MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today to present a petition on behalf of the people of my District of Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair.

Mr. Speaker, this petition is one in a series of petitions being circulated throughout communities across Labrador. It is actually from all Labrador communities. It just so happens that the ones I have today are from my district.

Mr. Speaker, I will read the prayer of the petition into the record:

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Trans-Labrador Highway is a vital, important lifeline for the Labrador communities, providing access, generating economic activity, and allowing residents to obtain health care and other public services; and

WHEREAS Route 510 and connecting branch roads of the Trans-Labrador Highway are unpaved, in deplorable condition, and are no longer suitable and safe for the traffic volumes that travel this route; and

WHEREAS Labrador cannot afford to wait years or decades for upgrading and paving of their essential transportation route;

WHEREUPON the petitioners urge the House of Assembly and ask the government to provide additional funding for much-needed improvements to Route 510 and connecting branch roads of the Trans-Labrador Highway.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, the people in Labrador in the last year have seen a tremendous increase in the amount of traffic that uses Route 510. That is the highway that extends from Happy Valley-Goose Bay down to the Labrador-Quebec border in Blanc-Sablon. It also includes, Mr. Speaker, branch roads into communities like Charlottetown, Cartwright, Pinsent’s Arm, St. Lewis, and Mary’s Harbour.

Mr. Speaker, these people, with the increase in traffic, have seen continuous trouble with their highway. It is a gravel road, and with most gravel roads, when you get increased usage on that road or you get extreme weather conditions – both of which they have experienced – obviously you get some erosion to the road. You end up with potholes, you end up with ruts, and as a result of it people are doing a lot of damage to their vehicles. It is taking them a long time to travel from point A to point B. In some cases, Mr. Speaker, they have actually stopped using and have cancelled different meetings and functions because the road has been too bad to commute back and forth from community to community.

While at the Combined Councils of Labrador meeting – because they did form a coalition in Labrador of people from each of the three districts that are affected by road use mostly – I am not sure if there was someone from the North Coast who sat on the committee, because I was not part of the committee. They did form a coalition in Labrador and I know they meet on a regular basis through conference calls.