LIBERALS CALL FOR REVIEW OF PREPAREDNESS
No price tag attached to Liberal measures
Liberal Leader Raj Sherman is demanding a federal review into the province’s flood preparedness and recovery efforts, part of his party’s strategy to deal with the fallout from last month’s disaster in southern Alberta.
At a news conference in Calgary, Sherman called for Public Safety Canada to examine issues surrounding how Alberta responded to the flood — the worst in provincial history — as well as the steps it took to prepare for such a disaster.
“It’s important to have an independent agency from outside of Alberta review the whole disaster preparedness response and recovery,” he said Tuesday, flanked by the party’s Calgary MLAs.
“Independent is the operative word here. It is too important a matter to have the Redford Conservatives investigate themselves.”
Public Safety Canada co-ordinates actions between federal departments that are responsible for handling national security issues and disasters. It directly oversees federal disaster mitigation efforts and emergency preparedness.
Widespread flooding last month throughout parts of southern Alberta led to the evacuation of thousands of people, destroyed homes and caused billions of dollars in damage.
Earlier this month, the Redford government unveiled a recovery plan for homeowners that bans new development in floodways, but it will pay for expenses to repair or rebuild damaged houses.
The province has earmarked $1 billion for initial recovery and rebuilding, but it expects the tab to climb higher.
As part of the Liberal plan, Sherman said the province should introduce legislation to protect tenants in case their homes are ruined, preventing owners from using security deposits to cover flooding costs.
The Grit leader also said he’d boost annual funding for emergencies and create a special disaster recovery fund to cover extraordinary costs that exceed the budgeted amount.
Sherman would not put a price tag on his measures — which include the previously announced creation of a public insurance program for overland flooding, and appointment of a special auditor to monitor disaster spending — but insisted the plan would save taxpayers money
It is too important a matter to have the Redford Conservatives investigate themselves
LIBERAL LEADER RAJ SHERMAN
in the long run.
“We can’t afford not to do this,” he said.
The Liberal leader, along with other opposition leaders, have repeatedly questioned why the PC government didn’t fully implement recommendations in a report by former Tory MLA George Groeneveld into flooding in southern Alberta in 2005.
The recommendations would have cost about $300 million to implement, primarily for enhanced prevention measures in flood-prone areas.
Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths was not available for comment Tuesday, but the province has previously said it’s made progress on 13 of the report’s 18 recommendations.
As for Liberal calls for a federal probe, the minister’s press secretary Kathleen Range said reviews by external consultants are conducted following major disasters, but the province is currently focused on rebuilding affected communities.
Announcing a recovery plan Tuesday for small businesses hit hard by the flood, Finance Minister Doug Horner said the province’s own task force is actively discussing ways to oversee all disaster-related spending.
“Obviously, the $1 billion we put on the table is going to have to be well accounted for Albertans — and we fully expect to do that,” Horner said.