Through the Northern Strategic Plan, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador works closely with the people of Labrador to improve social and economic circumstances throughout this vast and diverse region. Today, as Minister of Labrador Affairs, it is my pleasure to provide a progress update on the NSP through the release of our mid-term report.

This report chronicles a record of unprecedented investment in Labrador since the launch of the plan in April 2007. These investments are helping to build the Trans Labrador Highway, a hospital and a college campus in Labrador West, and K-12 schools in Port Hope Simpson and L'Anse au Loup and enhanced winter trail infrastructure for coastal communities. They are funding programs and services, including an energy rebate for isolated coastal communities, an energy efficiency pilot project in coastal Labrador, a pilot project for year-round ferry service to the island, the Medical Transportation Program, the Labrador Travel Subsidy, and the Cultural Travel Subsidy.

The NSP is a five-year progressive strategy aimed to improve the lives of Labradorians through social and economic stimulus investments, including a record investment of more than $135 million in the current fiscal year. This mid-term report presents an important snapshot of the evolution of the NSP and initiatives that will be spearheaded in the coming years.

This report deals with accomplishments that have taken place up until fall 2009. Since then we have marked a number of additional milestones. Most notably the historic opening of Phase III of the Trans Labrador Highway, connecting Labrador West, through Lake Melville, to Southern Labrador, which will cost approximately $138 million when completed. Other achievements include the opening of a francophone school in Happy Valley Goose Bay, the establishment of a boundary for the Mealy Mountain National Park Reserve, and, the initialing of formal documents for the New Dawn Agreement reached between the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Innu Nation.

Groups and individuals across Labrador continue to help shape the Northern Strategic Plan. In April, a series of meetings in communities throughout Labrador are planned to provide updates on the NSP.

We will be making published copies of the NSP mid-term report available to the public in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I invite people to view our report online at the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs website.