Muskrat Falls hunger strikers home again
Katie Breen | CBC News | Posted: October 28, 2016 9:31 AM | Last Updated: October 28, 2016
The trio had been in Ottawa trying to provoke a solution to methylmercury concerns at Muskrat Falls
Three people who had been hunger striking over Muskrat Falls returned to a hero's welcome Thursday night, less than 48 hours after the premier and Labrador's Indigenous leaders agreed on how the megaproject would proceed.
"I thought maybe there would be somebody here but, wow," Billy Gauthier, who went nearly two weeks without eating told CBC's Labrador Morning.
"I don't have words. This is amazing."
Trip to Ottawa
Gauthier, Delilah Saunders and Jerry Kohlmeister had travelled to Ottawa trying get the attention of federal officials, indigenous groups and environmental organizations.
"Our lives were on the line," said Kohlmeister, who picked up the fast with Saunders shortly after Gauthier.
"We weren't going to stop until one of us died or we all died."
The trio helped set the go-forward conditions that were ultimately agreed upon early Wednesday morning after an 11-hour meeting among the provincial government, the Innu Nation, NunatuKavut and the Nunatsiavut Government.
They were originally calling for full clearing of all vegetation but are now pleased with the promise of independent reviews, the potential for further clearing and a committee that will look at ways to reduce methylmercury contamination.
Thoughts on deal
Gauthier said while he can't personally guarantee the deal will be followed through on, he thinks the national attention will help keep everyone involved accountable.
"The world is watching, they can't afford to screw up now," he said.
"People that we've never, ever met and people we might never meet, their eyes are on it."