Tag Archives: hunger strike
Department of Fisheries and Oceans installs security office, excavates hill where hunger strike held last spring
The hill is alive with the sound of an excavator at the start of the road leading to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) headquarters in St. John’s where Twillingate fisherman Richard Gillett held an 11-day hunger strike in April. The site where Gillett pitched his tent is all mud now. According to a statement from DFO, the excavation and the security office are part of new security and safety protocols being implemented at the facility.,, Gillett’s hunger strike started on April 13 and his supporters caused a bit of disruption at times for people trying to enter and leave the facility. But that wasn’t the only protest action by fishermen in the spring that caused some concern for DFO officials. click here to read the story 21:08
Letter: Why Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike. ” In my opinion he is a brave man,,,”
April 13th, Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike because he felt that rural Newfoundland and Labrador was facing a bleak future due to the mismanagement of oceans that had sustained us for 500 years. Richard had two requests: one for a review of the science and management of all provincial fish stocks, the other a review of the relationship of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Those are two very legitimate questions.,, In my opinion he is a brave man who is concerned about this province and has done more than anyone since the moratorium to bring to the forefront the state of our oceans. Click here to read Capt. Wilfred Bartlett, retired, letter 17:41
Hunger Strike: Day 11 – Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett taken from protest site in ambulance
Richard Gillett, on a hunger strike in front of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s, has been taken off site in an ambulance. Gillett, a fisherman and vice-president of the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), is in the 11th day of a hunger strike. Supporters applauded Gillett as paramedics took him from his tent on a stretcher and loaded him into the back of a waiting ambulance. Richard’s wife Joyce made the call to the ambulance. His father, John, said, “I got my son back.” He told CBC he didn’t want his son to embark on the hunger strike, but added, “He’s got his own conviction.” link 13:39 Ambulance takes hunger striking fisherman to hospital – Click here to read the story 13:44
Day 10; Hunger Strike of Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett – ‘Richard is very, very weak’
As Richard Gillett hits Day 10 of his hunger strike outside the Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s, his father wants him to stop it. His father, John Gillett, was standing outside in the misty rain on Saturday, with about 20 other protesters. “Richard is not doing well today. Richard is very, very weak,” said John Gillett. But, said John Gillett, somebody — “unfortunately, it’s my son” — has to stick up for the Newfoundland fishery. “This is a fish harvester who’s sick of kicking the can down the road and being bullied by the government, by DFO, and he’s going to be bullied out of the fishery just like a good many more people are.” (he’s right, you know. Set up to fail from poor fishery management.) click here to read the story 16:57
Newfoundland hunger strike Fisherman Richard Gillett speaks with federal fisheries minister
A spokeswoman for Dominic LeBlanc said the fisheries minister spoke with Richard Gillett for more than an hour on Thursday evening, covering a broad range of issues. Laura Gareau said the two agreed to speak again, adding that LeBlanc expressed concern for Gillett’s health, and urged him to make his health and family a priority. About three dozen protesters went to the federal fisheries office in St. John’s, N.L., on Thursday morning to show support for Gillett, who has been on a hunger strike since last Thursday. Gareau said LeBlanc also expressed concern that the protest prevented nearly 400 Department of Fisheries and Oceans employees from getting to work, interrupting their ability to serve fish harvesters across Newfoundland and Labrador. click here to read the story 00:50
Richard Gillett Stands Firm, Determined, while FISH-NL executive accuses DFO and FFAW of playing politics in fishery protest
Ryan Cleary says the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union are killing Richard Gillett with politics. “This guy is a rock, but he’s hurting now and they’re playing with his life,” the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador president said of the organization’s vice-president, who is now eight days into a hunger strike while camped outside the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre in St. John’s. Cleary was responding to a news release from the FFAW that he claims takes credit for the federal government’s decision to conduct a full assessment on northern cod stocks on an annual basis. (Ten yearold Lucas Wilkinson made the point it was important to show solidarity with Richard Gillett. click here to read the story! 21:54
Day 8: Richard Gillett hunger strike – Gillett joined by two-dozen supporters
As the eighth day Richard Gillett’s hunger strike began Thursday morning, he was joined by over two dozen of his fellow fish harvesters. While the demonstration was peaceful in nature, the protestors were stopping Department of Fisheries and Ocean Employees from entering the road leading the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre. There were few vehicles to impede, however, as DFO management had already planned a delayed opening and decided just after 8:30 a.m. to keep the building closed until noon. RNC officers were briefly on the scene to speak with Gillett and his supporters. click here to read the story 11:44
