Disaster Assistance Policy

For the first time in history, Nova Scotia has a disaster financial assistance policy. The policy was announced today by Jamie Muir, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization.

"We are instituting a policy which will provide aid to Nova Scotians when a natural disaster inflicts damage on the province which is not insurable," said Mr. Muir. "It also defines the level of eligible costs which must be reached before the government becomes involved in disaster financial assistance."

The policy will allow for modest assistance to individuals to help restore primary residences and to small businesses that have been placed in jeopardy because of uninsurable damage caused by a disaster.

Assistance will also be available to help municipalities in restoring essential public services to a pre-disaster condition.

The province's assistance program will be triggered once the eligible costs from any single disaster exceed one dollar per capita. This works out to about $935,000. This financial threshold for the provincial policy is in accordance with the guidelines laid out by the federal government's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements.

Eligible costs -- also defined in these federal guidelines -- are usually different than total damages. For example, if a basement in a home is damaged due to flooding, and the provincial program is triggered, disaster relief could cover the cost of removing damaged goods, drying the basement, applying anti-fungal treatment, and essential furnace repairs. Assistance would not be provided to replace non-essential items, such as a pool table or in-home bar.

For individuals and small businesses, a $1,000 deductible will apply. Above that level, assistance will be for eligible costs to a maximum of $50,000.

After each weather-related disaster, government will use this policy to assess if assistance is warranted. Any subsequent applications will be judged on a case-by-case basis. No assistance will be provided for insurable losses -- whether the owner chose to insure their property or not.

"Government is not in the insurance business, nor will we be," said the minister. "We are taking a balanced approach to disaster assistance -- balancing the responsibility of the provincial government with that of municipalities, business owners and individual Nova Scotians. This policy is modest in nature, but it is what the province can afford at this time while effectively addressing public safety issues."

Based on this policy, the Emergency Measures Organization will review claims for damages submitted over the past year and assess which weather-related disasters reach the threshold level of eligible costs.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A fact sheet on the Disaster Financial Assistance Policy is available below.

Disaster Financial Assistance Policy

FACT SHEET

• The intent of the assistance is to restore essential private property to a habitable state and public property to its pre-disaster condition

• The Emergency Measures Organization -- EMO(NS) -- shall administer the financial assistance

• Subject to the approval of the governor-in-council, the assistance will be offered when eligible costs from any single disaster exceed one dollar per capita of provincial population (using Statistics Canada population estimate for June of the calendar year in which the disaster occurs)

• Financial assistance shall be provided for eligible costs as defined by the Government of Canada's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements

• Financial assistance shall be subject to the following deductions, maximums and exclusions:

a) Any request for assistance from an individual or small business shall be subject to a deductible amount of $1,000. b) The amount of assistance provided by the province to an individual or small business shall not exceed $50,000. c) The province shall not offer disaster financial assistance related to the costs of restoring or repairing wharves, docking facilities, structures on them, or their contents. d) With respect to property owned by individuals, assistance shall be offered only for costs related to the restoration of a primary residence to a basic level of habitability. In other words, restoration of cottages, summer homes or camps would not be eligible. e) No financial assistance shall be offered for damage caused by erosion of any kind, unless the erosion affects the basic habitability of a primary residence.

• The Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act shall publish procedures related to the administration of this policy.