ITK Joins Nunatsiavut Government in Calling for Release of Inuk Woman

July 27, 2017 – ITK supports the Nunatsiavut Government in opposing the detention of an Inuk woman in a maximum security men’s prison for disobeying a court injunction preventing protest at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric generation project outside Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador.

Marjorie Flowers is one of three incarcerated for opposing the project and the second Nunatsiavut woman to be held in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary (HMP) in St. John’s for engaging in peaceful protest. Beatrice Hunter was also detained in HMP in June and subsequently released.

“I join Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe in calling for the release of Marjorie Flowers and other protesters being held in St. John’s,” said ITK President Natan Obed. “It is inappropriate for them to be held with violent offenders. If no appropriate facility can be found, they should be released from custody.”

In September 2016, ITK joined the Nunatsiavut Government in calling on the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador to demand changes to the project to mitigate the environmental and health impacts on Labrador Inuit.