THE RIGHT CHOICES Renewing Our Commitments to
Labrador
Mr. Speaker, one area of our province that is receiving
greater attention from our government is Labrador, a vast
frontier of promise. We are working cooperatively with the
Aboriginal people of Labrador and other Labradorians in an
effort to ensure that Labradorians are fully engaged in the
developments that lie ahead for the Big Land.
I already mentioned the Trans-Labrador Highway work and other
major initiatives that will be proceeding this year in Labrador.
We are also committing $325,000 to develop a comprehensive
Labrador Transportation Strategy to address the range of
challenges that Labradorians face. With the Trans-Labrador
Highway open in southern Labrador, we will open a depot to
enable summer and winter maintenance between Red Bay and Lodge
Bay and also extend the Straits ferry service by an additional
month.
We have provided funding of about $1.3 million to implement the
Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, which came into effect on
December 1, 2005.
We have also announced $1 million to commence an extension of
the College of the North Atlantic campus at Happy Valley-Goose
Bay, another $1 million to replace the facility at Labrador
West, $1.2 million toward a long-term health care facility for
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, $1.5 million for a new health centre in
Labrador West, and additional funding for a new dialysis unit at
Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
In light of the high rate of suicides in Aboriginal communities,
the province and Health Canada have discussed cost-sharing a
two-year, $240,000 suicide prevention initiative.
As part of our Poverty Reduction Strategy, we are providing
$100,000 to expand the Labrador coastal air foodlift subsidy by
a third, ensuring that residents can access nutritious food at a
reasonable price. We are also providing Supreme Court circuit
courts in Labrador coastal communities, expanding court security
at Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Wabush, funding Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder assessments at the Labrador Correctional
Centre and hiring a Senior Policy Analyst to research Aboriginal
translation services.
We are investing $100,000 to fund the Destination Labrador
tourism marketing campaign and committing a $1.9 million
provincial contribution to establish a performance space in
Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Together, our investments in Labrador this year total $60
million.
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