Government announces funding for fixed link

Lost in the Quebec budget shuffle is the rather spectacular news that the province plans to spend several hundred million dollars to rebuild route 389, which links Baie-Comeau to the iron mining town of Fermont, and to Labrador beyond.

Official press release, pegging the amount for two highway projects, one of which is the 389, at nearly $700-million. Le Journal de Montréal reports that the 389 project alone will swallow over $400-million of that envelope. Radio-Canada chimes in.

The announcement, and press coverage, is suspiciously vague concerning the time-frame over which the work is to be carried out. It also makes no mention of any federal funding, and, as we all know by now, you cannot constitutionally or physically build or improve a highway without federal funding, especially when you are an autonomous province. It's unpossible.

What's French for "advance a proposal"?

The Google map below shows the location of route 389 between Fermont (B), just across the border from Labrador City and Wabush, and Baie-Comeau (A) at the junction with the 138 along the north shore.


Over to you, Jerome! and Dianne...