“They talk about smarter, better, stronger. Well, if you keep rehashing and reannouncing things over and over again, I really wouldn’t say it’s smarter,” said NDP MHA for Labrador West Jordan BrownPublished Apr 09, 2025 • 4 minute readNewfoundland and Labrador Finance Minster Siobhan Coady reads the budget speech in the House of Assembly. Keith Gosse/The Telegram Photo by Keith Gosse /Keith Gosse/The Telegram“They talk about smarter, better, stronger. Well, if you keep rehashing and reannouncing things over and over again, I really wouldn’t say it’s smarter,” NDP MHA for Labrador West Jordan Brown said after hearing the budget speech.Brown feels this year’s budget, titled “Smarter. Stronger. Better.,” has a lack of vision and honesty on what’s actually happening in the province.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle content“What we’re really seeing is there’s no vision, there’s no plan,” he said. “It seems that they don’t really know where they want to go as a province, and that’s what’s really concerning, because we need to have a vision, we need to have somewhere to go,” he said.“I think this government is just trying to go in seven different directions at the same time and all it’s doing is hurting everybody.” NDP MHA Jordan Brown says budget 2025 doesn’t address issues for Labradorians Photo by Anasophie Vallee/The Telegram /THE TELEGRAM‘There’s nothing new’Looking at the Labrador portion of the budget speech, Brown’s disappointment lies in the reiteration of things that have already been announced.“There’s nothing new,” he said. “There’s nothing really that addresses any of the issues of Labradorians.“There’s no real commitment on a road to the north. There’s no commitment on housing. There’s no commitment on improving health-care access. There’s no commitment on improving infrastructure access, and yet they want to take our resources from us.”The budget mentions seven transitional units in Labrador West, which have already been constructed and people have already moved in, he added.Article content“That’s been done, I believe, almost two years ago now,” he said. “What’s missing is actual substance because a lot of the stuff that’s in this budget is already done or in the process of being done.“We haven’t seen anything really truly new.”‘A huge piece of the puzzle missing’There’s an increase in funding for oil and gas exploration, but no increase in funding for critical mineral or mineral exploration on the island of Newfoundland or in Labrador, Brown said.“That’s a huge piece of the puzzle missing,” he added.Brown had previously called for the return of water bombers and the re-establishment of a Wabush base in the budget.Instead, they got “a half measure with a satellite office for wildfires in Wabush,” he said.“We don’t know what that means. It’s just a line, it doesn’t have any context or anything to it. For all I know, it could be an individual with a cell phone. This is where you know it’s lacking a lot of context.”When asked how his constituents will react upon seeing this budget, Brown said, “They’ll be enraged, I think. Honestly, if you’re a Labradorian, you should be very angry at this government.Article content“Instead of announcing projects that are already done, actually build the units. Stand up and build the units in Labrador West, improve the infrastructure, at least give back some of what’s being taken from us in resources and actually build what we need to be built and actually work on projects that are meant to actually improve the lives of Labradorians. Because right now, there is absolutely nothing in that budget that will truly help a Labradorian.”‘What’s missing is the context’PC MHA for Torngat Mountains Lela Evans agrees, saying that when she listens to the budget speech, she’s looking for context.“I think what’s missing is the context,” she said. “It’s like, for example, with the Newfoundland and Labrador housing repair maintenance, [Minister Coady] announced three million dollars. But when you put it into context, I got elected in 2019, there was a lot of houses sitting vacant, falling into disrepair, not being used, and there was a high demand for housing, especially in Hopedale and Nain.”Article content PC MHA Lela Evans reacts to budget 2025 and how it impacts her district. Photo by Anasophie Vallee/The Telegram /THE TELEGRAMEvans is referring to the $3 million included in the budget to continue repairs and modernization of homes in Makkovik, Hopedale, and Nain.“Three million sounds like a lot, but really, they’re starting to just play catch up to their neglect,” she said.Evans also wanted to see waterbombers stationed in Labrador.“We have large forests,” she said. “We saw our communities almost destroyed over in Wabush and Lab City and in Churchill Falls and in Goose Bay. Every single one of those major centres were under attack from fire.“We look up into our communities as well and we see the impacts there as well.”Recommended from Editorial What you need to know about NL’s 2025-2026 budget ‘Uninspired’ budget doesn’t go far enough to help people struggling in NL, say PC, NDP leaders Giving credit where credit is dueEvans does give credit to the provincial government in making some strides.She pointed to the Labrador Sport Travel subsidy, where more than $800,000 has been allocated to support Labrador athletes’ travel for organized sporting competitions, school-organized sporting events, and sport development.Article content“It did help, although it still doesn’t level the playing field,” she said.She also referenced the Indigenous art unveilings as an important step forward, while emphasizing that, at the end of the day, those symbolic gestures should only be the starting point.“I do try to be positive,” she said, but added that there are many things missing.Evans said while the social determinants of health were mentioned, there remains a disparity with what has been done for the health care available in her district.“They’ve done nothing for health care in my district,” she said. “The provincial responsibilities are actually critical to our health care, to our quality of life because it’s health care, it’s education, it’s access to food, all those supports.“For decades, we were lacking, and I have to ask why?”Anasophie Vallée is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering Indigenous and rural issues.Article content
‘There’s nothing new’: Labrador was overlooked in provincial budget, says MHAs
