Port Burwell, Labrador

Canadian News Digest
Sunday, September 27, 1998
By The Canadian Press
Military chopper crew was green, poorly trained: crash report

HALIFAX (CP) -- A military helicopter crashed into the sea off the northern tip of Labrador because the gung-ho crew was green and poorly trained, an investigation concludes.

The four crew on the twin-engine Griffon were on a rescue mission but had to be rescued themselves when the aircraft hit the frigid sea and sank on Nov. 12, 1996. Two of them nearly succumbed to the severe cold before the team was picked up 34 hours after the crash.

A newly released report places blame on the inexperienced pilots, who misread their altitude by relying too much on night vision goggles while flying through a snow squall. They also fumbled the setting on a device that warns when an aircraft is flying too low.

The single-rotor Griffon struck the ocean and flipped upside down in the dark near Port Burwell, forcing the crew to exit underwater. Dressed poorly, the four hiked through frigid temperatures for 12 hours, then huddled in a dilapidated shack for another day before rescue.

The final crash report, dated May 30, says the crew was so poorly trained they should never have even attempted the rescue mission.

A military report blames the crash of a CH-146 Griffon helicopter in the Arctic two years ago on the inexperienced pilots (see Vol. 15, No. 11-12, pp. 14-15). The report says the pilots misread their altitude by relying too much on night vision goggles while flying through a snow squall. They also fumbled he setting on a device that warns when an aircraft is flying too low. The Griffon, which was on a rescue mission, struck the ocean and flipped upside down in the dark near Port Burwell, The four-man crew, which had to exit underwater and then hike for 12 hours through frigid temperatures, were rescued. The report says the crew were so poorly trained they should never have attempted the rescue mission. It says, "this accident can be directly attributed to a lack of supervision at several levels." Investigators made 44 recommendations, most of them focussing on better training and preparation. (Canadian Press article by Dean Beeby taken off the Internet: Sept. 28/98; CH: Sept. 28/98, p. A8)

"Canadian maritime aviation: requiem or renaissance?" by Col (ret.) Ernest Cable, in Canadian Defence Quarterly: Summer 1998, pp. 12-19.

Helicopter crash - 1996

A four-man Griffon helicopter crew from Goose Bay, Labrador was trying to make its way to Frobisher Bay to take Alookie to hospital, when it crashed off the coast of Labrador near the abandoned Killiniq/Port Burwell settlement on 12 November 1996. The four men swam to shore and then hiked about four kilometres to a fuel cache where they sheltered themselves in a crude, tarp covered shack. They used fuel to start a fire to keep themselves warm.

Meanwhile, the original Hercules aircraft from Greenwood, plus an Aurora from Greenwood and other military planes joined in a search Wednesday but their efforts were hampered by poor visibility. At 5 a.m. Thursday, spotters aboard the Aurora saw four flares fired from Killiniq and they dropped two SARtechs who walked about 2 km to where the helicopter crew had sheltered themselves.

About 36 hours after they crashed, the four men were hoisted aboard a helicopter and taken to Kuujjuaq for medical treatment. Two crew members returned to Goose Bay, Labrador, and the other two were medevacked to Montreal. The men were treated for injuries from their sudden impact with the water, including cuts and bruises, whiplash, and lower back pain. Some men had damage to their respiratory system, partly from inhaling the smoke and fumes from the fuel they lit to keep themselves warm.

"What are you going to do? You've got to build a fire no matter what the fuel is," said Lieutenant Commander Glenn Chamberlain from the Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax. First Officer Captain Wade Pelly, 25, lost his boot while swimming ashore after the crash and had serious frostbite on his foot. Doctors are now trying to save his foot. The other crew members were pilot Captain Karim Krey, flight engineer Sgt. Scott McCoy, and Master Cpl. Andre Daigle, a search and rescue technician.

Relocation of the Inuit - 1978

As late as 1978, the people of Killiniq — or Port Burwell — were dispersed throughout northern Quebec after the government of the Northwest Territories closed their community against the wishes of the community. As an example there is a community on the other side of the boundary, Kangiqsualujjuaq, which has a large segment of dislocated people from the former community of Killinek, Port Burwell, who were removed against their will by the Government of the Northwest Territories in 1978.

A Treaty is Signed - 1976

The Quebec and Canadian governments sign the Northeastern Quebec Agreement with the Naskapis and Inuit of Port Burwell. Much of the recent work in native name restoration has been undertaken by the Commission de toponymie du Québec to reflect more closely the usage of the Inuit. An example was Port Burwell which was changed to Killiniq by the Quebec commission, although the community, since abandoned, was in the Northwest Territories.

