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VOCM News Afternoon Update October 22nd · VOCM On Demand

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I'm Brian Medour. Provincial government is moving ahead with a
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: commitment to lower energy costs for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: that previously announced 15% discount on electricity bills associated with
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the Churchill Falls Agreement. Premier Tony Wakeham says government understands
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: people need help now. They'll be going ahead with the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: discount starting in January.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Rather than waiting until the final agreement is completed, beginning
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: in January 2027, residential customers will see a 15% reduction
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: in their Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro electricity bills.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: This means lower monthly power bills for hundreds of thousands
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: of households across Newfoundland and Labrador.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, government is doubling the home heating supplement
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: from $ 500 to $ 1, 000 for eligible residents who heat their
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: homes with oil. That's according to Finance Minister Craig Pardee.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: As the Premier said, together these initiatives will return approximately
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: $ 54 million directly back to the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: The 2026 forest fire season was concentrated in Labrador with
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: more than 96,000 hectares of land burned in 57 fires.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Provincial government released the figures this week. While 56 fires
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: were recorded in eastern Newfoundland this past summer, only 46
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: hectares were burned. Western Newfoundland saw a total of 21
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: fires covering 13.5 hectares. For the first time in a
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: number of years, lightning was listed as the leading cause
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: of wildfires this year, 50 compared to 13 last season.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: 81 fires were started through human activities compared to 230
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: in 2025. A resident of Horizons 106 says people still
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: living at the facility are being left in the dark
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: as the closure of the program nears. Gracie Smith, who's
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: been living in the former hotel near the airport for
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the last two years, told VLCM Open Line with Brian
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Callahan that residents are getting next to no information about
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: what's next. She says residents dread heading back into the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: shelter system. They want answers.
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: I have no clue where I was living. I've been
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: trying to get a meeting with NL Housing, who are
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: supposed to be in the building at least once a week,
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: which they haven't been for a month now. And the
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: staff here have been amazing. They've been trying to fill
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: us in and give us what they know, but they
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: are just as uncertain as us. They keep telling us
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: they're going to find us places to live, but they
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: have fallen short on that.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Provincial government is replacing an important piece of infrastructure along
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Salmonier Line near Holyrood. A contract worth over $ 5 million
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: has been awarded to Trident Construction for replacement of the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: North Arm River Bridge. Government says routine inspections found the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: bridge to be in a deteriorated condition. That's your news.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I'm Brian Medore.