SPECIAL REPORT

doesn’t add up ItHow is it possible that a region of only 30,000 people can contribute millions, maybe even billions, to provincial coffers annually, but doesn’t have a fully paved highway? Or reliable high speed internet access? Or affordable food?

By Dawn Chafe Photo: pbase.com/baron48

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V25N5 2014.indd 83 Date:14-08-12 Page: 83.p1.pdf 2014-08-12 4:09 PM Karen Oldford, mayor If Oldford’s calculations are correct, Labrador West contributes in of the Town of the vicinity of $1 billion a year to Newfoundland and Labrador’s GDP. She’s the first to admit that provincial government officials have told Labrador City, doesn’t her she’s wrong, but since no one has come forward with the correct understand why no one figure (or the documentation to show she’s incorrect), she’s sticking can tell her how much with her best guesstimate. For her part, Yvonne Jones says she’s only ever received provincial Labrador contributes statistics, even after filing Access to Information requests for Labrador- NEW to Newfoundland and specific numbers. Still, she claims she has found evidence in public reports that the “Big Land” will contribute $53 billion to provincial Labrador’s GDP. It’s a GDP from iron ore developments over a 20-year period and that it will question that equally produce another $1.9 billion as a result of Muskrat Falls phase one. And, she says, if production reaches “Scenario Three” as described frustrates Yvonne in Dr. Wade Locke/Strategic Concepts’ report “Economic Impact Jones, the Member of Analysis of Iron Ore Mining in Labrador,” Labrador will at that point be producing 21 per cent of total provincial annual GDP. “Even at base CEO Parliament for Labrador. production rates,” she says, “Labrador would produce approximately Taking Pennecon Both women say the eight per cent of the province’s GDP.” answer could be a Lurking just beyond the intriguing puzzle of Labrador’s exact economic contribution to the province is an even more curious to NEW levels game changer. question: why has this number been impossible to obtain? The list of big industrial projects Jones believes the solution to the riddle can be found in the oft- in the district is massive – and proven adage that knowledge is power – and that “government sees Pennecon Limited’s Board of Directors is thrilled to massively impressive: IOC (and until no advantage to relationships between Newfoundland and Labrador it was idled last winter, Wabush by empowering the people of Labrador with hard facts about their announce the appointment of David Mitchell as Mines) has been harvesting iron ore financial contributions to N.L. coffers.” in Labrador West for over 50 years; Chief Executive Officer. Bringing with him 5,428 MW of hydroelectricity have 20 years of technical breadth and leadership in been flowing annually from Churchill Falls since 1971; the Voisey’s Bay Beautifully balmy summer days of 32 degrees aren’t unusual the construction industry, he is tasked with nickel project has been producing for Labrador. Nor are wintry lows of minus 40. But while it may seem ore since 2005; the Muskrat Falls like Mayor Karen Oldford is stating the bleeding obvious when she driving our dynamic business to new levels. hydroelectric project is speeding observes that Labrador has both the highest highs and the lowest towards completion; and Alderon’s lows, she isn’t talking about the weather. Building on our solid foundation. Energizing our Kami project – which some have Oldford, 51, has been mayor of the Town of Labrador City since 2011. 1,400-strong team. Seizing opportunities for growth. estimated will be as big as IOC in It’s a volunteer position; her official employer is the Labrador-Grenfell Labrador – is expected to begin Regional Health Authority. Oldford works as the primary healthcare All the while, preserving the Pennecon Way: operations in the next few years. According to the Atlantic Provinces exceeding client expectations with integrity, passion, Economic Council’s 2014 Major Mayor Karen Oldford and unparalleled performance. Projects Inventory, more than $8 says her cabin is only a 40-minute snowmobile billion worth of projects are currently ride from her home. That underway or in development in close proximity to nature is one of the reasons she Labrador (and that doesn’t include loves Labrador. the $4.25 billion facility that Vale has built in Long Harbour to process Voisey’s Bay ore).

www.pennecon.com

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V25N5 2014.indd 84 Date:14-08-15 Page: 84.p1.pdf 2014-08-14 9:54 AM CEO NEW Taking Pennecon to NEW levels

Pennecon Limited’s Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the appointment of David Mitchell as Chief Executive Officer. Bringing with him 20 years of technical breadth and leadership in the construction industry, he is tasked with driving our dynamic business to new levels. Building on our solid foundation. Energizing our 1,400-strong team. Seizing opportunities for growth. All the while, preserving the Pennecon Way: exceeding client expectations with integrity, passion, and unparalleled performance.

www.pennecon.com

Energy. Heavy Civil. Real Estate. Three divisions working in unison to give our clients a single point of entry to their construction needs. The synergy of many. The simplicity of one.

