said, "It is a critical time for free expression in this country. In just the last two years, cities have passed laws curtailing the right to demonstrate, scientists in employ of the government have had their voices muzzled, and anti-terrorism laws are being used to limit our rights to free speech.”

“It’s so heavy-handed and so undemocratic,” said James.

James believes the next frontier for the Harper government is drilling in the arctic.  Her poster, “Do Not Even Think About Climate Change” makes this point with the image of a starving polar bear, a photograph by Kerstin Langenberger, floating on an ice cap.  Behind the bear, the Parliament building rests atop a drilling rig.

Her next book, “Access to Information and Social Justice” offers clever tricks and tips for navigating the Freedom of access quagmire, and will be out soon.

James is the recipient of the BCCLA’s 2014 Liberty Award for Excellence in the Arts. and the PEN Canada/Ken Filkow Prize.