In a chilling similarity to what is currently happening to the Grand River Mishtashipu Hydro Dam Boondoggle Canada...:
https://goo.gl/aUCbSD For example, no Bills of Lading were completed for all the pitwood exported by ships to Cardiff and Barry docks, South Wales so local folk had no accurate idea about the true value of their labour and wages.
Williams cunningly concealed the amount of wood since he was able to transfer pitwood and funds through his other J.O. Williams Shipping Company.
He used his ill-gotten gains to acquire property and extensive land at Ogmore-by-Sea, Southerndown, near Bridgend, South Wales as well as property for himself and his eldest son on Westgate Street, Cardiff and elsewhere in the region. [Source: https://t.co/TmN0iiLXjH]
It is beyond coincidence that Williams and his family lived on that part of the Bridgend coastline still known as Dunraven Bay - still infamous for its smuggling!
Even the Supreme Court judge at the ensuing inequitable Public Enquiry into the Affairs of the Labrador Development Company Ltd. [National Archives UK] was lied to and deceived by Williams that he operated on a shoestring when nothing else could have been further from the truth!
Williams was without doubt a wealthy man who could have well afforded to pay loggers and their families a decent living wage and provide houses as promised - neither of which happened. They were lied to and deceived.
How that actually happened remains unknown and it is speculating that “sweet-talking” played its part in the despicable process of greed and money-grabbing that was allowed to take place by everyone involved.
However, pertinently, what is known is how the Labrador Development Company Ltd.’s logging operation in Port Hope Simpson came to be shut down.
1. J.O. Williams could no longer get the workforce he needed. People chose to work elsewhere. Wages were either late or unpaid.
2. Financial loans authorised by the British Treasury were stopped.
3. Keith Yonge, the local Manager left to enrol in the military.
4. Arthur Eric Williams, the eldest son of J.O. Williams and J.O.’s grand-daughter Erica were most likely unlawfully killed in Port Hope Simpson 3 Feb. 1940. [RCMP have still not even established cause of deaths!]
5. John Hope Simpson, the formerly retired civil servant who had been called back to London by his Government was awarded a knighthood for his services to refugees elsewhere in the overseas kingdom whilst the Civil Service’s traditional veil of silence [‘protect their own at all costs’] was dutifully and shamefully maintained about the goings-on in the settlement.
6. The British Government did not want to risk a scandal should their real reason for calling the Public Enquiry into the Affairs of the Company become known [to show J.O. Williams as an unreliable, untrustworthy and bad character - which backfired] whilst more importantly seeking to win the 2nd World War at the same time.
https://t.co/TfA7N9BvvE [Author’s Note: this is my own view by Independent Research and does not necessarily represent the views of the Labrador Land Protectors.]
[ https://goo.gl/aUCbSD In a chilling similarity to what is currently happening to the Grand River Mishtashipu Lower Churchill Boondoggle..]
In consideration of the https://goo.gl/AEuXwp Video in which Andrew Parsons, Justice Minister [in first response to Denise Cole’s reading of the Labrador Land Protectors statement. lower Grand River Mishtashipu hydro dam project] clearly stated, “Where do I start? I mean there’s a bunch of different things and a lot of it is technical in nature…” going on to talk about not directing the RCMP, instead he acts on their advice.
Yes…indeed, there certainly is a “technical” aspect about “who said what” and about “who directs who.” But unless the NL and CA legal systems and their courts decide to immediately drop all injunctions without delay or prevarication [goo.gl/NsxkgN Five Canadian Senators call for release of imprisoned Labrador Land Protectors and forensic audit Muskrat Falls NL Canada Labrador Land Protectors Facebook Group 28.7.17] and their governments quickly enact improved Acts of Parliamentary legislation there will be no chance at all of moving on from the “technical” in terms of the Justice Minister’s video statement.
At the very least Stan Marshall, CEO Nalcor Energy, Andrew Parsons, Justice Minister, Dwight Ball, Premier Newfoundland and Labrador, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and most likely others may all be liable for prosecution when maybe…metaphorically speaking of course…the likes of the “Axe of Justice” comes to fall!