Date:14-08-15 Page: 85.p1.pdf nurse practitioner at the Captain William Jackman Memorial Hospital. The job is what enabled Oldford, who’s originally from Torbay on the island portion of the province, and her Labrador West born and bred husband, to settle in Labrador back in 1986. They had been on the cusp of heading to Alberta at the time, until the promise of employment lured her to Labrador. She originally thought they might be there for five or six years, but her husband warned her she would never want to leave. He was right. Asked to describe her constituency, she says that one of the first things you see when you drive into town is the train. Though absent from the island of Newfoundland since 1988, the train is a vital link for the area’s vibrant mining industry, transporting ore from Labrador West to the port in Sept-Iles, Quebec. After the train, you can’t help but notice the mega dump trucks around the mine site. These are no ordinary earth movers: their boxes are as big as houses, their cabs as high as three stories off the ground. If you were to stand next to one of the tires, chances are that the top of your head won’t even reach the lowest lug nut. Warning flags and amber safety lights are dominant on municipal roads while hard hats are not an uncommon accessory in the local shopping mall. Don’t be alarmed. Labrador City sits on top of an ore body, after all - it’s only a 10-minute drive to the work site. Exhibit A That’s one of the pluses of living here – the A look at some of the With so much fact that it’s such a concentrated community industrial benefits from a commercial whose roughly 10,000 permanent residents single Labrador resource can get anywhere they want to go in town activity in Lab with minimal traffic in a minutes-long – Voisey’s Bay nickel City, how could commute. Other pluses? How about abundant • Vale operates an open pit recreational facilities, like the curling club mine and concentrator at it possibly and hockey arena, the swimming pool and Voisey’s Bay (350 km north be lacking walking trails, the bowling alley and soccer of Happy Valley-Goose Bay) pitch, the golf course and playgrounds and a processing plant at the funds for and softball fields. There are innumerable Long Harbour, N.L. Labrador necessary opportunities for snow shoeing, snowmobiling, operations began in 2005, skiing and fishing. the processing plant began municipal Then, of course, there are the abundant operations this year. infrastructure? jobs at the nearby mines. Even after 50-plus years of operations in Labrador, IOC continues • About 2,700 people to expand. And with Alderon’s financing in place, it appears likely that currently support Vale’s another mega-mine operation will open in the area in the near future. operations and construction When that happens, Labrador City will literally be surrounded by programs in Newfoundland mines. It’s already the service hub for the Labrador West region (a fact and Labrador. underscored by the presence of the only Tim Horton’s in the area), so its retail stores see bustling trade on a regular basis. • 475 people support mining All of which collectively paints a pretty picture of an industrious (which operations in Labrador, it is) and prosperous (which it isn’t) community. This is an area very much of which 53 per cent are in need. Many of the touted recreational facilities here and in nearby aboriginals. Wabush were put in place decades ago by Wabush Mines and IOC, back when the provincial government granted licenses to operate in exchange • In 2013, approximately 80 for community-building infrastructure. Mayor Oldford estimates that the per cent of the operations aging, often asbestos-laced infrastructure will cost $30-$40 million to support contracts at the replace. She notes that a sister municipality is dumping raw sewage in Voisey’s Bay mine and fresh water, and two water treatment facilities aren’t up to standard. concentrator were with That’s another $40-$50 million worth of work. Then there are the roads: aboriginal businesses. given the amount of heavy equipment travelling back and forth on a regular basis, the roads are understandably in rough shape. Oldford says • The Skills Development her town has a capital needs list of $22 million (“needs,” she emphasizes, Centre at the mine and “not wants”) that grows bigger and bigger every year. concentrator site is the With so much commercial activity in Lab City, how could it possibly be only private work site in the lacking the funds for necessary municipal infrastructure? Can’t they just province to receive Adult raise taxes? Basic Education designation “Our industrial partners are already stepping up to the plate. Our Source: Vale biggest revenue source is the grant in lieu of taxes from IOC, that’s

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V25N5 2014.indd 86 Date:14-08-15 Page: 86.p1.pdf 2014-08-14 2:12 PM V25N5 2014.indd 87 Date:14-08-12 Page: 87.p1.pdf 2014-08-12 4:10 PM anywhere from 30 to 40 per cent of our annual revenue,” says Oldford. “Most of the “ I feel Labrador has suffered rest is from residences and businesses.” historic abuse from government… “We have little control or power over our revenue,” she adds. “We are a creature of we are among the last in Canada the provincial government. Our taxation to have roads, internet access, schedule is restricted by the Municipalities Act. The provincial government can affordable food and aboriginal get extra revenue via royalties, but that self-governance, despite our doesn’t come back to us. We’ve lobbied for an infrastructure fund, but haven’t had abundance of resources.” any luck.” Yvonne Jones, Member of Parliament for Labrador “It was the companies that put the infrastructure in place to build Labrador West. The government hasn’t had to invest Yvonne Jones is a true child of Labrador. Her mother’s family in us in any real way for close to 40 years. emigrated there from England in 1820, her father was a descendant of “We’re a resilient people. Traditionally, the Labrador Inuit. Yvonne was born at the Grenfell Mission Hospital if we saw something that needed to be in St. Anthony in 1968. After being discharged from the hospital, she done, we did it. We can’t do that anymore. and her mother boarded a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver for their The infrastructure has fallen behind to return to Mary’s Harbour on Labrador’s south coast. The single engine a point where we need the province to bush plane landed on the frozen ice where Jones’ father bundled them step in. We need more money for capital into his Komitik (covered sled) and towed them home behind his seven investment and infrastructure to remain horsepower Elan skidoo. a vibrant community, to keep current Jones grew up in Mary’s Harbour. Though she eventually left home residents and attract future workers.” for her post-secondary education, and worked in various places across Unless, of course, it were to cease as Newfoundland, not too many years passed before she boarded the Sir a community and simply become a fly- Robert Bond for the ferry crossing that would return her to her beloved in, fly-out work site. It would then be all Labrador. She’s been advocating for her homeland ever since, first as a take and no give to Labrador. Oldford, Member of the House of Assembly (1996 to 2013), now as a Member of understandably, is against that. Parliament (2013 to present).

