Newfoundland and Labrador
Police don riot gear as Furey's Liberals make 2nd attempt at budget amid protests
It's deja vu at Confederation Building in St. John's on Thursday morning, as police and protesters have shown up in large numbers ahead of the Newfoundland and Labrador government's plans to introduce the 2024 budget.
By 6 a.m. NT, dozens of Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers — some in riot gear — were standing guard in front of the main entrances to the building and a growing number of fish harvesters were arriving on scene.
There were no flare-ups in the first few hours of the protest, leading a government announcement just after 8 a.m. that it is moving ahead with the budget. Members of the media were told to be inside the building by 9:30 a.m.
Earlier in the morning, police were seen having a cordial conversation with protest leaders, urging them to avoid a repeat of Wednesday's raucous events — particularly with a court-ordered injunction now in place that prohibits protesters from blocking safe access to Confederation Building, which is both home to the legislature and the main government complex.
Protest leader John Efford Jr. addressed the crowd a few minutes later.
"We're just going to make our presence known to the people that are going to work this morning. But we are going to be peaceful," he said over a megaphone. "Do not, do not get caught up in cat-calling. Do not get caught up in incitement. If anybody says anything to you today, say have a nice day."
Related video: Police officers and protesters clash outside Confederation Building (cbc.ca)
Duration 1:04 View on Watch
The group of mostly fish harvesters have been protesting since early March on a number of conditions. For one, they want to be allowed to sell their catch to buyers outside the province.
They also want processing limits lifted on fish plants, so they can catch their quotas in fewer trips.
John Efford Jr. spoke to a crowd of protesters on Thursday morning, telling them to not incite others. (Terry Roberts/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca
While the provincial government has committed to acting on both of these demands for the crab fishery — a lucrative but time-limited season that opens in the spring — the protesters say they want these concessions for all species.
The police are now tasked with enforcing an injunction that a Supreme Court of Newfoundland justice handed down during Wednesday's chaos and commotion.
The injunction prevents anyone from blocking access to the building, or interfering with public servants.
Things got ugly on Wednesday morning when government workers tried to enter the building and were turned back by a throng of protesters. They clashed with police officers and horses, with one protester and one officer being sent to hospital to be treated for injuries. The RNC said it will be pursuing charges against protesters who struck police horses during the melee.
Will a budget be introduced?
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey was adamant on Wednesday that a budget would be introduced, it's just a matter of when.
Furey said he was disappointed by the actions of "some" protesters, but said his government won't be stopped from proceeding with important business for the citizens of the province.
"There will be a budget for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, full stop. That is the intent," he said. "When it is safe to do so, people can enter the building, and we will do it."
Police in riot gear guard an entrance to Confederation Building on Thursday morning in St. John's, as the provincial government makes a second attempt to introduce a budget. (Dan Arsenault/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca
Police donned riot gear on Thursday morning, a step up from their response the previous day. About two dozen officers were guarding the rear entrance of the building as of 6:30 a.m., which is most commonly used by government officials to access their offices.
CBC News will be following the story throughout the day, and will provide regular updates.
At a 1:30 p.m. NT news conference, Furey and members of his cabinet addressed questions on the government's decision to seek an injunction against the protesters in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The injunction was granted by Justice Robert Stack on Wednesday morning, ordering protesters to provide safe access to the building.
"No one wants 500 people to be arrested tomorrow morning," Furey warned. "What we do want is to have continued dialogue with the leadership of the FFAW."
Prior to the injunction being granted, one of the lead protesters said they'll be back at Confederation Building on Thursday morning and prepared to delay the provincial budget again.
"I have a feeling it may be cancelled again tomorrow, the next business day and the next business day until we get what? Free enterprise," said John Efford Jr.
The order also prevents protesters from causing a nuisance by intimidating, threatening or assaulting public employees.
Furey said he heard from many public servants who were upset or scared after encountering the protesters while trying to go to work on Wednesday morning.
Related video: Police officers and protesters clash outside Confederation Building (cbc.ca)Duration 1:04 View on Watch
"I am profoundly disappointed today that the behaviour of a few could take over and jeopardize a budget that is for the entire province," Furey said.
What happens Thursday?
Harvester Jason Sullivan told CBC News he isn't sure if the injunction will stop them from showing up Thursday.
"Unifor has a ton of money so I know the government's in the hole but I guess if they matches up against one another, see who's gonna come out on top."
