About 30 protestors gathered today on the Trans Labrador Highway, and blocked off traffic as part of the Idle No More movement. The protest was organized by the NunatuKavut Community Council and was held by the South Coast Highways turnoff.
The protest started in the early morning hours and was scheduled to end at noon. By blocking the highway turnoff, many Muskrat Falls' workers and freight didn’t get in to the project work site.
“Muskrat Falls is a perfect example of what Idle No More is about,” says NCC President Todd Russell. “This is total disrespect of aboriginal rights.”
At first the protestors weren’t allowing any commercial transport trucks traveling to and from Goose Bay past either. But later in the day, they began letting the vehicles through. Also, people who were traveling to a hockey tournament on the South Coast of Labrador were allowed through all day.
In November of 2011, The Newfoundland Supreme Court granted an injunction against the NCC, which prevents them, and others, from holding protests at or near the Muskrat Falls work site. But Corporal Rick Mills of the RCMP says today’s protest did not violate the injunction because the protestors were not at the site or on the access road. Mills also considered the protest to be peaceful and orderly.
“We’re here to monitor the situation,” said Mills. “We have no reason to be heavy handed.
You can find more information on this story in the January 21 edition of The Labradorian.