‘It’s breaking my heart’: Richard Gillett’s father among fishermen supporting hunger striker – click to read the story and a short video 13:27
Day 7 – Newfoundland Fisherman Richard Gillett says he’s prepared to die on hunger strike against Ottawa
Celebrity Newfoundland fisherman Richard Gillett hasn’t eaten for nearly a week, and says he’s prepared to die for his protest over fisheries management.Gillett starred three seasons on the reality TV series “Cold Water Cowboys,” but is now living in a tent at federal fisheries headquarters in St. John’s. He has slept there six nights and says he has consumed just water since starting his protest on Thursday. Gillett’s demands include a teleconference meeting with federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc and an independent review of science and management for all provincial fish stocks. His father, John Gillett, says his diabetic son has had past heart issues and, though he supports his cause, wants him to eat. A spokeswoman for LeBlanc says the minister is not available to discuss the hunger strike or other recent protests about the fishery. Link 15:47
Day 6 – The hunger strike of Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett continues
While Richard Gillett’s accommodations along the side of East White Hills Road have improved, his physical and mental state is headed in the other direction. Gillett, a Twillingate fisherman and vice-president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), is five days into a hunger strike outside the entrance to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre. He is protesting what he considers mismanagement of Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesting operations by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and its relationship with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union.,, Also on Monday, Gillett had a meeting with two representatives from DFO, a senior scientist and a member of senior management. The meeting, he says, was nothing more than “lip service” and an effort to gauge his level of determination and the expected turnout of supporters on Tuesday morning when federal employees return to work following the Easter long weekend. click here to read the story 10:50
Easter Sunday marks the fourth day of Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett’s hunger strike.
The vice-president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) set up camp in front of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans headquarters in St. John’s on Thursday. One of Gillett’s requests is a meeting with Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, to ask for an independent review of science and management at DFO. “Up until right now we haven’t heard anything from Minister LeBlanc,” Gillett said. Gillett said he thinks the fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador is close to extinction. click here to read the story 17:25
Hunger Strike – FISH-NL VP protesting outside DFO in St. John’s
The vice president of FISH-NL is camping outside the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s in protest. Richard Gillett, a fish harvester from Twillingate, says he will stay outside the building — without food and drinking only water — until his two demands are met. “I’m going to stay here as long as it takes to get a meeting with the minister of fisheries, and I’m prepared to go all the way on this one,” he said. Gillett is vice president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), a group of fishermen trying to break away from the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union. FISH-NL is seeking to be ratified as the bargaining agent for the province’s fish harvesters. Gillett is requesting a meeting with federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, and an independent review of the relationship between DFO and the FFAW. click here to continue reading the story 15:56
Twillingate Fisherman Richard Gillett enters Day 2 of hunger strike: ‘If I can’t fish, I’m no good to no one’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Friday, April 14th, 2017 – Richard Gillett, an inshore fish harvester from Twillingate and Vice-President of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), began a hunger strike Thursday afternoon on the grounds of DFO’s NL headquarters in St. John’s. Gillett’s demands include: a meeting with the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic LeBlanc, and his assurance of an independent review of DFO science/management; as well as an independent review of the relationship between DFO and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union. “Enough is enough,” says Gillett, “This is a desperate situation that needs to be looked into right now. The industry is in the worse mess it’s ever been in,” says Gillett, who’s been drinking only water since Thursday afternoon. “DFO science has been gutted and the management system we have today, when most of our fisheries are in crisis, is the same one that we had back in ’92 when the cod moratorium came down. And the FFAW, which is supposedly our union, stopped standing up for fishermen long ago and got in bed with DFO.” “If I can’t fish I’m no good to no one. I’m no good to myself. I’m no good to my family. I’m no good to my friends. I was meant to fish.” On Tuesday, April 11, Gillett, along with Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, travelled to Ottawa and met with five of NL’s Liberal MPs, including: Gudie Hutchings, Yvonne Jones, Ken McDonald, Scott Simms and Nick Whalen. The MPs called the meeting to discuss the current fisheries crisis. click here to read the press release, and FISH-NL’s presentation 08:26
