Newfoundland announces ‘Team Labrador’ after energy deal with Quebec

The Newfoundland and Labrador government says it wants to make sure Labradorians benefit from the province’s proposed multibillion-dollar energy deal with Quebec.

The province has appointed three members of the provincial legislature to serve on a new team with a mandate to ensure the peninsula can capitalize on the deal.

The two provinces’ public utility companies have proposed the construction of several energy projects around the Churchill River.

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But one local mayor says his community would need help to absorb the large number of workers arriving for some of the proposed projects.

Mayor Bert Pomeroy of Happy Valley-Goose Bay said there would be an increased stress on housing and health care, and the infrastructure that supports it.

The province says its new Team Labrador will engage with Indigenous governments and organizations, municipalities, community leaders, businesses and other stakeholders throughout Labrador.

“Major development on the Churchill River will have impacts well beyond the project sites, particularly for communities throughout central Labrador,” said Keith Russell, one of the representatives named to Team Labrador.

“It is important that we plan early, listen to Indigenous governments and organizations, municipalities, residents and businesses, and respond to the pressures and opportunities they identify.”

The work by the team will also inform the province’s northern strategy.