News Releases
Government Home Search Sitemap Contact Us  

NLIS 6
February 27, 2006
(Transportation and Works)
 

Government announces Minister�s Advisory Committee on Labrador Transportation

Trevor Taylor, Minister of Transportation and Works and John Hickey, MHA, Lake Melville, announced the formation of the Minister�s Advisory Committee on Labrador Transportation, during a news conference this afternoon at the offices of the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

A nine-member committee has been established to make recommendations on how best to address future Labrador transportation needs.

"The committee will provide government with a thorough understanding of the unique issues relating to transportation in Labrador, from a resident�s perspective," said Minister Taylor.

"This is a time of tremendous opportunity and transition for the transportation infrastructure in Labrador. Over the next decade, large amounts of public monies will be spent in Labrador, a region which is a priority of government. The ministerial advisory committee will be instrumental in advising government as we move forward to address issues such as those associated with the Trans Labrador Highway, the Labrador marine service and air transportation."

Government recognizes that the completion of the Trans Labrador Highway in 2009 will dramatically alter the region�s transportation network, said Minister Taylor. "It�s important that we immediately address all elements of the Labrador transportation infrastructure, including our roads and air and marine service. I look forward to meeting with the committee members in the near future and receiving their input. Then we can move ahead with the development of an optimum strategy to meet the transportation requirements of the people of Labrador."

Mr. Hickey says the committee members are all esteemed citizens in their respective communities and throughout Labrador. "I�m confident this well-respected team will take a detailed approach when studying these transportation issues. As Labradorians, they are directly impacted and therefore will provide insight and awareness," said Mr. Hickey.

The committee members are: Carol Burden (Port Hope Simpson), Rick Lewis (Happy Valley-Goose Bay), Janice Pike (Happy Valley-Goose Bay), Jim Farrell (Wabush), Myles O�Brien (L�Anse au Loup), Bridget Andersen (Makkovik), Wade Dyson (Cartwright), Jim Lyall (Nain) and Ben Michel (Sheshatshiu).

As part of government�s consultation process, the first task of the committee members will be to review three studies which have already been undertaken on a Southern Labrador Regional Airport, marine base freight rates and passenger fares, as well as marine services. These reports will be made available to the advisory committee, and in the coming weeks will also be accessible to the general public on the Transportation and Works Web site. These studies will eventually feed into a greater Labrador Transportation Strategy.

The first meeting of the committee is expected to take place within the next 30 days.

Media contact: David Salter, Communications, (709) 729-3015, 691-3577

ADVISORY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHIES

Carol Burden, Port Hope Simpson
Ms. Burden is the manager of the Alexis Hotel in Port Hope Simpson and is also employed contractually with Corrections Canada. Her past work experience includes nursing, employment counseling and product development and marketing. She has also volunteered with various development associations, recreation committees, the local town council, health and tourism boards and the Children�s Wish Foundation.

Ms. Burden has studied business management, hotel and motel management and has attended Memorial University and Mount St. Vincent University. Ms. Burden is currently working on a tourism and hospitality management degree.

Richard (Rick) Lewis, Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Mr. Lewis is a self-employed businessman and resident of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. He owns and operates Lewis Concrete Forming Ltd. which is based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay with projects extending throughout Labrador. He is very involved as a volunteer and a participant with sports and recreation in his community and is a board member of the Labrador Winter Games and vice-president of the Labrador Snowmobile Racing Association.

Mr. Lewis completed a technical diploma in surveying at the Cabot Institute of Applied Arts and Technology in St. John�s.

Janice Pike, Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Ms. Pike is Labrador regional facilitator with the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE). In that role, she provides direction to women entrepreneurs and women interested in business, in Labrador.

A graduate of Keyin College - with a diploma in business management - Ms. Pike has worked with the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, which provided an opportunity to gain exposure to municipal, provincial, industry and economic development issues in Labrador.

Ms. Pike is a member of various committees and boards including: the Labrador Lake Melville Tourism Association, the Central Labrador Economic Development Board, the Labrador Craft Marketing Agency and the 2006 Labrador Winter Games.

Jim Farrell, Wabush
Mr. Farrell is mayor of Wabush, western vice president of the Combined Councils of Labrador and chairperson of the Healthy Communities Coalition.

Mr. Farrell retired from Wabush Mines in 1991 and previously worked as a teacher and with the Northern Transportation Company in Edmonton.

A member of various service clubs and fraternal organizations, Mr. Farrell is also a board member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities Pension and Benefits Program and a board member of the Municipal Training and Development Corporation.

Myles O�Brien, L�Anse au Loup
Myles O�Brien is the longtime owner and operator of O�Brien�s Sales and Service Ltd. in L�Anse au Loup and former owner and operator of Eagle River Rent-A-Car.

Mr. O�Brien is very active in his community, serving as a town councilor, a member of the L�Anse au Loup Harbour Authority, the St. Paul�s Elementary School Council and a volunteer with the local minor hockey association. Mr. O�Brien is also a former member of the local volunteer fire department.

Bridget Andersen, Makkovik
Bridget Andersen is a ticket agent for the Innu Mikun/Provincial Airlines, Makkovik.

Ms. Andersen is a former teacher, fisherwoman (operating her own boat and gear), dental assistant, president of the Torngat Fish Producers Co-operative, personal care attendant at the Grenfell Regional Health Services clinic, and bookkeeper and office manager at the Adlavik Inn.

Ms. Andersen has been a volunteer with the local recreation, crime prevention and recycling committees, the hospital auxiliary, the local craft council and recently organized a community composting group.

Wade Dyson, Cartwright
Wade Dyson has been involved in the fishing industry since his teens. Three years ago, Mr. Dyson and his wife opened a local restaurant and they are also co-owners of a motel and pub in the area.

Over the years, Mr. Dyson has served his community as town councilor, deputy mayor, chair of the local recreation committee, director of the local development association, president of the local fisherman�s committee and training officer with the army cadet corp.

Jim Lyall, Nain

Mr. Jim Lyall is a budget analyst with the Nunatsiavut Government and an active advocate for his community in which he was lived since 1956.

He has served his community as mayor and town councilor, chair of the North Coast Transportation Committee (a government advisory group for transportation issues on the north coast of Labrador) and as a member of various committees of the Labrador Inuit Association.

Ben Michel, Sheshatshiu
For approximately 30 years, Ben Michel has been advocating for Innu rights. And for the past decade or more, Mr. Michel has been sitting at negotiation tables, representing the Innu Nation in comprehensive land rights negotiations with the Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador. He became president of the Innu Nation in 2004.

2006 02 27                            3:15 p.m.


SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement