CHANNEL-PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. — Mayor John Spencer of Port aux Basques said there were lots of concerns expressed during a recent public forum held on the proposed fixed-link tunnel between Newfoundland and Labrador.
About 40 people, ranging from residents of communities along the southwest Newfoundland coast to corporate interests, attended.
Organized and spearheaded by the Port aux a 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, which Spencer said clearly spelled out the tunnel would divert employment opportunities out of southwestern Newfoundland, leaving the potential for a loss of 60 percent 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 offerings 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 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 to head directly to St. John's bypassing the entire region west of Deer Lake, 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.
He said the ripple effect would mean the loss of hundreds of federal positions across Newfoundland in the shore- and ship-based operations of Marine Atlantic, including high-end corporate positions at Marine Atlantic's headquarters in St. John's.
