"I have written Minister Hearn to correct his public statements that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is not involved in discussions regarding the Atlantic Gateway and thus missing out on the opportunities associated with this venture," stated Minister Taylor. "Either Minister Hearn is misinformed or chooses to ignore the realities of our province�s on-going and extensive involvement in this file."

Recently, in the media, Minister Hearn has suggested that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is not involved in discussions regarding the Atlantic Gateway. Minister Taylor points out that not only is the Provincial Government involved, but it is active on high levels and is actually awaiting information from the federal government.

"When Premier Williams hosted the Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting in December of 2006 in St. John�s, this issue was discussed and premiers directed the development of a joint approach to a broadly-based Atlantic Gateway Strategy to take advantage of this opportunity to benefit each of the four provinces and Canada as a whole. A working group of officials from Atlantic provincial departments of transportation, Transport Canada and ACOA was subsequently established to work on this file," continued Minister Taylor. "This working group has held several meetings since that time. Outside of this committee, federal and provincial senior officials have also had discussions on this topic. As well, officials from our province participated in two symposia on this issue last month; one in St. John�s and the other in Halifax, on the same day. Further, officials from the Provincial Government attended the International Conference on Gateways and Corridors in Vancouver this past May."

The federal government announced in its 2007 Budget the creation of a seven-year, $2.1 billion national fund for gateways and border crossings. Federal Budget documents indicate funding is to be awarded on a "merit" basis and, that while the Atlantic gateway would be eligible for funding, a "new national gateway and trade corridor policy framework will help guide federal investment decisions."

"While our government will seek independent advice on this matter as necessary, I remind Minister Hearn that we anxiously await from Transport Canada the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors. We have been told this should be released before the end of this month, but we have not yet seen it. How can we determine how to access new gateway and trade corridor funding in the absence of this framework?" continued Minister Taylor. "In addition, an ACOA-commissioned study by InterVISTAS on this matter is still not complete. This study is intended to determine the benefits of a broadly-defined Atlantic Gateway to the entire region � which clearly would be of interest to us. I ask Minister Hearn to discuss these matters with his federal colleagues and ensure when he speaks in future on Newfoundland and Labrador�s role in the development of an Atlantic Gateway that he present factual information. It is the hope of the Provincial Government that with the support of our federal minister, Newfoundland and Labrador will realize just benefits from initiatives such as an Atlantic Gateway."

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