Wells vows hard line on Innu "blackmail"
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) -- Labrador Innu are endangering lives and
trying to blackmail the government by replacing their hydro meters
with home-made gadgets, Premier Clyde Wells said yesterday.
"We are prepared to deal fairly with the Innu people but we are not
going to be coerced or blackmailed," Wells told the legislature.
"The removal of these meters ... creates a very real and substantial
safety hazard."
Last week, Innu representatives delivered a dozen dismantled
electricity meters to Newfoundland Hydro officials to protest the giant
Churchill Falls electricity project that flooded their traditional hunting
and burial grounds in the late 1960s.
The Innu, who live in the settlement of Sheshatshit, near Goose Bay,
want an apology and compensation for the damage done to part of
the vast tract of Labrador land they claim.
Wells says he's prepared to negotiate with the Innu but not while
they're conducting the protest and refusing to pay their hydro bills.
The protest started more than a week ago when about 1,000 Innu
refused to pay for electricity. They escalated the fight last week by
replacing their meters with copper wire to keep the power flowing
and reconnecting several homes that had been cut off by Newfoundland
Hydro.
The premier said a bulk metering system has been installed to record
the amount of electricity consumed and the Innu will have to
pay. He hinted the money could come from native programs.
But that suggestion drew the quick ire of the Innu, who warned
they'll take the government to court.
"In my opinion, that would be stealing," said Peter Penashue, president
of the Innu Nation. "We'd look seriously at charging Premier Wells
with a criminal act."
Penashue said he is willing to meet with Wells to discuss the issue,
but he doesn't think any good will come of it.
"A year ago Premier Wells said it should come under land claims, but
we say they are separate issues," he said. "Most of our elders who
hunted and fished on the land are dying out without seeing an
apology or compensation."
Federal and provincial governments began land claims negotiations
with the Innu in July 1991. Ottawa withdrew in May, 1992, and the
province's offer to continue bilateral talks was rejected by the Innu.
"If the Innu can demonstrate a legitimate aboriginal claim in
respect of lands affected by the Upper Churchill project, then they
will receive the compensation that is appropriate," said Wells.