RUSSELL MARKS AN HISTORIC DAY FOR LABRADOR

LABRADOR, DECEMBER 16, 2009 — Labrador M.P. Todd Russell says that today’s opening of the Trans-Labrador Highway is one of the most important events in Labrador’s modern history.

“Over the years, generations of leaders have dreamed of the day when you could drive across Labrador, right from the Height of Land to the Strait of Belle Isle,” Russell said. “There were many who said it would never happen, that it couldn’t be done, some even said that it shouldn’t be done. For those who dreamed, and pushed, and fought all these years, today they have been proven right.”

Russell noted that the lion’s share of funding that has seen the Trans-Labrador Highway built to its present state of completion has come from the federal government, including the 1997 Labrador Transportation Initiative Fund of over $340-million.

“The completion of this basic road link, something that people in every other part of the province and country take for granted, has been a long time coming. It will transform the economic and social life of the communities it connects. In the long run, it can transform transportation patterns in the province as a whole, and all of eastern Canada.”

“Today, all Labradorians should savour the moment, and remember leaders and visionaries like the late Hank Shouse, Lawrence O’Brien, Herb Brett, Harry Baikie, and many other community builders and elders. They are with us in spirit even if they are not here on the day they dreamed of for so long.”

“We must also recognize that there is much work left to do, including upgrading and paving all three Phases of the Trans-Labrador Highway, and working towards building links to other communities who seek to join the Labrador Highway network.”

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Todd Russell, MP

Labrador

(613) 996-4630