Natural Resources
December 20, 2006

Province Contributes Local Stone to Air India Memorial

A special piece of Newfoundland and Labrador has arrived in Toronto to form a section of an Air India Flight 182 disaster memorial to be unveiled next year.

�We are proud to be able to contribute to this important memorial,� said the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Natural Resources. �The senseless loss of so many lives touched people in this province and across the country and we join with the other provinces in paying tribute to the victims and their families.�

The province�s contribution is a 100 kg block of unique virginite stone. The green and white rock will join stones from the other Canadian provinces to form a sundial at the memorial site in Toronto, where approximately two-thirds of the victims resided.

The Toronto-area victims� families lobbied the three levels of government for the memorial. The City of Toronto is donating the land and project management expertise, while the Ontario and federal governments are also contributing to its estimated $400,000 cost. Memorial organizers asked each province to contribute a stone to the monument to reflect the country-wide impact of the 1985 bombing. All 329 people on board the Boeing 747 died when a terrorist bomb blew apart the airliner off the coast of Ireland. The flight was en route from Montreal to Delhi via London.

�This distinctive stone is a fitting gift from the people of the province,� the minister said. �It is a beautifully-coloured, hard and weather-resistant rock. It will form a lasting and heartfelt tribute to the victims of Air India Flight 182 and the loved ones they left behind.�

The virginite came from the Baie Verte area. It occurs in Newfoundland and Labrador in rocks that were part of the sea floor in an ancient ocean hundreds of millions of years ago. The province donated the stone and Meyer-Dunsworth Geological Consultants of Pasadena prepared and shipped it to City of Toronto for masonry work and installation.

Memorial organizers will unveil the monument June 23, 2007, the 22nd anniversary of the bombing.

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Media contact:
Tracy Barron
Director of Communications
Department of Natural Resources
709-729-5282, 690-1703
TracyBarron@gov.nl.ca

2006 12 20                                        10:05 a.m.


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