The government announced the budget's postponement earlier Wednesday after protesters blocked entrances to the building, refused to let government workers inside and had physical confrontations with police officers and horses. A protester complaining of leg pain and a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer have been taken from the scene in an ambulance.
Efford Jr., meanwhile, said he was surprised by the injunction.
"I'm a little bit taken aback that there's an injunction against the protest. I thought that was everyone's right to have a peaceful protest."
Before the injunction was granted, Efford had called the budget cancellation historic.
"And I have a feeling it may be cancelled again tomorrow, the next business day and the next business day until we get what? Free enterprise," he said. If fishermen don't get their wish, Efford, warned there would be more harvesters on the steps of the Confederation Building on Thursday.
In a press release issued shortly after 11 a.m., provincial government spokesperson Victoria Barbour announced the budget's postponement, until further notice, "due to an unsafe environment in which fish harvesters are preventing public service employees from entering the Confederation Building complex."
"Presently, the conditions are unsafe for employees and visitors to the complex, and there is a threat of violence," says the statement.
CBC News reporters at the scene witnessed an intense exchange between a group of protesters and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary around 8:30 a.m. NT, with officers pushing them back from an entrance at the rear of the building.
Video from the scene shows public servants struggling to get through the melee and get to work. At one point, Meghan McCabe, director of communications for Premier Andrew Furey, tried to get through the crowd but was pushed back by a pair of irate protesters hurling expletives.
"Get back. Don't be stupid," one yelled as McCabe walked backward away from them.
Asked about the confrontation with McCabe, Efford said, "You'll always find someone to incite a person and cause something to try and damage their cause."
Efford defended the conduct of protesters and said the weeks of demonstration have been nothing put peaceful.
"We've been at this now for three weeks. We've had no issues with security, we've had no issues with police, we've even, when we leave at the end of the day, we make sure we pick up our garbage."
A police officer on horseback attempts to disperse a crowd outside Confederation Building in St. John's on Wednesday morning. (Ted Dillon/CBC)© Ted Dillon/CBC
Protesters pleaded with police to not let the public servants inside.
"If you're going to let them in, you're only going to cause trouble for yourselves. And that we will guarantee," said one protester to an officer.
Jason Spingle, secretary-treasurer of the FFAW, said members of the union want to be able to go to work the same as employees at Confederation Building. He said it was regrettable that an RNC officer and a protester, who Spingle said broke his hip, were hurt.
"They are working like all of you folks here, and it was unfortunate that someone took too much of a situation there."
RNC spokesperson Danielle Barron confirmed to CBC News one officer was injured at the protest and has been taken to hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries. "Our priority remains the safety of all present," said Cadigan.
Spingle said public servants were trying to push their way into work.
"[One] said, 'Where do you think your EI comes from?' in a vindictive way. I mean, shame, it's disgraceful that we got someone working in this building that would make that comment. It's a shame."
The fishery generates a lot of money for the province, said Spingle.
"We need to make sure the balance of that wealth is shared fairly and what we put forward to the ministers yesterday, what John [Efford] put forward to the ministers yesterday was more than fair."
In an earlier statement, Barbour said they are "respectfully" asking the fish harvesters to allow employees, media and guests into the building "so budget 2024 can be delivered as planned."
The hundreds of protesters are fish harvesters and supporters, who have been lobbying government to open markets to outside buyers since early March.
As it stands, they can sell their catches only to buyers inside the province at a price agreed upon by the FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers.
The chaotic scene began before sunrise, when Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers on horseback pushed back protesters as they moved toward the building around 6:30 a.m. NT.
"Stay back!" police yelled at the group.
"Is this a public building?" one responded. "Don't we pay for this building?"
'We're tired of being kept down'
Protesters vowed to stay there all day.
"We just want the right to sell our product where we can," sad Alfred Fitzpatrick, a fisherman from the Burin Peninsula. "They never go to Nova Scotia and tell the crowd up to the Annapolis Valley you can only sell apples in Nova Scotia. Why are they telling us we can only sell fish here in Newfoundland?"
Meghan McCabe, communications director for the premier's office, comes face to face with protesters outside Confederation Building. (Terry Roberts/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca
Fisheries Minister Elvis Loveless says he's willing to meet some of the demands tabled by harvesters and his department has issued an expression of interest for outside buyers for the 2024 snow crab fishery.
