Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
February 14, 2007

Minister Pleased with Progress Achieved at Northern Development Forum

Issues pertaining to northern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador received significant attention during the recent Northern Development Ministers� Forum (NDMF), and much progress was achieved in developing potential ways to address them. The Honourable Tom Rideout, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, attended the NDMF on behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The forum was held in Whitehorse, Yukon, February 7-9.

"As always, the NDMF provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the issues and opportunities facing Canada�s northern regions with my provincial, territorial and federal counterparts," said Minister Rideout. "While numerous topics were discussed, those related to education, employment, transportation and the promotion of northern tourism were of particular interest, since the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs has been focused on these and related ideas through various priority projects."

The province, in coordination with other jurisdictions, is currently involved in three priority projects that have been identified by the NDMF. Each project is aiming to find ways to strengthen the economies of northern regions, and the province views these projects as being particularly beneficial to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The three initiatives include the Education, Training and Employment Priority Project, which has a mandate to identify best practices in each province and territory that contribute to improved high school completion, improved access to post-secondary education and other training practices that increase opportunities for employment.

The other projects include the Northern Transportation Infrastructure Strategy Priority Project, which was initiated with the intent of developing a strategy for an inter-jurisdictional approach to addressing transportation issues in the north and the Northern Awareness Enhancement Campaign Priority Project, designed to create innovative ways to promote northern tourism.

"Each of our priority projects is moving along extremely well," said Minister Rideout. "At the forum, new direction was given for moving forward with each area. A report was submitted by the working group of the Education, Training and Employment Project outlining best practices for obtaining maximal education and employment opportunities. This report will now be distributed to various institutions throughout the province, including all College of the North Atlantic campuses and the Department of Education.

"Furthermore, the working group of the transportation project submitted a report that identifies common principles that could be used in inter-jurisdictional cooperation and within a national transportation strategy to guide northern transportation infrastructure investment. Our province will begin to put this report to work in the coming months as we work to enhance the transportation sector in northern regions of our province, particularly in Labrador."

Northern tourism will be promoted through a Web site created for the NDMF. In the coming months, Labrador will be strongly profiled on this site, with numerous pictures and other pertinent information that define the culture and heritage of the region.

Also in Whitehorse, Minister Rideout provided the forum with an overview of key issues in Labrador. These included proposed resource developments, aboriginal land claims, the Trans Labrador Highway and the Northern Strategic Plan for Labrador, among others.

"It was extremely important for me to have the opportunity to relate to the forum the key issues in our northern region," said Minister Rideout. "This allows those issues to be incorporated into new and existing priority projects developed through the NDMF."

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Media contact:
Lori Lee Oates
Director of Communications
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
709-729-3733, 690-8403

oatesll@gov.nl.ca 

2007 02 14                                                 3:15 p.m.
 


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