Kirk Lethbridge, who had been on a hunger strike for five days and only stopped due to illness, said the deal struck by the three indigenous governments in Labrador and the Provincial government doesn’t alleviate their concerns.
“I feel there were political games played behind our backs and we were no longer the front line,” he said. “We will figure it out later. There’s still going to be flooding — we came here to have no flooding.”
Lethbridge said he would not have stopped his hunger strike if he had not become ill and he is still concerned with the methylmercury contamination that will result from the flooding of the reservoir.
Bart Jack Sr., another protester who had occupied the camp for four days, said the mood when they were leaving was mixed.
“We were somewhat disappointed that the journey didn’t end the way we would have liked to have seen it end,” he said. “We’re dealing with a corporation that has been very deceitful right from the beginning. Right from Day 1 Nalcor had not been telling the people of Labrador the right information.”
Jack said he doesn’t believe that what the leadership agreed to reflects the will of the people. As far as he understands, there will be some minimal flooding and the impact of the methylmercury will be gauged. Then it will be decided if more flooding will proceed. He said they wanted all flooding stopped and don’t trust Nalcor.
“We’re very leery,” he said. “We have to be because of the history of Nalcor. There has to be mistrust because that’s how we experienced Nalcor.”
He said they aren’t convinced that the way agreed to by their leaders will be enough to mitigate the methylmercury poisoning. He said he wasn’t sure if the protests at the gate would stop.
“We made a joke coming out that this is a five day turnaround for most of us,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see. We need to discuss what has been agreed to here and see what the will of the people is.”
Kirk Lethbridge, who had been on a hunger strike for five days and only stopped due to illness, said the deal struck by the three indigenous governments in Labrador and the Provincial government doesn’t alleviate their concerns.
“I feel there were political games played behind our backs and we were no longer the front line,” he said. “We will figure it out later. There’s still going to be flooding — we came here to have no flooding.”
Lethbridge said he would not have stopped his hunger strike if he had not become ill and he is still concerned with the methylmercury contamination that will result from the flooding of the reservoir.
Bart Jack Sr., another protester who had occupied the camp for four days, said the mood when they were leaving was mixed.
“We were somewhat disappointed that the journey didn’t end the way we would have liked to have seen it end,” he said. “We’re dealing with a corporation that has been very deceitful right from the beginning. Right from Day 1 Nalcor had not been telling the people of Labrador the right information.”
Jack said he doesn’t believe that what the leadership agreed to reflects the will of the people. As far as he understands, there will be some minimal flooding and the impact of the methylmercury will be gauged. Then it will be decided if more flooding will proceed. He said they wanted all flooding stopped and don’t trust Nalcor.
“We’re very leery,” he said. “We have to be because of the history of Nalcor. There has to be mistrust because that’s how we experienced Nalcor.”
He said they aren’t convinced that the way agreed to by their leaders will be enough to mitigate the methylmercury poisoning. He said he wasn’t sure if the protests at the gate would stop.
“We made a joke coming out that this is a five day turnaround for most of us,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see. We need to discuss what has been agreed to here and see what the will of the people is.”
