Provincial cabinet ministers apparently didn't like Loyola Hearn's announcement on 16 February of $1.5 million in ACOA money for redecking and other safety work on the T'Railway bridges.
Some have even gone so far as to suggest it was part of a federal plot.
Pish posh.
The provincial government announced its share of that same three way agreement on Monday, February 18. The provincial cash, like the federal cash, was committed in the budget from 2007. Neither announced it by agreement with the T'Railways council; they were holding off to have a major event later this spring. That story is in the Wednesday Telegram, although it isn't available online.
But if the provincial government felt a little off about Hearn's announcement they could have easily dealt with it in another way, rather than whine about Hearn's little publicity coup. After all, tourism czar Clyde Jackman - himself a former environment and conversation minister - was the lead provincial minister at the same convention Hearn attended. Maybe he missed the reminder in his briefing note.
And it's not like this T'Railways bridge issue is new, either.
As the Telegram reported on Saturday, Transport Canada received complaints last summer about a bridge at Indian Pond in Seal Cove, Conception Bay. They inspected and asked provincial officials to take action to repair or remove.
The provincial government opted to remove the bridge.
Federal officials then began an inspection of 109 other sites in the province to determine which T'railways structures, if any, fell under the provisions of the Navigable Waters Act. Of the 109, they found 42 that met the legislation's requirements. Of those 42, 14 were of sufficient concern that the feds asked for a remediation plan. They also noted four other specific structures about which their inspectors had some concern.
One of the bridges - at Morris Brook, erroneously called Monis Brook in one document - had collapsed entirely. It was reported by Transport Canada as "gone".
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