On the other hand, Yvonne Jones MP for Labrador wrote to Stan Marshall and Dwight Ball as long ago as 26 July 2017 concluding, “…Repairing the relationship between Nalcor, the Provincial Government, and Labradorians continues to be strained and removing the injunction would be a good first step in reconciling those differences and build trust.” [see c. letter below]
On the evidence of the video recording pertaining to the tortuous machinations of NL government, Andrew Parsons, the Justice Minister comes across as a Disempowered Administrator who can only act upon the advice of the RCMP!
He seems to consider that his Office is completely independent of all politicians!
How can anybody in such high office be so wrong?
Does the Justice Minister administer parliamentary legislation created by politicians or does he not?
How can he possibly be right in claiming that he is completely independent of that process?
That is blatant nonsense.
[https://goo.gl/FJ1VBJ Editorial: Nalcor — too secretive
“Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern. And for Nalcor, it’s looking like a clear pattern of being a law unto itself.” The Telegram Editorial 13.9.17]
Without going down the road of “he said this, she said this” when I agreed with the late Honourable Senator Bill Rompkey to “establish the facts” about the difficult and troubled history of Port Hope Simpson I never envisaged that the path would lead towards the Nalcor Crown Corporation Boondoggle at Lower Churchill River, Muskrat Falls, NL, Canada!
Although the Truth may well be “the pill that everyone wants…but can’t seem to swallow” Your Voice on Labrador it seems to me that a better test for Truth is defined not by some sort of ‘magic bullet’ or ‘pill’ but by how well pertinent information is used to arrive at your conclusions.
Furthermore, surely there is need, if possible, to sensitively build a good context for meaningful negotiation without blaming, name-calling, tit-for-tat or slogan-blazing, no matter how difficult it may be to restrain personal opinions towards resolving the Boondoggle although it is understandable that time is not on the side of the Labradorians because shamefully the Boondoggle’s construction works continues apace whilst the people still suffer.
Beatrice Hunter, Labrador Land Protector Facebook page
Surely the time for Accountability has now finally arrived?
https://goo.gl/dNMq8n Video: Beatrice Hunter “…THE LAW NEEDS TO CHANGE….PEOPLE FIRST AND NOT CORPORATIONS. I feel and know in my heart that I have done nothing wrong just like my fellow Labrador Land Protectors. If you feel the same way then I ask you to email and phone Justin Trudeau and Dwight Ball for an apology for what they are doing….All you know THIS IS WRONG. THIS IS WRONG” Beatrice Hunter Facebook Page 1.9.17 https://goo.gl/Lpx2R8 Full text from Hans Rollman
“LLP Statement to NL Justice Minister Andrew Parsons - Oct 23/17
Justice Minister Andrew Parsons is in Labrador to talk about “justice”. The Labrador Land Protectors are not invited to this Summit. Yet, dozens of us are in court facing civil and criminal charges for protecting our water, land, and lives. There is nothing ‘just’ about how we are treated in this system.
Minister Parsons and the Liberal provincial government:
Nalcor’s court injunction is a direct reaction to government protecting the Muskrat Falls project. Using the justice system, numerous arrests of peaceful people have been made, some violently and in ambush style. Four of our people including 3 Elders were incarcerated for weeks without convictions ever being made! These Labradorians were taken from their homes and placed in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary where supports were restricted and no Gladue considerations given. All of this, and more, violates the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action on justice!
Minister Parsons, with your signature, hundreds of RCMP officers have come to Labrador to defend your government’s project on our lands and river. RCMP blockaded our highway to restrict peaceful protest in October 2016. This summer, heavily armed officers faced honourable Elders, women, men, and children to escort Nalcor’s transformers into Muskrat Falls. We have sheriffs, police, and criminal intelligence division officers monitoring us and showing up at our homes, work places, and adding stress to our lives. All of these actions have added to an ever increasing price tag on your watch.
