Residents of Black Tickle to Benefit from Air Travel Subsidy

The Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works, today announced that residents of Black Tickle, Labrador, will be entitled to the same air travel subsidy as was announced for residents of Williams Harbour yesterday.

�Just like Williams Harbour, the community of Black Tickle is on an island that is currently cut off from the Labrador mainland due to ice conditions that do not allow snowmobile travel,� said Minister Hedderson. �It is important, especially during the holiday season, that residents of Black Tickle are able to travel to and from their community and we are pleased to be offering the same assistance that we are offering to Williams Harbour.�

Effective immediately, government will pay 50 per cent of the cost of commercial airline travel between Black Tickle and Cartwright once a week. As is the case with the service announced for Williams Harbour, this subsidy will end as soon as ice conditions allow snowmobile travel to commence.

�I am pleased that we have been able to step up to address the unique transportation challenges of another isolated Labrador community,� said the Honourable John Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs. �We have demonstrated, time and again, our commitment to serving the transportation needs of the people of the province and this is just one more example of that commitment.�

- 30 -

Media contacts:

2009 12 22                                                   4:55 p.m.