$50M for Manitoba flood relief

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2011 (5452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Flood-affected Manitobans will get a share of a $50-million advance of federal disaster financial assistance money, with more expected to come in the spring, Federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Monday in a joint federal-provincial announcement.

The announcement will allow the provincial government to process more disaster claims.

“We need these funds now,” Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said. “Claims have been submitted, and on behalf of the citizens of Brandon who will be able to access some of that funding, thank you very much. A few short months ago, we had water lapping at the window sills of (the Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre) and the devastation along the riverbank has been horrendous. Those are some of the projects these funds can address.”

Toews said while the final flood-fighting costs aren’t yet known, it was important to start moving federal money to the levels of government that are helping residents recover.

“We know there are substantial damages out there but we don’t wait until all of the bills are in,” Toews said. “We are trying to get advance payments out there as quickly as possible because we understand the provincial government is in a bit of a jam with regards to its financial obligations.”

Manitoba Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said that funding is welcomed as the provincial government had processed between 3,700 and 3,800 individual disaster financial assistance claims and 200 public claims from various levels of government worth more than $90 million, according to figures provided by a senior provincial government official.

That figure does not include claims made under special Lake Manitoba or Hoop and Holler Bend programs. A total of $400 million has been spent fighting the flood, although Ashton estimated the actual cost would be in the neighbourhood of $500 million.

“We are in a position of dealing with a lot of different types of claims and paying them out and what we do then is essentially the province finances it and sends the receipts and itemized costs to the federal government,” Ashton said. “Instead of waiting until the entire DFA claim process is over, the federal government is undertaking to get some of that money to us. Money will be flowing through the province to various DFA claimants even before we receive the full payment from the federal government.”

Decter Hirst said, on the whole, Brandon was fortunate, as there were relatively few properties affected by the high water event, compared to the thousands hard-hit in Minot, N.D., when the Souris River surged over dikes.

While Ashton noted parts of the province are still fighting the 2011 flood, Decter Hirst is looking ahead to battle any high water flowing down the Assiniboine River next spring, starting with dike construction to protect First Street and 18th Street.

Since 1970, the federal government has provided $380 million through the Disaster Financial Arrangements program, with more than $2 billion supplied across Canada in disaster financial aid.

» kborkowsky@brandonsun.com