Article 40 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states:
“Indigenous peoples have the right to access to and prompt decision through just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes with States or other parties, as well as effective remedies for all infringements of their individual and collective rights. Such a decision shall give due consideration to the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned and international human rights”
Yet, it was February 10, 2017 that we last heard from Premier Dwight Ball in a meaningful way. This was when he and Labrador MHAs attended our traditional sharing circle. Since then we have emailed, called, delivered statements, held vigils, and presented his St. John’s office with letters and signatures asking for resolve to our concerns. We have tried diplomatically to be consulted and included on a project that directly impacts our lives and the next generations. We have received nothing but silence.
Minister Parsons, your justice system disrespects Labradorians. You come to Labrador and talk about improvements to this system while your government violates national and international justice framework. You are impeding on our lands, exploiting our resources, and threatening our way of life.
This colonial approach will not make us go away. Locking us up or postponing our lives away in court will not work. We demand your government take immediate action to honour the UN Declaration and TRC’s calls to action. We insist you stop treating us like criminals and Labrador as your warehouse. We have not been fully consulted and you certainly do not have our consent for the Lower Churchill hydro project!
Labrador Land Protectors
Livestream Video from our conversation with Minister Parsons on October 23/17: https://www.facebook.com/labradorla…
Video interview with Billy LR Gauthier and CBC’s Jacob Barker: https://www.facebook.com/labradorla… “ Labrador Land Protectors Facebook page 23.10.17
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf The Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Canada Calls to Action
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf United Nations DECLARATION on the RIGHTS of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Is it too much to also equally prioritize moving the dispute urgently forward in a spirit of cooperation?
This means that agreements must be honoured. For example about the “Independent Expert Advisory Committee”
Lying and deceitful, despicable practices must stop immediately. [“NALCOR LOSES $66.9 MILLION IN 6-DAY FAILED HEDGING SCHEME. PUBLIC NOT TOLD”…”Just when you thought the incompetence couldn’t get any worse at Nalcor…Uncle Gnarley’s blog 21.8.17]
Reasonable requests or demands need implementing.[Labrador Land Protectors 23.10.17]
All pertinent factors need to be considered. [For example, what is stopping lawyers acting upon legal precedent from urgently seeking and achieving the same Legal Status for the Grand River Mistashipu, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada as for the Whanganui River, New Zealand at long last recognized as a Living Legal Entity?
Or why shouldn’t lawyers act upon Pope Francis’s recommendation: https://goo.gl/4654Pp Pope says indigenous people must have final say about their land. Francis echoes growing body of international law and standards on the right to ‘prior and informed consent’ [The Guardian UK Edition 21 February 2017 01.04 GMT]]
Or why shouldn’t lawyers act upon The Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Canada’s call for action? “Reconciliation is about forging and maintaining respectful relationships. There are no shortcuts.” -Justice Murray Sinclair Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 1500-360 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3Z3 Toll Free: 1-888-872-5554 (1-888-TRC-5554) Telephone: (204) 984-5885 Fax: (204) 984-5915 Email: [email protected]
Or why shouldn’t lawyers act upon http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf United Nations DECLARATION on the RIGHTS of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES?
Without any doubt or hesitation The Boondoggle must be shut down immediately, no matter what the financial cost, until any such Right and Proper, sensible Justice for Labrador, fully-trustworthy-for-all Public Inquiry including trustworthy-for-all “Forensic Auditing” releases its findings based on irrefutable evidence.
Unless the shutdown happens without any further delays [cf. recommendations for Site C, British Columbia by United Nations:
https://goo.gl/4YGKCY “We need to go in this direction regarding Muskrat Falls project and any future dams on Labrador rivers, including Gull Island
“OTTAWA – A United Nations panel says the construction of British Columbia’s $8.8-billion Site C dam should be halted until there is a full review of how it would affect Indigenous land. The recommendation is contained in a report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has completed its periodic review of how Canada complies with the world body’s treaty to end racial discrimination.” Labrador Land Protectors Facebook Group Page 29.8.17”] cont. the Public Inquiry will not be worth the paper it is written on and there will be no rehabilitation process kick-started between the Provincial Government Newfoundland and Labrador, the Federal Government of Canada and its own people unless ‘new concepts’ are recognized and new decisions made based on irrefutable evidence.
