Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T14:41:12.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Contentious Politics of Resettlement Programs: Evidence from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2019

Isabelle Côté Open the ORCID record for Isabelle Côté [Opens in a new window]  and
Yolande Pottie-Sherman
Isabelle Côté*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X9
Yolande Pottie-Sherman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X9
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: icote@mun.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Labelling resettlement programs as voluntary suggests that they cause little contention and are devoid of coercion. But is this representation accurate? Drawing on unpublished government documents and media reports, we provide a detailed case study of the Community Relocation Policy (CRP) of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) from 2009 to the present. We show that CRP has been fraught with contention due to the nature of the voting process and the slow and uncertain nature of the community-oriented consultative process. This article highlights the ways in which coercion has emerged from within the very communities considering resettlement, in addition to any coercion that might come from government officials.

Résumé

Résumé

Le fait que les programmes de réinstallation soient étiquetés comme volontaires laisse entendre qu'ils suscitent peu d'opposition et qu'ils n'impliquent aucune contrainte. Mais cette représentation est-elle exacte? S'appuyant sur des documents gouvernementaux inédits et des comptes rendus médiatiques, nous fournissons une étude de cas détaillée de la Community Relocation Policy (CRP) instaurée dans la province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (T.-N.-L.), de 2009 à aujourd'hui. Nous montrons que la CRP a été très controversée en raison de la nature du processus de vote, conjuguée à la lenteur et au caractère incertain du processus consultatif axé sur la communauté. Cette étude souligne que la coercition a émergé des communautés mêmes qui envisagent de se réinstaller, en plus d’émerger de leurs interactions avec les représentants du gouvernement.

