Transportation and Works
Health and Community Services
Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs
Education
Environment and Conservation
Justice
Child, Youth and Family Services
Executive Council
Tourism, Culture and Recreation
Advanced Education and Skills
March 27, 2014

Backgrounder

Budget 2014 Investments for Labrador

The following investments, including those featured in other Budget 2014 announcements, continue to build upon the Northern Strategic Plan and to advance key priorities for Labrador.

Transportation and Works

• $76.3 million for widening and upgrading of phase two and three of the Trans Labrador Highway and $7.3 million for completion of the Labrador West to Happy Valley-Goose Bay portion of the Trans Labrador Highway, which will be completed in 2014; and,
• A request for proposals has been issued to secure a single contractor to provide comprehensive marine services to Labrador, over a 15-year term, commencing in 2016. This will include year-round passenger and vehicle services across the Strait of Belle Isle and seasonal passenger, freight and vehicle service to the north Labrador coast. The request for proposals closes on April 30, 2014.

Health and Community Services

• $13.3 million for the completion of the Labrador West Health Centre;
• $6.6 million towards the planning and construction for the 20-bed expansion of the long-term care facility in Happy Valley-Goose Bay; and,
• Enhancements to the Medical Travel Assistance Program will benefit Labradorians who incur costs when travelling for insured services not available in their region or within the province.‎ These enhancements will increase the monthly accommodations cap, change the reimbursement formula to reimburse 75 per cent of eligible expenses over $3,000 a year, increase the rate for private vehicle use and decrease the private vehicle kilometre threshold.

Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs

• $12 million to address important infrastructure priorities to be identified by the towns of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador City and Wabush. This funding will also support continued implementation of the Provincial Solid Waste Management Strategy through remediation of the Wabush incinerator site.

Education

• $6 million to continue reconstruction of William Gillett Academy in Charlottetown, Labrador. In the past 10 years, the Provincial Government has allocated close to $63 million for K-12 educational infrastructure in Labrador, including new schools in Port Hope Simpson, Sheshashiu, L’anse au Loup and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Environment and Conservation

• $3 million for the second phase of site remediation at the former United States military site in Hopedale. This funding is the beginning of a three year funding commitment of $6 million; and,
• $390,000 to continue to fund a monitoring and classification program for the George River Caribou Herd under the Labrador Caribou Initiative. By the end of 2016-17, a total of $975,000 will have been invested to gather data on the declining herd and develop a management plan in cooperation with the Government of Quebec.

Justice

• Almost $911,000 for the RCMP to add five new police officers to help make Labrador communities safer and more secure.

Child, Youth and Family Services

• An additional $308,000 to implement a new one-year mentoring team, as well as hire two new community service workers for the Innu Zone. This new mentoring team will consist of two seasoned social workers from other regions of the province who will travel to Labrador to provide direction on key social work practices, case management and clinical decision-making skills. The additional community service workers will further assist the department’s social work practice in the Innu Zone as they have a better understanding of the Innu culture and speak the Innu language;
• $200,000 to provide additional funding for travel to continue the newly implemented fly in-fly out approach, Community of Natuashish Service Enhancement Program. This new program is helping to ensure a more consistent presence of frontline social workers in the community, as well as more interaction with families; and,
• $280,000 to purchase housing in Hopedale for social work staff. Providing staff housing will help further strengthen the recruitment and retention of staff in this region.

Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs

• $351,000 to continue the Labrador Transportation Grooming Subsidy which maintains a quality winter snowmobile trail system connecting otherwise isolated coastal Labrador communities during the winter months;
• $100,000 in operational funding for the Combined Councils of Labrador;
• $50,000 to continue the Air Foodlift Subsidy which helps offset air freight costs on fresh milk and perishable food items shipped to isolated Labrador communities; and,
• $43,000 to enable youth delegates from Labrador to attend the annual Youth Council Convention.

Tourism, Culture and Recreation

• $730,000 for the Labrador Travel Subsidy to assist approximately 1,500 athletes, teams and individuals with travel to the island portion of the province to participate in athletic competitions and training camps. Athletes are able to gain support for attendance to provincial sport camps and training programs, while eligible sport teams can take advantage of funding to offset the cost of air travel; and,
• $50,000 for the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program which supports projects that preserve and protect Aboriginal practices and traditions throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The program was created to highlight the importance of safeguarding Aboriginal heritage and traditions, along with the value of passing them on to future generations.

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation

• $350,000 to support a partnership with the Nunatsiavut Government to assist low-income private homeowners in Nunatsiavut complete major renovations.

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Media contacts:

Scott Barfoot Director of Communications Department of Transportation and Works; Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs 709-729-3015, 690-6290 scottbarfoot@gov.nl.ca	Jennifer Tulk Director of Communications Department of Health and Community Services 709-729-1377, 728-4104 jennifertulk@gov.nl.ca
Hugh Donnan Director of Communications Department of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs 709-729-1983, 725-6511 hughdonnan@gov.nl.ca	Heather May Director of Communications Department of Education 709-729-0048, 697-5061 heathermay@gov.nl.ca
Deborah Thomas Director of Communications Department of Environment and Conservation 709-729-2575, 728-8092 deborahthomas@gov.nl.ca	Luke Joyce Director of Communications Department of Justice 709-729-6985, 725-4165 lukejoyce@gov.nl.ca
Michelle Hunt Director of Communications Department of Child, Youth and Family Services 709-729-5148, 725-1593 michellehunt@gov.nl.ca	Melony O’Neill Director of Communications Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation 709-729-0928, 689-0928 moneill@gov.nl.ca
John Tompkins Director of Communications Department of Advanced Education and Skills 709-729-0753, 728-7762 jtompkins@gov.nl.ca

2014 03 27                                  3:10 p.m.