At present, the bays where Williams Harbour and Norman Bay are located are relatively ice free. This means there is enough open water to operate a ferry. However, the ferry M.V. Challenge 1, which serves these communities, is not available until the scheduled start of the service in early June.

So that the good people of Norman Bay and Williams Harbour can conduct business and ship freight, the Department of Transportation and Works has responded to their call for interim service. We are providing a weekly grant of $1,500 so two local vessels can operate up to two times a week, weather and ice permitting, between those communities and Port Hope Simpson and Charlottetown.

This temporary service will remain in effect until the forces of mother nature allow the M.V. Challenge 1 to reach these ports.

This government has taken a proactive approach to ferry service in this province, as we are currently in the midst of a vessel replacement strategy. In addition to building new ferries, we are reducing costs to users.

In March, this government reduced passenger and vehicle-plus-driver fares on provincial ferries to bring them in line with road equivalency costs. We also cancelled the five per cent, across the board, rate increase for all fares that was scheduled to take effect April 1. This initiative is the first phase of our ferry rate review and the annual cost to government will approach $1.5 million.  Phase II will focus on commercial vehicle and freight rates. Government will gather further data on commercial traffic and freight rates, further analyze the consumer impact of changes and develop criteria for the design of a new commercial vehicle/freight rate schedule. Phase II will take about a year to complete.  

This government is committed to the people of Labrador and those who rely on ferry travel and we will do whatever we can to provide services they need and deserve.

2007 05 23                                                   2:20 p.m.