Islanders Send Governor Off to ‘Exile’ in Boat

Fishery workers quarreling with dockworkers on this tiny French territory marched the islands’ governor down to the waterfront, forced him into a boat and sent him off in “exile” to nearby Newfoundland.

But instead of going to the Canadian province as the angry mob ordered Wednesday, Prefect Gerard LeFebvre went to Miquelon, the larger but less-populous island in this barren, twin-island overseas territory of France.

In a statement broadcast in St. Pierre after he arrived in Miquelon, LeFebvre vowed not to quit his post “at the demand of a small group of disorderly people.”

In Paris, officials said LeFebvre was expected to return to St. Pierre “as the weather permits.” They added that a three-member mission from Paris is due to arrive on the islands Monday to try to settle the “extremely localized dispute” among the territory’s 6,000 residents.

Fishery workers were angry that LeFebvre has not taken a firm stand on who will unload a new canning ship--they or the island’s dockworkers. The dispute has cut off most supplies to the territory, which is 20 miles from Newfoundland.

LeFebvre suggested the dockers and fishery workers alternate or share unloading of the ship, the Bretagne, which is supposed to unload canned fish about six times a year, requiring about 12 dockhands to work about 20 hours.