Native elder ends hunger strike over Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project

CANADA

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, April 10, 2013 3:58PM EDT

Muskrat Falls, on the Churchill River in Labrador, is shown in a Feb., 2011 file photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly)

Text:

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. -- A 74-year-old aboriginal elder has ended his hunger strike in Labrador.

Todd Russell, president of the NunatuKavut Community Council, says James Learning has been released from police custody on an undertaking.

Learning, who has cancer, was protesting the construction of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in central Labrador.

He was arrested Friday for slowing traffic on a highway near the project.

Learning is a member of the council, which represents the Inuit-Metis of southern Labrador.

Russell, a former Liberal MP, was also arrested Friday.

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