Fixed-link worries from Port aux Basques

Concerns about loss of ferry service expressed at meeting

PORT AUX BASQUES — Mayor John Spencer of Port aux Basques said there were lots of concerns expressed during a recent public forum held on the proposed fixedlink tunnel between Newfoundland and Labrador.

About 40 people attended, ranging from residents of communities along the southwest Newfoundland coast to corporate interests.

Organized and spearheaded by the Port aux Basques town council, the meeting was designed to seek public input on possible impacts of a fixed-link tunnel connecting Newfoundland to Labrador. Of particular concern was its subsequent impact on Channel-port aux Basques and the entire southwest coast region.

During the meeting, there was reference to a pre-feasibility report completed for the Harris Group of Memorial University. Spencer said the report clearly spelled out the tunnel would divert employment opportunities out of southwestern Newfoundland, leaving a potential 60 per cent loss of current traffic levels.

He said while no economic case could be made for the federal and provincial governments investing in yet another megaproject, it was put forward this loss of traffic could spell the end for Marine Atlantic.

“It has long been put forth Transport Canada wants out of the ferry business,” Spencer stated in the release. “The tunnel, with all federal and provincial money to build and private interest to operate, will be the possible opportunity the federal government has been waiting for.”

The future of the Argentia summer service was also questioned at the meeting.

Spencer said this service, created to ease ground travel for those on the Avalon, was not part of Ottawa’s constitutional guarantee of a service under Term 32 of the Terms of Union.

“This heavily subsidized federal service could easily be replaced by what’s referred to as the new ‘great circle route’ for tourists along the Quebec north shore into Newfoundland out through Port aux Basques, bypassing the rest of the island,” Spencer said.

He added the traffic pattern outside the busy six-week summer tourist season will be for tractor-trailer traffic heading directly to St. John’s. Bypassing the entire region west of Deer Lake, it would have a negative impact for the entire west coast including Corner Brook.

Whether Term 32 is contingent on a Gulf service based on traffic demands was another issue of discussion at the meeting.

Spencer said a decline in traffic will mean this service would also be downgraded from the two crossings a day it currently offers.