Labrador West in for tough year, Labrador City mayor predicts

The new year could prove to be a tough one for Labrador West, the mayor of Labrador City predicted on Wednesday.

Mayor Graham Letto said he wants to remain optimistic about the area's future for 2009 despite the uncertainty in the steel and iron ore industries.

Approximately 160 people are expected to be laid off in February from the Wabush Mines site.

The Iron Ore Company of Canada  in Labrador City is also expected to close its mine for five weeks during the summer. The company has decided to stall its expansion project, putting hundreds of contractors out of work.

"We're hoping for the best," Letto told CBC News on Wednesday. "We know that there's already some people that have been impacted, whether they work with Wabush Mines or whether they work with the contractors," he said.

"There are people that have lost their jobs. We hope that that doesn't get too serious, and that we can get through 2009, you know, without too much damage done to the community," Letto said.

Letto said the area has been through similar circumstance in the past and had bounced back.

"I know we'll come out of it again. We've been down before. It will come back again, and we'll be stronger than ever," he said.