Intergovernmental Affairs Minister discusses meetings in Ottawa

Tom Lush, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, was in Ottawa recently to meet with J.G. Van Hellenberg Hubar, Ambassador for the Netherlands; Marco Colombo, Ambassador of Italy and David Collenette, federal Minister of Transport.

"During this trip, I had the opportunity to meet with the ambassadors to discuss the continued participation of the Dutch and Italian Air Forces in NATO flight training at Goose Bay and to meet with Minister Collenette to discuss transport issues in the province," said Minister Lush. "I was particularly pleased with my meeting with Ambassador Van Hellenberg Hubar. Although the ambassador could make no commitment, I am hopeful that the Dutch Air Force will continue to fly at Goose Bay.

"The ambassador and I spent a great deal of time discussing the Goose Bay area and all it has to offer; in particular we discussed the possibility of the Dutch Air Force using the area to train with laser guided weapons. As the province is just concluding negotiations with the federal government to provide a practice target area for such training, this is an opportunity we will be exploring in the future."

During his meeting with federal Transport Minister David Collenette, Minister Lush reinforced points made by provincial Works, Services and Transportation Minister Percy Barrett and Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ernie McLean during an earlier meeting with Mr. Collenette in February of this year.

"I felt it was important to reiterate the need for funding for the Trans Labrador Highway and cost-shared agreements to improve the Trans Canada Highway and trunk roads in the province. These are our primary transportation issues and I felt it was important for Minister Collenette to understand our provincial position," said Minister Lush. "I was pleased when Minister Collenette assured me that highway transportation, and transportation in general, remains a high priority within the Government of Canada."

"I also informed Minister Collenette that the province has formed a cabinet committee on air policy to address air transport needs in the province. I conveyed to Minister Collenette that one of our main concerns in the high cost of air travel, in particular the Air Travelers Security Tax. I indicated that it is our hope as a committee that this tax will be completely eliminated as it, in combination with other air travel taxes and costs, can add as much as 50 per cent to the price of an airline ticket.  In a province such as Newfoundland and Labrador where we are heavily dependent on the airline industry, this sort of taxation can be crippling."

"Minister Collenette agreed that such a committee was very useful and indicated his department would soon be reviewing policy on regional and remote airport access to ensure continued service to those areas. Having has this initial meeting, I remain hopeful that this was the beginning of a meaningful dialogue on these important provincial transport issues."

Media contact: Janice Lockyer, Communications, (709) 729-1341.

2002 07 12                                 4:30 p.m.