Ottawa Still Has a Big Disaster Bill

EMERGENCY MEASURES ORGANIZATION--Ottawa Still Has a Big Disaster Bill

The federal government still has a long way to go to fully help Nova Scotians with disaster relief, Ernest Fage, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act, said today, March 4.

Since 1999, the Nova Scotia government has submitted relief claims for two natural disasters for payment by the federal government. The total claim is about $68 million. Although the province has asked for $15 million in advance payments, only $8 million has actually been paid to date, including an interim payment of $4 million announced today toward Hurricane Juan disaster relief.

"Nova Scotians welcome any support our federal government is prepared to offer," said Mr. Fage. "But with large multi-billion dollar surpluses at the federal level over the last five years, many are left wondering why Ottawa won't pay its full share of disaster costs?"

Nova Scotia is working with other provincial and territorial governments to convince the federal government to reform the disaster assistance plan.

"Why does the federal government put its toughest auditors on claims related to natural disasters?" asked Mr. Fage. "This is a fundamental problem that we encourage Ottawa to work with all provinces to fix."