Buckdog

"Rita MacNeil, the Canadian singer-songwriter from Cape Breton with the sweetly powerful voice, passed away Tuesday night following complications from surgery. She was 68.

MacNeil’s longtime promoter, Brian Edwards, says MacNeil had entered hospital a few days ago because of an infection. She was advised to undergo what he described as a “routine surgery,” but then developed complications during the recovery.

“The operation itself went well and then shortly afterward, she went into a coma and never actually came out of it,”  Edwards told CTV’s Canada AM Wednesday morning  from St Petersburg, Florida."
TV News Online

A few years ago, Buckdog reported on how the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had mounted a campaign of surveillance on Rita due to the fact that she attended 'women activist' meetings. 

Rita MacNeil was a true Canadian and her sweet voice will be missed.

OTTAWA–RCMP spies infiltrated the women's movement in the early 1970s, monitoring marches and rallies to keep an eye on feminists including Rita MacNeil, who would become a much-admired Maritime songstress.

An undercover source reporting on a March 1972 gathering of women's liberation groups in Winnipeg compiled biographical sketches of several delegates, noting MacNeil was in attendance from the Toronto Women's Caucus.

"She's the one who composes and sings women's lib songs," says the RCMP memo, portions of which remain secret.
The Star

Let's see ... killing a Polish immigrant by Taser after 23 seconds of contact with him - pepper spraying an infant in his mother's arms .... is there much else that could come out about our beloved Royal Canadian Mounted Police that proves how stupid they can be? Why yes there is! Imagine RCMP officers tailing Maritime singer, Rita McNeil because they consider her a threat to national security!!

"I just wish I had known I was under surveillance because I would've asked them for a ride home after the meetings because I had a long way to go."
Rita McNeil


"She's the one who composes and sings women's lib songs."
RCMP Surveillance Memo


-Rita MacNeil calls RCMP probe 'a little bit silly'