On May 24, 2016 in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) President Todd Russell issued the following statement:
“Today I met with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball and the four MHAs from Labrador to raise a number of urgent issues affecting NCC and our people.
“A major item on the agenda was our grave concerns on the provincial budget and the significant negative impact it will have on the southern Inuit of NunatuKavut and our communities.
As I’ve said previously, there is no doubt this latest budget is the direct result of the increasing cost of the Muskrat Falls project, which has already violated our rights and continues to threaten our traditional way of life.
It has also destroyed our land and poisoned our food.
Our people continue to pay the high and damaging price for this project and to ask us to pay a debt reduction levy to alleviate the resulting financial burden is atrocious.
Of course, we spoke in length about the dire situation in Black Tickle.
The latest elimination of a full-time nurse is extremely concerning as it takes away their basic human right of timely access to healthcare.
We also asked the Premier about the community’s fuel supply situation and what remediation efforts are being put in place once the current fuel supplier leaves.
We will continue to fight hard for the health of Black Tickle.
There was discussion about our Land Claim as well. I was pleased to hear that Premier Ball remains supportive of Land Claim negotiations with the federal government.
It was a tough meeting and I raised many concerns on behalf of the southern Inuit of NunatuKavut. I certainly appreciated this time with the Premier and we agreed to work collectively on addressing the issues our people face. There is much work to be done.”
Please also join in the conversation at facebook.com/nunatuKavut and on Twitter @nunatuKavut.
Stay tuned to OK Radio in the near future to hear an interview with President Russell of the NCC about the meeting he had with Premier Dwight Ball.