Question Period Note: MAI and the fixed-link

Potential fixed link between Labrador and the island of Newfoundland, and concerns related to potential impacts on the Marine Atlantic service.

• The federal government fulfills its constitutional obligation towards Newfoundland and Labrador by offering a year-round daily ferry service between Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and North Sydney, Nova Scotia. Marine Atlantic Inc. delivers the constitutional ferry service.
• The government recognizes that this ferry service is a critical economic and social link connecting Newfoundland to the mainland.
• In Budget 2019, the government provided funding to Marine Atlantic to procure a new vessel so that it can continue its ferry operations to and from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

• MAI was established as a Crown corporation by the Marine Atlantic Inc. Acquisition Authorization Act in 1986. MAI fulfills Canada's constitutional obligation to provide a year-round ferry service between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador. It also provides a non constitutional seasonal service between North Sydney and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador.
• In a recent news article, the Mayor of Port aux Basques is reported as expressing concerns related to a possible fixed link tunnel between Newfoundland and Labrador. Reacting to a study developed by Memorial University for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the mayor fears that completion of a tunnel could result in the discontinuation or in a reduction of the existing ferry services provided by Marine Atlantic Inc. (MAI).
• In April 2018, the Government of Newfounland and Labrador released an updated pre-feasibility study for a fixed link between Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. The study was performed by the Memorial Univeristy’s Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development. The Harris Centre also completed the previous study done in 2004.
• The report includes a review of three fixed link tunnel concepts. The 2004 study concluded that the most viable option was an underground tunnel under the the Strait of Belle Isle. The 2018 updated study confirms the underground tunnel option and concludes that a tunnel excavated by a tunnel boring machine (TBM) was the most technical and economical attractive option for a fixed transportation link between Labrador and Newfoundland. The study was premised on the retention of the Gulf ferry service offered by Marine Atlantic and therefore it would be left to the market to determine which route to use to enter or leave the island of Newfoundland (i.e. the Gulf ferry service or the Strait of Belle Isle fixed link).
• The federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, by way of her mandate letter, is mandated to support the Newfoundland-Labrador fixed transportation link. The provincial Minister of Transportation and Works is mandated to continue to explore a fixed link as a long-term endeavor with many partners.
• Transport Canada may have a regulatory role in the development of the fixed link, the extent of which would depend on how the project evolves. For example, a permit may be required under the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, and the role may include oversight under other legislation such as the Rail Safety Act.

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