But harvesters say their protest is not just about crab — they want similar restrictions lifted on the sale of all species they catch.
Fitzpatrick said he felt Loveless's statements were a "stall tactic" as crab season approaches.
"We're tired of being kept down," he said. "We've got a government that's sitting by and letting it happen and a union that's been too complacent over the years. And this is why we're in the state we're in. But we're here and we ain't going nowhere."
The protests have also caused commotion inside the House of Assembly during the current legislative session, as harvesters have taken to the public gallery and refused to heed warnings to sit down and be quiet, leading to Speaker Derek Bennett removing them from the chambers.
They've also blocked off a provincial fisheries building in St. John's, preventing employees from going inside.
Chaotic fishers protest blocks entrance to Newfoundland legislature, halts budget
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A protest Wednesday that descended into a chaotic confrontation between mounted police officers and fishers outside the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature halted the provincial government's plans to present its latest budget.
Premier Andrew Furey said he hopes the budget will instead be tabled Thursday, and his government secured an injunction against the protesters on Wednesday afternoon to help realize that goal — though protesters say they have no plans to let up.
"The budget was cancelled," John Efford, a harvester from Port de Grave, N.L., bellowed into a microphone Wednesday afternoon, prompting a sustained roar from the massive crowd before him. "And I got a funny feeling that it may be cancelled again tomorrow."
The protesters began gathering at the legislature before dawn on Wednesday. By the time they blocked government officials from entering the building to deliver the provincial budget, there were more than 100 people in the crowd.
Two Royal Newfoundland Constabulary members on horses pushed their way into the mass in an effort to disperse them. But the fishers piled into a line and pushed back, and the officers ultimately steered their animals away.
A protester and a police officer were taken away from the scene on stretchers.
The fish harvesters say they're fighting for free market conditions in their industry, which they claim is monopolized by a small "cartel" of companies that have too much power.
Furey told reporters that while he realizes emotions about the fishery run high, and there’s a right to protest peacefully, "what is unacceptable is violent protests. Some of the behaviour will not be tolerated by me and my government.”
"Officials felt threatened and intimated today, and let me say, first and foremost, that that's unacceptable," he said. "I am profoundly disappointed today that the behaviour of a few could take over, and jeopardize a budget that is for the entire province."
Wednesday's protest caps off days of other demonstrations at the legislature, primarily led by Efford. Jason Spingle, secretary-treasurer of the province's inshore fishers' union, called the Fish Food and Allied Workers Union, said the group supports Efford's efforts and stands with him.
Spingle said the fish harvester injured when the horses arrived was believed to have broken his hip. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said one of its officers was taken to hospital for treatment, and that it intends to pursue criminal charges against demonstrators who allegedly struck the police horses.
Turmoil in Newfoundland and Labrador's fishery is perhaps as old as the fishery itself. Last year, harvesters refused to fish crab for the first several weeks of the season, saying the price they were paid for their catch was not enough to live on.
In an interview after his speech, Efford said he wants more processing companies operating in the province. Smaller, independent processors are often hit with caps affecting how much they can buy from fishers. Those caps, he added, sometimes force fishers to bring their catch to the larger processors, who don’t have these limits.
Efford said fishers also want to be allowed to sell to buyers outside the province. "The first thing we need is more competition. So, we need more plants here," he said.
Elvis Loveless, provincial minister of fisheries, said during the government news conference that the province has started seeking applications for more buyers. As well, he said the government will increase processing capacity in the snow crab industry before the start of the 2024 season.
"We've had very good discussions. We've met, I'd say, all of their (the union's) requests," he said.
Doug Trainor, a fisherman from Fermeuse, N.L., was covered in dirt after the scuffle with officers. He said a horse stepped on his foot but didn't seriously injure him.
“I felt afraid. I got down on the ground and I couldn’t get up,” said Trainor, who fishes for crab, capelin and cod from the small town 90 kilometres south of St. John’s.
He said he was protesting because he feels overly restricted in whom he can sell his catch to. “The cartels own us. I’m supposed to be an independent fisherman. That’s what I tried to do all my life, and now I’m not anymore.”
Fisheries are a crucial sector of Newfoundland and Labrador's economy, with the province estimating there are 17,000 seafood workers and 400 communities that rely on the fishery for their livelihood.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.
— With files from Michael Tutton in Halifax.
Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
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