Minister to attend Council of Ministers� meeting

Tom Rideout, Minister of Transportation and Works, will attend the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Transportation in Quebec City, Quebec, on September 23.

Minister Rideout said, "I recently held a meeting with Jean-C. Lapierre, federal transport minister, and attended the Atlantic transportation ministers� meeting in Prince Edward Island. Both were occasions to discuss the opportunities ahead for our province, as well as communicate our vision for a renewed Newfoundland and Labrador."

Planned items for discussion include flexibility in federal funding programs for highway infrastructure, the National Highway system, federal transfer of ports, the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Marine Act.

"Our federal-provincial cost-sharing agreements for roads are coming to an end. Increased flexibility in these funding agreements was an issue raised when I met with Minister Lapierre and at the meeting of the Atlantic transportation ministers. I plan to raise this issue once again as new agreements are important to the province in terms of rehabilitating our current infrastructure and building on the enormous potential that exists within our province," said the minister.

"In addition, my Atlantic counterparts unanimously agreed that there had to be continued support for the operation of ferries as a vital transportation link in the region. I also received the support of my Atlantic colleagues regarding Marine Atlantic rates. Our marine highway system and its continued existence is essential in our plan to achieve economic and fiscal health for the province."

"With the assistance of the federal government on these and other issues, we plan to turn things around and take the province in a new, positive direction, one that will grow the economy and create jobs," said Minister Rideout. "I look forward to meeting with my provincial counterparts and the federal minister to discuss these issues, as they are significant to future transportation initiatives in our province."

Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, Communications, (709) 729-3015 or (709) 690-8403

2004 09 22                       11:00 a.m.