Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: It was during this period of dominion status that the Labrador mainland and the island of Newfoundland merged into a single political entity . Since the early 1800s , Newfoundland and Quebec ( or Lower Canada ) had been in a border dispute over the Labrador region .
Simplified: Newfoundland is an island , while Labrador is within the mainland of Canada and on a border with Quebec .