Letter Stating Procedure for Moving, ca. 1958


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PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND
OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

ST. JOHN'S

From time to time the Government receives requests for financial assistance to Individuals who wish to move their homes from one part of a settlement to another part of the same settlement, or from one settlement to a different settlement.

For hundreds of years it has been a common practice in Newfoundland for people to move their homes in this way. The Government never in the past helped people to do this, as it was always considered to be a private matter.

The Government, in the past three or four years, have worked out a policy in this matter and the policy is as follows:

The Government do not ask anyone to move away from where he is at the present time. But if all the people of a settlement, or all the people on an island, decide freely to move to another settlement or to the mainland of Newfoundland, and if they request assistance, the Government will give some financial assistance.

Please take special note of the fact that the Government do not ask any people to move. If the people decide themselves to move, without any request or suggestion from the Government, well and good but they must never be in a position to say that the Government asked them to move or suggested to them to move. The decision to move must be voluntary, and made with their own free minds.

The Government are definitely not willing to give any financial assistance or any other kind of assistance for people to move from a settlement, unless all the people of that settlement, are willing to move. If only some of the people move then conditions will be made much worse for the people who are left in the settlement, and that is why the Government do not help unless all the people decide to move.

The following procedure is recommended:

(1) If the people wish to move, they should call a public meeting amongst themselves and discuss the matter. If they decide not to move, that puts an end to the matter. If they decide to move, they should pass a resolution to that effect.

(2) They should send this resolution and the particulars to the Government and they should inform the Government that all of the people desire to move.

(3) The Government will then ask some official to visit the people and make sure that they really do want to move, and that all of the people want to move.

(4) If the Government is sure that all the people want to move, they will then arrange for help to be given to the people to move.



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