Fair share
Effects of industry woes noted at pre-budget consultation
Wise spending and fair money allocation were the top concerns shared at the pre-budget consultation held in Labrador West Tuesday.
Close to a dozen municipal representatives and residents met in the Labrador City Town Hall to discuss issues within the town and province with Environment Minister Dan Crummell, who ran through budget items and invited dialogue.
As Labrador City struggles to meet the needs from growth, Mayor Karen Oldford said, the cost of doing business is 40 per cent more than other municipalities in the province.
“Everything here is tendered out and is public document,” she said. “If we’re going to do street repairs, everybody sees what those bids are and has public access to it.”
Oldford said that includes the Iron Ore Co. of Canada (IOC), which uses the same services as the town.
“No company is going to provide work to us cheaper than they would for IOC because it would soon be pointed out to them, ‘Here’s what you did for the town, we expect that same price point.’”
Calling it the “industry effect,” Oldford said the town should receive additional capital dollars allocated by the province in recognition of the impact.
Labrador City has raised taxes, but Oldford said there are still shortfalls. And the town is falling further and further behind.
“It’s irritating to hear of other municipalities receiving funding they haven’t even asked for when we’ve asked for $22 million in needs — these are not wants, but needs — and consistently getting around $4-5 million.”
IOC’s Wabush 3 project has made it necessary for the town to spend taxpayer dollars to hire consultants to respond to the intricate statement, which Oldford said will affect the area for the next half century.
“It’s unfair we would have to spend those dollars to represent residents and their health, to shoulder that burden on our own.”
Wabush Mayor Colin Vardy had industry concerns of his own, noting MFC Industrial’s difficulties getting a closure plan in place for the potential purchase of Wabush Mines from Cliff ’s Natural Resources.
“We saw in the news an agreement with Vale which saved 400 jobs, and maybe we can find some agreements between Cliff ’s and MFC to save 400 jobs here,” said Vardy.
“It may require some investments from the province in the millions of dollars, but the return on the money will be quick.”
Vardy said he would also like to see more investments to area tourism.
“Tourism has fallen asleep in Labrador West. We saw Hospitalities Newfoundland and Labrador leave. I don’t think there’s anyone working in tourism here.”
Alluding to comments Crummell made earlier about his plans to ski and snowmobile in the area, Vardy said there is great potential to bring in more likeminded outdoor enthusiasts.
“Right now with the low dollar, Labrador West is a fantastic place to spend money on advertising to draw some people here. Like you said, you love coming up here and plan on skiing and snowmobiling. I think the audience is huge.”
“No company is going to provide work to us cheaper than they would for IOC because it would soon be pointed out to them.”
Labrador City Mayor Karen Oldford