Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for the opportunity to come this morning and speak to you.
I'm from Labrador West, and I've been there for 40 years now. I've been in my own private business there for about 25 years. I served as a councillor back in 2009, and in 2011 I went to provincial government where I served as minister of several portfolios, one of them being transportation and works.
I want to speak today about the economy in Labrador West and its relationship and partnership with the Port of Sept-Îles in Quebec. Labrador West is well known for its iron ore production. The Labrador trough runs through most of western Labrador and the northwestern part of Quebec. We have several mines there, the Iron Ore Company of Canada being the largest and producing very high-quality, high-grade iron ore. We have the Wabush Mines, which is presently taken over by Tacora and is in the process of being reopened. Alderon is also another mine that's about to open, and the Quebec Cartier mine. We also have Vale Inco on the north shore of Labrador.
All of these mines are landlocked, all very much inland, and our main source of transportation is by railway and then from the Port of Sept-Îles throughout the world. It's very important to us, as government has in the past made investments in the Port of Sept-Îles, that this port continue to be an investment for the government for the jobs that are created through the Labrador mining, which accumulates to right now probably about 10,000 jobs. The population in all of Labrador, though its mass geography is huge, is only 27,000 people, and about 35% to 40% of those who live in Labrador alone are involved in the mining industry. Then in Quebec there are about another 15,000 who are directly involved in the mining industry.
The iron ore mining is starting to rebound. There certainly was a collapse in the industry in the last five to seven years. It's starting to rebound now with China and India being on the market. They're looking for very high-quality ore, which is what we produce in Labrador West. The grades are the best in North America, actually. It's through the Port of Sept-Îles that we need to make the transportation great there, so I'd appreciate it if you would consider continuing to invest in that port. There's quite a bit of work that's been done in the port in the last few years, but still some to be done.
Thank you very much.