Complementary Agreement No. 2

Between

The GRAND COUNCIL OF THE CREES (OF QUEBEC), a corporation duly incorporated, acting on its own behalf, on behalf of the James Bay Crees and on behalf of the Cree Bands of Fort George, Old Factory, Eastmain, Rupert House, Waswanipi, Mistassini, Nemaska and Great Whale River, and represented by its undersigned authorized representatives,

and

The NORTHERN QUEBEC INUIT ASSOCIATION, a corporation duly incorporated, acting on its own behalf, on behalf of the Inuit of Quebec and the Inuit of Port Burwell, and represented by its undersigned authorized representatives,

and

Le GOUVERNEMENT DU QUEBEC (hereinafter referred to as "Quebec"), represented by the ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales, the Honourable Claude Morin, and by the ministre des Richesses naturelles, the Honourable Yves Berube, acting on behalf of Quebec,

and

La SOCIETE D'ENERGIE DE LA BAIE JAMES, a corporation duly incorporated with its head office in Montreal, Quebec, represented by Robert A. Boyd, President, acting on behalf of the said corporation,

and

La SOCIETE DE DEVELOPPEMENT DE LA BAIE JAMES, a corporation duly incorporated with its head office in Montreal, Quebec, represented by Charles Boulva, President, acting on behalf of the said corporation, and

La COMMISSION HYDROELECTRIQUE DE QUEBEC (HYDROQUEBEC), a corporation duly incorporated with its head office in Montreal, Quebec, represented by Robert A Boyd, President, acting on behalf of the said corporation,

and

The GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, (hereinafter referred to as "Canada"), represented by the Minister of Indians Affairs and Northern Development, the Honourable J Hugh Faulkner, acting on behalf of Canada,

WHEREAS by agreement dated September 22, 1977 the parties hereto agreed to execute a supplementary agreement amending the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (hereinafter called the "Agreement");

AND WHEREAS the Agreement came into force on October 31, 1977.

Now, therefore, the parties hereto agree as follows:

1. The first paragraph of Sub-Section 2.3 of the Agreement is amended by replacing the words "and in Canada" in the 6th line thereof by the words "and in Quebec" so that the said Sub-Section 2.3 shall read as follows:

2.3 In consideration of the rights and benefits herein set forth in favour of the Inuit of Port Burwell who are ordinarily resident of Killinek Island. the Inuit of

Port Burwell hereby cede, release, surrender and convey all their Native claims, rights, titles and interests, whatever they may be, in and to land in the Territory and in Quebec, and Quebec and Canada accept such surrender.

Quebec and Canada, the James Bay Energy Corporation, the James Bay Development Corporation and the Quebec Hydro-Electric Commission (Hydro-Quebec) to the extent of their respective obligations as set forth herein, hereby give, grant, recognize and provide to the Inuit of

Port Burwell the rights, privileges and benefits specified herein, the whole in consideration of the said cession, release, surrender and conveyance mentioned in this paragraph.

For purposes of the Agreement a person of Inuit ancestry who was or will be born on that part of Killinek Island within the Northwest Territories shall be deemed to have been born or to be born in Quebec, or if such person is ordinarily resident in Port Burwell he shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in Quebec.

The provisions of the Agreement as set forth in Section 3 (Eligibility), Section 6 (Land Selection-Inuit of Quebec), Section 7 (Land Regime Applicable to the Inuit), Section 23 (Environment and Future Development - North of the t Parallel), Section 24 (Hunting, Fishing and Trapping), Section 25 (Compensation and Taxation) and Section 27 (Inuit Legal Entities) shall apply to the Inuit of Port Burwell and for the purposes of such Sections the Inuit community of Port Burwell shall be deemed to be and "Inuit community". Notwithstanding the foregoing the Inuit of Port Burwell shall not be included in paragraph 3.2.4 for the purpose of calculating the division of compensation as provided in paragraph 25.4.1.

Canada or the Government of the Northwest Territories, as the case may be, will continue to be responsible for providing programs and services to the Inuit who are ordinarily resident in Port Burwell in accordance with criteria may be established from time to time.

2. Sub-Section 2.6 of Section 2 of the Agreement is amended by deleting therefrom the words "and the native claims, rights, title and interest of the Inuit of Port Burwell in Canada" so that the said Sub-Section 2.6 shall read as follows:

2.6 The federal legislation approving, giving effect to and declaring valid the Agreement shall extinguish all native claims, rights, title and interests of all Indians and all Inuit in and to the Territory, whatever they may be.

3. The first paragraph of paragraph 25.1.16 of Section 25 of the Agreement is amended by replacing the said first paragraph by the following:

The Inuit of Quebec shall receive from Canada for the Inuit of Port Burwell an additional sum of forty-four per cent (44%) of the sum arrived at by multiplying one hundred and fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) by the fraction obtained by dividing eighty-five (85) by the aggregate number of persons eligible under paragraphs 3.2.1 a) and 3.2.4.

4. The present amendments shall take effect retroactively from November 11, 1975.

5. The present Complementary Agreement NO. 2 shall come into force when the decree and the proclamation contemplated in the laws of Canada (S. C.1976, c. 32) and Quebec (L. Q.1976, c. 46) approving, giving effect to end declaring valid the Agreement are both in force.