Articles Menu
Join/Support the Ottawa Nonviolent Direct Action for Muskrat Falls Monday, October 29, Parliament Hill
26/09/18
See The Faces, Hear the Voices of Muskrat Falls
A nonviolent civil disobedience action and peaceful rally
Monday, October 29, 2018, 12 Noon, Parliament Hill
Help bring the Faces and Voices of those most at risk from poisoning and drowning downstream of the Muskrat Falls megadam to the desks of each MP inside the House of Commons
Organized by the Ontario-Muskrat Solidarity Coalition
"Beginning in 2019, those of us who live downstream of Labrador's Muskrat Falls megadam face lives of increasing peril. At the hands of our provincial government, we will face methylmercury poisoning and the risk of mass casualty drowning from this dangerous project. All of this is supported by the Trudeau government with $9.2 billion in loan guarantees.
Time is running out for us and we are asking for your support. We call all supporters who are able to join a day of nonviolent direct action organized by the Ontario-Muskrat Solidarity Coalition on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (traditional, unceded Algonquin territory), on October 29, 2018. Help us stop an act of cultural genocide and senseless environmental destruction downstream from Muskrat Falls in Labrador (traditional, unceded lands of the Innu and Inuit).
Please, if you cannot make it to Ottawa, consider organizing something in your own community that ties our struggles together. It is with your help that our voices become strongest.” – Labrador Land Protectors and Grand Riverkeeper Labrador
BACKGROUND
Despite a decade of continuous efforts by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Labrador to protect the lands and waters downstream of the Muskrat Falls megadam, the federal and provincial governments are refusing to take any steps to stop the impending methylmercury poisoning of the waters and country food supply relied upon by thousands. That poisoning is scheduled to begin with the impoundment of the dam reservoir in 2019.
In addition, there is still no assurance that a catastrophic dam break will not occur, given a significant part of the dam is built on quick clay, or sand that moves. That risk also becomes very real in 2019.
In Labrador, scores of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have been arrested and charged; elders have been thrown into maximum security prisons; and during the week of October 22, 17 Labrador Land Protectors will face court trials for peaceful acts of land protection and conducting sacred ceremonies on their traditional lands. The trials take place two years to the day that dozens of protectors peacefully occupied the construction site in October, 2016.
On May 7, 2018, Labrador Land Protectors and supporters converged on Parliament Hill to take the human face of these concerns inside the House of Commons. They were treated with disrespect by a group of Liberal MPs; 15 were arrested and banned for 90 days from Parliament Hill. For 94 days beginning June 21, people across North America have been part of a solidarity chain fast.
Just as the Labrador Land Protectors remain proud of their actions, so do their supporters aross this land. And as the Protectors gather in Labrador this October and recommit to each other and preserving ways of life that have existed since time immemorial, many of us have an opportunity to commit ourselves to solidarity with the Labrador Land Protectors and all who are working to preserve the waters and lands across this continent and around the globe.
On October 29, we will be gifted with their words and pictures as we again attempt to enter the House of Commons and place on the desks of each and every MP the human face of an impending act of cultural genocide, funded by the federal government to the tune of $9.2 billion.
NOTE: There will be a peaceful rally and clear lines will be drawn with respect to anyone who may be in a position of risking arrest. Those contemplating risking arrest need to contact the Ontario-Muskrat Solidarity Coalition at tasc@web.ca
JOIN US
1. If you can come to Ottawa, let us know ASAP at tasc@web.ca or by calling 613-267-3998.
2. If you cannot make it but would like to organize something locally in support (and perhaps tying this in with your own local and regional land and water protection struggles), please let us know. It need not be on the 29th; it could be during the trials or the weekend following!
3. If you can provide transportation to Ottawa or billeting for out of town folks, please let us know.
4. Contributions to the costs of this action are gratefully accepted via Homes not Bombs (etransfers to tasc@web.ca or by cheques mailed to PO Box 2121, 57 Foster Street, Perth, ON K7H 1R0.)