Surely, everybody concerned with the lower Grand River Mishtashipu needs to realize its legal entity as much as that of a human being:
https://t.co/5khrk9iUaD The Whanganui River, New Zealand at long last, has been recognized as a Living Legal Entity.
Prince Harry paddled down the Whanganui river during a visit to New Zealand in 2015. Photograph Chris Jackson Getty Images
https://t.co/9nSnsgSeuL The Whanganui River, New Zealand, at long last, has been recognized as a Living Legal Entity and been Granted the Same Legal Rights as a Human Being.
What is stopping lawyers from achieving the same Legal Status for the Grand River Mistashipu, Newfoundland and Labrador Canada? https://t.co/fB8mWLEqQt Thank You Whanganui iwi [tribe] 16.3.17
“New Zealand river granted same legal rights as human being
After 140 years of negotiation, Māori tribe wins recognition for Whanganui river, meaning it must be treated as a living entity
In a world-first a New Zealand river has been granted the same legal rights as a human being.
The local Māori tribe of Whanganui in the North Island has fought for the recognition of their river – the third-largest in New Zealand – as an ancestor for 140 years.
On Wednesday, hundreds of tribal representatives wept with joy when their bid to have their kin awarded legal status as a living entity was passed into law.
“The reason we have taken this approach is because we consider the river an ancestor and always have,” said Gerrard Albert, the lead negotiator for the Whanganui iwi [tribe].
“We have fought to find an approximation in law so that all others can understand that from our perspective treating the river as a living entity is the correct way to approach it, as in indivisible whole, instead of the traditional model for the last 100 years of treating it from a perspective of ownership and management.”
The new status of the river means if someone abused or harmed it the law now sees no differentiation between harming the tribe or harming the river because they are one and the same.
Chris Finlayson, the minister for the treaty of Waitangi negotiations, said the decision brought the longest-running litigation in New Zealand’s history to an end. “Te Awa Tupua will have its own legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person,” said Finlayson in a statement.
“The approach of granting legal personality to a river is unique … it responds to the view of the iwi of the Whanganui river which has long recognised Te Awa Tupua through its traditions, customs and practice.”
Two guardians will be appointed to act on behalf of the Whanganui river, one from the crown and one from the Whanganui iwi.
Albert said all Māori tribes regarded themselves as part of the universe, at one with and equal to the mountains, the rivers and the seas.
The new law now honoured and reflected their worldview, he said, and could set a precedent for other Māori tribes in New Zealand to follow in Whanganui’s footsteps.
“We can trace our genealogy to the origins of the universe,” said Albert. “And therefore rather than us being masters of the natural world, we are part of it. We want to live like that as our starting point. And that is not an anti-development, or anti-economic use of the river but to begin with the view that it is a living being, and then consider its future from that central belief.”
Financial redress of NZ$80m is included in the settlement, as well as an additional NZ$1m contribution towards establishing the legal framework for the river.”
The Guardian 16 March 2017
Although it has taken 140 years for the Whanganui tribe in New Zealand to legally protect the river more recent established historical truths in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada are there to be activated within “new concepts” and Justice for Labrador:
https://t.co/g9xrVLSc7N https://t.co/M8OWpVp2hP Our “Dodgy Dam” Gaining Overseas Attention, Derision - Nalcor Energy, Muskrat Falls Boondoggle project, NL Canada and another “Dodgy Project”… https://t.co/1ZcUIg4K3e “The Economist”
[Excerpt: https://goo.gl/bJucWD Humanitarian, religious and spiritual, environmental, economic, political, legal, legal and historical public items supporting Labrador, Labradorians, The Labrador Land Protectors Civil Rights Movement, NunatuKavut, Nunatsiavut, Innu Nation and Qalipu First Nation Campaigning against Nalcor Crown Corporation Hydro project, Muskrat Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador [NL] Canada]
