Elder Calvin White of Flat Bay wants to set the record straight regarding allegations that he personally benefitted from a moose quota that the Federation of Newfoundland Indians received in the 1980s.
He said in a prepared release that what he terms as “slanderous and defamatory” remarks about C. White, a Flat Bay outfitter, are showing up on Facebook threads with no names attached.
White said the outfitting business he owned was never owned by the Federation of Newfoundland Indians and none of the big game licences associated with his business were ever owned by the FNI.
He said he purchased a big game hunting camp around 1987 from Harvey Sheppard without any involvement or financial assistance from the FNI.
Outfitting camps have set quotas. Licence allocations are managed by the Provincial Wildlife Department. He saidhis purchase of Sheppard’s camp gave him a set quota.
His pilot at the time was Angus Wentzell, who mentioned his intention to sell five of his camps with a quota of 120 licences.
“I advised the then Bay St. George Regional Band of the business opportunity, who obtained several outfitting camps and operated under a development corporation known as Deer Pond Camps Limited,” White said.
He said he assisted the regional band in the development of a business plan and in identifying potential funding sources and said this was the end of his involvement.
“I refused to even act as an adviser to the board of directors of Deer Pond Camps Limited because of perceived conflict of interest,” White said.
He said after a number of years of unsuccessful operation, the Department of Wildlife clawed back the moose licences under a “use them or lose them” policy resulting in Deer Pond Camps Ltd. having a small number of caribou licences, which, he said, made the operation unattractive to clients who were interested in camps that also had moose licences.
He was told Deer Pond Camps Ltd., in early 2000s, divested its assets by selling them back to Wentzell and dividing the money between the Bay St. George bands.
White said Deer Pond Camps Ltd. is listed by the register of companies as being dissolved prior to 2004.
He said the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, to the best of his knowledge, has never given or allocated the FNI any big game quotas.
White said this misrepresentation of facts on Facebook about him leaves him a couple of options.
As an aboriginal person who believes in aboriginal justice, he said a public apology from his accusers would help correct the hurt they are trying to inflict.
“With or without an apology, if these defamatory allegations continue I will be forced to refer the matter to the justice system and individuals making them will be challenged to bring forth evidence to substantiate their allegations,” White said.
He said his and others’ knowledge of the events at the time, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador records and corporate records of the FNI, the regional band and Deer Pond Camps Ltd. demonstrate these allegations have no basis and are fabricated.
The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agrifoods was contacted on the issue of whether there were any big game licences issued to the FNI, but at deadline there was still no answer on that question.
