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---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2020 17:11:17 -0400
Subject: YO Mr Brown I bet Gerry Byrne knows why would Perry Trimper's
assistant would try to deny the obvious to me today but Nicholas Myerson would have no clue yet no doubt Stuart Wuttke and his Chief do EH???
To: JordanBrown@gov.nl.ca, ejoyce@gov.nl.ca, ElvisLoveless@gov.nl.ca,
paullane@gov.nl.ca, JamesDinn@gov.nl.ca, AlisonCoffin@gov.nl.ca,
gerrybyrne@gov.nl.ca, swuttke@afn.ca, npm@origin-international.us
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, perrytrimper@gov.nl.ca,
premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>, "Brenda.Lucki"
<Brenda.Lucki@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "barbara.massey"
<barbara.massey@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "Bill.Blair"<Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca>,
pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, legcounsel@gov.nl.ca, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>
Stuart Wuttke
Assembly of First Nations
1600-55 Metcalfe StOttawa, OntarioK1P 6L5
Phone
613 241 6789 Ext. 228
To address Labrador homelessness, N.L. politician needs to go: Innu
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A central Labrador town has a pressing homelessness problem and it won’t be solved until the district's legislature member is replaced by someone who understands Indigenous issues, Labrador’s Innu Nation says.
Innu leaders are demanding Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey remove Lake Melville member Perry Trimper from the Liberal caucus after he made comments suggesting homeless people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay choose their lifestyles. They also want Trimper to resign his seat.
As of Tuesday morning, Trimper said he would not run again but he plans to remain in office until the next provincial election. In a statement Tuesday evening, Furey said he’d met with Innu Nation Grand Chief Etienne Rich and discussed “moving forward with cultural sensitivity training throughout government.”
Deputy Grand Chief Mary Ann Nui said Trimper’s comment shows he doesn’t understand the issues facing Innu in Labrador, who she says are disproportionately represented among the homeless and transient population in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
“I would love to see somebody who can be in that seat who can work with us and understand the social problems we face in our own communities and why (people from) our communities end up in the streets in Goose Bay,” Nui said in an interview Tuesday.
Trimper's controversial comment, made during a CBC interview, was in reference to a video shared on social media showing a handcuffed and homeless Inuk man being thrown to the ground by a Happy Valley-Goose Bay enforcement officer. The video has shone a floodlight on the town’s homelessness problem.
Michelle Kinney says the attention is sorely needed, especially now because the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue. Kinney is the deputy minister of health and social development with the Nunatsiavut Government, Labrador’s Inuit government. She also runs the Happy Valley-Goose Bay homeless shelter.
“We’re definitely not meeting all of the needs,” Kinney said in a recent interview.
In a town of about 8,000 people, the eight-bed shelter is regularly bursting at the seams, she said. A clause in the shelter’s operation agreement allows them to exceed capacity in emergency situations, and they exceed it most nights. Sometimes as many as 17 people sleep there, she said.
The shelter also operates 10 communal units and seven apartments, all consistently full. There are 22 names on the wait-list, she said.
To maintain social distancing during the pandemic, the provincial government has paid for overflow shelter clients to sleep at a nearby hotel. There are currently seven people staying there, Kinney said.
The homelessness problem in Happy Valley-Goose Bay stems from its status as a regional hub without adequate housing. People from other Labrador towns go there for health or government services and wind up staying, sometimes without a place to live. This creates a transient population who sometimes camp out in the woods behind the town, she said.
In the town itself, the rental market is mostly aimed at people making good salaries at the nearby Muskrat Falls construction site, and rents are unaffordable on lower incomes, Kinney said.
Like Nui, she says Indigenous people are disproportionately affected. Nui said people with addictions issues from Labrador’s Innu communities often wind up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay because it’s easier to obtain drugs and alcohol there.
Nui said she’d love to see more housing and support options for the town’s homeless and transient population, as well as more collaboration between government departments and Indigenous groups.
“I would totally support a bigger shelter,” Nui said. “It would help a lot with our community members.”
But she fears the right help won’t come unless the people in power understand how systemic racism affects Indigenous people. Pointing to an audio recording released last year in which Trimper was heard saying the Innu are prone to playing "the race card," Nui said Trimper's latest gaffe shows he hasn't learned anything.
"We need somebody in that seat that can work with Innu," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2020.
Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
https://twitter.com/
Hmmm
U.S. company makes formal offer to buy Come By Chance refinery
Origin International Inc. specializes in recycling oils
There may be a glimmer of hope for the hundreds of workers at the Come By Chance refinery, amid confirmation that a formal offer has been submitted to purchase it and other assets. (John Pike/CBC)
Origin International Inc. has made a formal offer to take over all North Atlantic Refining Limited assets — including the Come By Chance refinery and its retail properties.
The move comes after a turbulent month for the refinery and its hundreds of workers, as a deal to sell the refinery to Irving Oil fell through in early October. North Atlantic Refinery Limited said at the time it was considering its options and trying to find ways to cut costs and save money before moving to close the facility permanently.
U.S.-based Origin International has submitted its offer to Silverpeak, the New York-based investment management firm that owns the refinery, but the company is not providing any other details beyond confirming that information.
"We can confirm an offer has been made to Silverpeak. We have nothing further to add at this time," said CEO Nicholas Myerson, in response to CBC News requesting comment on the development.
The details of the proposed deal are not immediately available.
Sources tell CBC News that if the pending offer is accepted and gets regulatory approval, the company envisions bringing the Come By Chance refinery back to full capacity and maintaining steady employment.
The union representing workers at the refinery calls Wednesday's announcement good news, especially after months of uncertainty and subsequent layoffs in early October.
"We're excited, and hopefully it's a great news story for the province. ... We just need them to make a deal," said Glenn Nolan, president of United Steelworkers Local 9316, who told CBC News that Origin gave the union a presentation on Friday that involved employment returning to the site.
"They're ready to go once they can get a deal with Silverpeak," he said. "Staffing numbers will be the same."
Nolan said there is no timeline for when the refinery will return to normal operations, and figures it will be at least three months from the time the deal is made, and then through regulatory supervision and due diligence. He said he is remaining cautiously optimistic until the deal is finalized.
"It's been a stressful time since March and April, right up until now. The union has received a lot of calls, a lot of desperation," he said.
Interest started in summer
It isn't the first time that Maryland-based Origin International, which specializes in recycling oil, has expressed interest in buying the refinery.
Less then two weeks ago, the company issued a plea that the facility be kept in "warm idle" mode so it can more easily be reactivated if a change of ownership occurs.
"Time is of the essence to ensure a restart plan can be put in place for next year," a representative of Origin International said, on condition of anonymity, at the time.
"Origin is finalizing a plan that would have all employees back to work immediately after a transaction, with a restart for the plant in the second quarter of next year."
Origin International Inc. CEO Nicholas Myerson has been direct in the past about wanting to purchase the refinery. (Origin International)
However, the company also made its interest known even months before that.
Back in July, as Irving Oil was nearing a deal to buy the refinery, CEO Nicholas Myerson threw his company's hat in the ring, so to speak.
He spelled it out to the province's natural resources minister at the time, Siobhan Coady, in a letter dated June 8, which was obtained by CBC News.
"We just wanted to make decision-makers aware of our interest in the province and a key asset in the event circumstances changed," Myerson told CBC News at the time.
Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
With files from Terry Roberts and Stephanie Kinsella