It was a busy year in the Corner Brook district for Fisheries and Land Resources Minister Gerry Byrne in 2018.
There were plenty of positive developments in and around the city that Byrne feels will bode well for the economy in 2019 and beyond.
He noted that some of this progress not only happened within his district, but was tied to his natural resource-based portfolio.
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Here is a list of what Byrne says were the five biggest things to happen in the district of Corner Brook in 2018:
1. One of the best things that took place in 2018 started out as potentially one of the worst things that might have happened. Earlier in the year, the viability of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper was put in jeopardy by the threat of American tariffs that would have represented a 32.5 per cent increase in the cost of exporting newsprint to the American marketplace. After lobbying from the industry and government officials, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper was exempted from the tariffs.
2. In August, the government announced that a $7-million building will be constructed near the site of the new regional hospital in Corner Brook to house all of the city’s Department of Fisheries and Land Resources employees. The building is being financed and will be owned by Marine Contractors, with the government department entering into a 20-year lease for all of its 30,000 square feet of space. The building will house 250 employees, currently spread out over several different locations in Corner Brook, and will welcome 32 new jobs in the Crown lands division.
3. The completion of a new Willow House in Corner Brook was a much-needed addition to services for women in difficult domestic situations. The new shelter replaced the former Transition House and provides women and children leaving abusive relationships with more comfortable and private accommodations.
4. There were advancements of post-secondary services at both the College of the North Atlantic and Grenfell Campus, Memorial University. Byrne noted there are new think tanks like the Workforce Innovation Centre at the college, new programs focused on the agriculture industry at both College of the North Atlantic and Grenfell, and a new business incubator and makerspace at the Navigate Entrepreneurship at Grenfell.
5. The commissioning of the new long-term care component of the regional hospital complex being built at Grenfell Campus was a big moment for Corner Brook and western Newfoundland in general this year. The provincial government is expecting to commission the construction of the acute care component in 2019.
