Mr. Speaker, last week, after widespread protests from towns and communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Marine Atlantic ferry services rolled back fare increases that had been implemented on April 1. People are worried about the cost of living, and the tourism industry is holding out hope that it will be able to rebuild as the pandemic eases. While it is a welcome break from relentless fare increases under a cost-recovery model that even the Prime Minister called unreasonable in 2015, this does nothing to fix the underlying problem.
This vital service was constitutionally mandated when Newfoundland and Labrador joined as a province with Canada over 70 years ago, but the cost-recovery model discourages travellers and visitors, increases food prices and the cost of living and hurts businesses. We need an affordable ferry service between Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, despite the promise by the Prime Minister and then six of seven Liberal MPs from the province. Six years later, nothing has changed. This needs to be fixed.