The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to present a petition
on behalf of the people in Labrador with regard to the
Trans-Labrador Highway.
WHEREAS
the Trans-Labrador Highway is a vital transportation
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 call on the House of Assembly to call
upon the government to provide additional funding for
much needed improvements to Route 510 and connecting
branch roads of the Trans-Labrador Highway.
Mr. Speaker, the people in
Labrador have never been more frustrated in their entire
lives than they have been this year with the
Trans-Labrador Highway. Mr. Speaker, people who are
travelling over the highway are e-mailing me everyday.
They are putting videos up on YouTube. They have opened
a Facebook site where hundreds of people across Labrador
who use the road right now have logged onto.
In the last couple of weeks, Mr.
Speaker, I have had cases where patients could not be
transported by ambulance because the roads are too bad.
A patient came out of Corner Brook hospital after having
a major back surgery. They could not even be taken down
over the highway by ambulance because the road was so
bad, Mr. Speaker. We had to make arrangements to have
them flown back into their community.
This is the situation that people
are left in. Truckers are calling me all the time. They
are doing damages to their vehicles. It is costing them
a fortune, Mr. Speaker. People who are having to travel
for all kinds of reasons have never had to endure such
deplorable road conditions in their entire lives, and
they are asking the government to do something to
respond to what their need is at this time.