Keywords

contentious politicsresettlementcoercionCanadaNewfoundlandLabrador
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 19 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ATIPP (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act). 2013. Request addressed to Department of Municipal Affairs, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, May 30. “Any and all communications to and from the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs relating to the closure or resettlement of any community within Newfoundland and Labrador for the period January 1, 2010 to April 10, 2013.”Google Scholar
ATIPP (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act). 2016. Request addressed to Department of Municipal Affairs, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, December 12. “All documentation and calculations related to the Cost Benefit Analysis for the community relocation of Snooks Arm, McCallum, Round Harbour, Williams Harbour, Nippers Harbour, AND Grand Bruit.”.Google Scholar
Baird, Ian G. and Shoemaker, Bruce. 2007. “Unsettling Experiences: Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in Laos.” Development and Change 38 (5): 865–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, Garrett. 2016. “NL Government Holds Line on 90% Threshold for Resettlement: Changes Coming to Relocation Policy in Newfoundland and Labrador.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, November 29.Google Scholar
Blake, Raymond B. 2015. Lions or Jellyfish: Newfoundland-Ottawa Relations since 1957. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bookman, Milica Z. 2002. Ethnic Groups in Motion: Economic Competition and Migration in Multiethnic States. Portland: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
CBC News. 2012. “Ceremony to Mark Forced Relocation of Inuit Village.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, August 15. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ceremony-to-mark-forced-relocation-of-inuit-village-1.1163442 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2013. “Resettlement Fund Given Huge Boost in Budget.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, March 26. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/resettlement-fund-given-huge-boost-in-budget-1.1320188 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2015. “Fate of Little Bay Islands Unknown after Close Resettlement Vote.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, November 12. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-close-resettlement-1.3315524 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2017. “William's Harbour Residents Agree to Relocate, Says Province.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, August 15. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/williams-harbour-labrador-1.4248007 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2019a. “Little Bay Islands Votes Unanimously to Resettle.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, February 14. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-unanimous-resettlement-vote-1.5019053 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2019b. “Little Bay Islands Residents to Relocate by Dec. 31st” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, September 12. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-relocation-agreement-1.5281048 (November 7, 2019).Google Scholar
Cook, Julia. 2016. “Resident of Little Bay Islands ‘Not Impressed’ by Changes to Relocation Policy.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, December 1.Google Scholar
Côté, Isabelle. 2014. “Internal Migration and the Politics of Place: A Comparative Analysis of China and Indonesia.” Asian Ethnicity 15 (1): 111–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CSD (Council for Social Development). 2008. Indian Social Development Report, 2008: Development and Displacement. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Earl, Jennifer, Andrew, Martin, McCarthy, John D. and Soule, Sarah A.. 2004. “The Use of Newspaper Data in the Study of Collective Action.” Annual Review of Sociology 30: 65–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federal-Provincial Resettlement Program. n.d. Community Consolidation Program, First Resettlement Agreement (1965–1970) and Second Resettlement Agreement (1970–1975).Google Scholar
Gebre, Yntiso D. 2002. “Contextual Dimension of Migration Behaviors: The Ethiopian Resettlement in Light of Conceptual Constructs .” Journal of Refugee Studies 15 (3): 265–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Given, Lisa M., ed. 2008. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. Vols. 1 & 2). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glasius, Marlies. 2018. “What Authoritarianism Is … and Is Not: A Practice Perspective.” International Affairs 94 (3): 515–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2013. Community Relocation Policy. Department of Municipal Affairs.Google Scholar
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2016. Evacuated Communities Act.Google Scholar
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2019. Community Relocation Policy, FAQ. Department of Municipal Affairs.Google Scholar
Grant, Shelagh D. 2016. “Errors Exposed”: Inuit Relocations to the High Arctic, 1953–1960. Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security No. 8.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Lawrence C., Saito, Kei, Loring, Phillip A., Lammers, Richard B. and Huntington, Henry P.. 2016. “Climigration? Population and Climate Change in Arctic Alaska.” Population and Environment 38 (2): 115–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howells, Laura. 2015. “Resettlement Policy Needs Reform: McCallum Resident.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, June 8.Google Scholar
Hurley, Cory. 2013. “Everybody in George's Cove Wants to Resettle: A Survey.” Western Star, May 24.Google Scholar
Kassymbekova, Botakoz. 2011. “Humans as Territory: Forced Resettlement and the Making of Soviet Tajikistan, 1920–38.” Central Asian Survey 30 (3–4): 349–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kean, Gary. 2009. “Decision Time: Residents Offered up to $100,000 to Relocate.” Western Star, September 24.Google Scholar
King, Madaline. 2017. “A Tribe Faces Rising Tides: The Resettlement of Isle de Jean Charles.” LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources 6 (1): 295–317.Google Scholar
Loo, Tina. 2019. Moved by the State: Forced Relocation and Making a Good Life in Postwar Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Lyall, Angus. 2017. “Voluntary Resettlement in Land Grab Contexts: Examining Consent on the Ecuadorian Oil Frontier.” Urban Geography 38 (7): 958–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, Lenore T. and Ford, Michelle. 2007. “Where Internal and International Migration Intersect: Mobility and the Formation of Multi-Ethnic Communities in the Riau Islands Transit Zone.” International Journal on Multicultural Societies 9 (2): 236–63.Google Scholar
MacDonald, Michael. 2002. “Davis Inlet Exodus to Begin.” Globe and Mail, December 9.Google Scholar
Maldonado, Julie K., Shearer, Christine, Bronen, Robin, Peterson, Kristina and Lazrus, Heather. 2013. “The Impact of Climate Change on Tribal Communities in the US: Displacement, Relocation, and Human Rights.” Climatic Change 120 (3): 601–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Terry. 2001. “Stalinist Forced Relocation Policies: Patterns, Causes, Consequences.” In Demography and National Security, ed. Weiner, Myron and Russell, Sharon S.. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Mather, Charlie. 2013. “From Cod to Shellfish and Back Again? The New Resource Geography and Newfoundland's Fish Economy.” Applied Geography 45: 402–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, Ralph D. 1970. “Communities in Transition: An Examination of Government Initiated Community Migration in Rural Newfoundland.” Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Matthews, Ralph D. 1978. “The Smallwood Legacy: The Development of Underdevelopment in Newfoundland 1949–1972.” Journal of Canadian Studies 13 (4): 89–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mügge, Liza M. 2016. “Bridging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide in Comparative Migration Studies: Newspaper Data and Political Ethnography in Mixed Method Research.” Comparative Migration Studies 4 (1): 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver-Smith, Anthony. 1991. “Involuntary Resettlement, Resistance and Political Empowerment.” Journal of Refugee Studies 4 (2): 132–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pottie-Sherman, Yolande and Wilkes, Rima. 2017. “Does Size Really Matter? On the Relationship between Immigrant Group Size and Anti-immigrant Prejudice.” International Migration Review 51 (1): 218–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, Leigh Anne. 2019. “Little Bay Islands Gets $10M to Cover Resettlement Tab.” CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, April 19.Google Scholar
Ramos, Howard and Rodgers, Kathleen. 2015. Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Rosegrant, Jane K. 2002. “Rural Resettlement Ireland: An Example of Assisted Counterstream Migration, Its Impact on Participants and Communities.” PhD dissertation. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Schmidt-Soltau, Kai and Brockington, Dan. 2007. “Protected Areas and Resettlement: What Scope for Voluntary Relocation?” World Development 35 (12): 2182–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Telegram. 2016. “Q&A: One Resident's Thoughts on a Failed Bid to Resettle Newfoundland Community.” January 27.Google Scholar
Thomas, Brodie. 2010. “Resettlement: Last Residents Leave Grand Bruit.” Telegram, July 15.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles and Tarrow, Sidney G.. 2007. Contentious Politics. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.Google Scholar
Tirtosudarmo, Riwanto. 2001. “Demography and Security: Transmigration Policy in Indonesia.” In Demography and National Security, ed. Weiner, Myron and S, Sharon. Russell. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Turnbull, Sarah. 2015. “Using Access to Information Requests to Gather Qualitative Data.” University of Oxford, Faculty of Law, April 6. https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/centres-institutes/centre-criminology/blog/2015/04/using-access-information-requests-gather.Google Scholar
Vanclay, Frank. 2017. “Project-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: From Impoverishment Risks to an Opportunity for Development?” Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 35 (1): 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walby, Kevin and Larsen, Mike. 2011. “Getting at the Live Archive: On Access to Information Research in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 26 (3): 623–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, Myron. 1978. Sons of the Soil: Migration and Ethnic Conflict in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Wilmsen, Brooke and Wang, Mark. 2015. “Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement in China: A False Dichotomy?” Development in Practice 25 (5): 612–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilmsen, Brooke and Webber, Michael. 2017. “Mega Dams and Resistance: The Case of the Three Gorges Dam, China.” In Demanding Justice in the Global South: Claiming Rights, ed. Grugel, Jean, Singh, Jewellord Nem, Fontana, Lorenza and Uhlin, Anders. Springer International.Google Scholar
Withers, George. 2016. “Reconstituting Rural Communities and Economies: The Newfoundland Household Resettlement Program, 1965–1970.” PhD dissertation, Memorial University of Newfoundland.Google Scholar
Wright, Miriam C. 2001. A Fishery for Modern Times: The State and the Industrialization of the Newfoundland Fishery, 1934–1968. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xue, Longyi, Wang, Mark Y. and Xue, Tao. 2013. “‘Voluntary’ Poverty Alleviation Resettlement in China.” Development and Change 44 (5): 1159–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar