Hatfield pushes province on Windsor-area flood insurance
Windsor-area residents are angry about repeated flooding and need the government to provide insurance to those who can no longer get private coverage, Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield said Thursday at Queen’s Park.
“People in Windsor are angry and disappointed with the government’s response to the recent flooding disaster,” Hatfield of the NDP said during question period. “The minister of municipal affairs said private insurance was readily available. The Insurance Bureau of Canada told him he was wrong.”
Hatfield demanded that the Wynne government present a plan for Windsor-area flood victims.
The Windsor area was soaked by torrential rain that caused widespread flooding twice in less than two months. In 2016, more than 200 flood victims were denied assistance through the Provincial Disaster Recovery Assistance Program, while others are still waiting for their claims to be processed, the NDP noted in a news release.
A number of insurance companies won’t cover recurring flooding. The provincial program does not cover sewer backups.
“Extreme weather events are hitting all parts of Ontario,” said Hatfield. “Natural disasters caused by heavy rains are occurring too frequently. This government is downloading the effects of climate change onto ordinary citizens.
“How will the premier close the gap in coverage between private insurance and the government’s disaster assistance recovery program?” Later in the day in the legislature, Hatfield honoured Lois Smedick, a longtime arts advocate in Windsor, who died Sept. 13 at age 84 after contracting the West Nile virus.
“We in the Windsor area have lost a champion from our local arts cultural and academic community,” Hatfield told fellow legislators. “Lois Smedick was an amazing woman who came to the University of Windsor in the ’60s to teach English.
“She was well known and highly regarded for her passion and commitment to the arts.
“She was the first female Dean at the University of Windsor … and a founding member of the Friends of Women’s Studies. Lois chaired the board at Assumption University, and was president of the Art Gallery of Windsor for many years. She was a scholar, a volunteer, a donor, a benefactor, a friend and a feminist.”
This government is downloading the effects of climate change onto ordinary citizens.