Date:14-08-12 Page: 88.p1.pdf V25N5 2014.indd 89 Date:14-08-12 Page: 89.p1.pdf 2014-08-12 4:10 PM Asked how she would describe Labrador to someone who has never been there, “ The provincial government can Jones offers a variety of perspectives – get extra revenue via royalties, each more poignant than the last. For the visiting tourist, she speaks of glorious but that doesn’t come back mountain peaks and vast, untouched land, to us. We’ve lobbied for an of ageless rivers that both trickle and roar, of a natural world that is simultaneously infrastructure fund, but haven’t relaxing and rejuvenating. For the historian, had any luck.” she reveals an enviable aboriginal and Mayor Karen Oldford, Town of Labrador City international cultural mosaic encompassing native peoples, Basque whalers, European settlers and military trainees from around however, have the potential to turn that tide. the world. For the political visitor, she “God gifted Labrador with probably the largest mineral resources on shares the passion of her people as well as land, plus the oil and gas and fish of the sea, and gifted our people with the frustration and sadness and anger that strength and perseverance.” comes with being held back from reaching Industrial developments are already contributing to increased their full potential. employment in Labrador, as well as higher income levels and expanded “This is Labrador, whose people will stand services. But much work remains to be done on affordable housing, on with pride to fight for the place they love, but stabilizing employment (rather than boom and bust), and on mitigating who have met so many road blocks and seen social issues like crime and drug addiction. so little results, experienced so much outside Getting there, says Jones, very much depends on both the federal and control and been left feeling abused… and provincial governments changing their relationship with Labrador. “I feel helpless to govern in their own land.” Labrador has suffered historic abuse from government… we are among Jones identifies the inability of the last in Canada to have roads, internet access, affordable food and Labradorians to influence their own destiny, aboriginal self-governance, despite our abundance of resources.” coupled with a lack of infrastructure and “There is a growing sentiment among Labrador people that isolation, as the region’s most debilitating Labradorians are not getting their fair share from the Government of weaknesses. She notes that its strengths, Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Fighting for all Labradorians Oces in Labrador West, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and L’Anse au Loup.

Yvonne Jones Member of Parliament for Labrador

1-888-817-2483 [email protected] www.yvonnejones.liberal.ca

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V25N5 2014.indd 90 Date:14-08-12 Page: 90.p1.pdf 2014-08-12 4:10 PM If there’s any institution that should understand the growing discontent in Labrador, it’s the provincial government. Not so long ago, former premier Danny Williams was on a cross-country road show in an attempt to convince fellow Canadians that his province wasn’t getting a fair share of its resource wealth. He argued, successfully, that the money was necessary for the province to break its decades-long cycle of have-not. Labrador City’s Mayor Oldford hopes to use that same argument to her town’s advantage. “I understand that the vast majority of the population is on the island. It’s hard for provincial politicians to allocate more resources here, with our smaller population, if that means there will be fewer resources on the island. We need to develop a business plan that shows how investing in Labrador will benefit the entire province. That’s the only way I see this working.” Asked about a movement towards a self-governing Labrador (the Labrador Independence Facebook group has 433 active members), Oldford feels it’s not so much about a desire for independence as it is a movement towards increased awareness of – and respect for – Labrador’s contribution to the province. Jones, however, admits to being envious of territorial government in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. “I often make comparisons to Labrador for we have similar land mass, population, northern, remote, resource-driven regions with diverse cultures.” While she doesn’t have any economic studies to back her up, Jones strongly believes that “if given the opportunity to govern ourselves, Labradorians’ lives would be so much fuller and our rewards far greater.” Though there’s no sign of that happening any time soon, both Jones and Oldford say they won’t give up. They plan to do whatever they can to see Labrador get further ahead on the road to prosperity – whether it’s paved or not. •

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