The provincial government will attempt again today to deliver the budget speech in the House of Assembly.
That’s despite the continued presence of angry fish harvesters who returned to Confederation Building this morning to protest the lack of progress with long-standing issues in their industry.
The decision to proceed today also comes amid a court injunction, served on protesters this morning, that prohibits the type of aggression and disruption that played out on Wednesday.
— YOUR VOCM (@590VOCM) March 21, 2024
Union leaders this morning repeatedly urged “self control” and a peaceful protest, insisting they were “incited” into aggressive behaviour yesterday by police and government officials.
The RNC, meanwhile, are also back on the scene this morning, with some in riot gear.
They also issued another traffic advisory for the area of Confederation Building ahead of today’s tentatively rescheduled budget speech.
It’s not clear yet if the budget will be delivered today.
Please be advised of potential traffic delays due to planned demonstrations today (Thursday) in the area of Confederation Building including Prince Philip Drive and Allandale Road. Motorists should make alternative arrangements and avoid the area if possible. #nltraffic pic.twitter.com/SymkuTbItG
— Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (@RNC_PoliceNL) March 21, 2024
Hundreds converged on the seat of government yesterday, triggering a police response that resulted in two people — a protester and a police officer — being treated for injuries.
The ruckus forced the government to postpone the planned delivery of the budget speech due to safety concerns.
By noon, lawyers were before a Supreme Court judge seeking an injunction prohibiting protesters from blocking the doors to Confederation Building, and “from causing a nuisance by intimidating, threatening or assaulting public employees.”
The temporary injunction was granted, with plans to proceed with the budget speech today, but whether protesters will co-operate remains to be seen. Some staff were seen arriving at Confederation Building with sleeping bags late Wednesday, to avoid facing protesters this morning.
Premier Andrew Furey told reporters yesterday that the violent actions and intimidation tactics are wrong under any circumstances, citing a confrontation involving his own communications director.
“Anyone who knows her knows that she can speak for herself, but the video I saw of someone pushing a staff member of mine is unacceptable in any environment — period — and won’t be tolerated,” he said.
Harvesters are demanding more processing licences to create more capacity in the industry, as well as opening up local markets to so-called free enterprise and access to buyers from outside the province.
Furey insists government is open to changes on each front, urging the FFAW to “please come to the table and work with us.”
“It’s not like we haven’t been responding,” he said. “We took action to try to come up with a creative formula that would limit that risk for harvesters. So, while it is a big task there’s nothing that is insurmountable and there is nothing that we don’t have the courage to take on, but we want to do it with the FFAW to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of harvesters.”
On the west coast, a large group of protestors have also gathered outside the Sir Richard Squires Building in Corner Brook.