Province wants fairer allocation of disaster funds
Government relations minister pushing Ottawa to distribute cash across country
Saskatchewan’s government relations minister is calling on the federal government to change how it doles out federal disaster money to address the effects of climate change.
“We hope Canada will consider allocating funds to each province and territory instead of distributing monies on a competitive application basis,” said minister Larry Doke during opening remarks at a flood risk roundtable in Regina on Thursday.
Doke is referring to the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund announced in the 2017 federal budget, which provides $2 billion to support national, provincial and municipal infrastructure.
Doke said the change would ensure provinces and territories that have smaller populations — like Saskatchewan — would receive a fair proportion of the funding.
“We are witnessing the accelerating effects of climate change first-hand. As the frequency and magnitude of weather-related emergencies and natural disasters increase, the recovery costs of these events has skyrocketed,” said Ralph Goodale, Canada’s minister of public safety and host of the roundtable.
Flooding — one such natural disaster — was the focus of the roundtable attended by dozens of representatives from Indigenous groups, the insurance industry, academic institutions, think-tanks and all levels of government.
In Saskatchewan, flooding resulted in $311 million in assistance provided by the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) between 2011 and 2017. That number does not include any flood-related expenses incurred by the Water Security Agency or the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.
Attendees gathered to discuss how to help Canadians understand their flood risk and what they can do to reduce it, as well as explore ways to develop affordable commercial insurance alternatives.
“Prevention can and should begin at the individual level,” said Goodale. “As we know from research prepared for this roundtable, few Canadians are aware of their flood risk and fewer still are taking action to protect their property.”
The federal, provincial and territorial governments are currently working on a national approach to residential flood insurance, which Doke said will have an impact on the delivery and eligibility of PDAP.
“There are many important issues still to sort out such as when or if federal, provincial or territorial programs will provide assistance for losses where insurance is deemed readily available and affordable.
He said an agreement on what is affordable and available must be carefully made.
Don Forgeron, CEO of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), had similar concerns, stating that Canadians are not financially protected against flooding and many don’t realize it.
“Although insurance products are becoming more and more available, the hard truth is that many at highest risk will be unable to afford them,” he said.
He also recognized the special situation of Indigenous communities, which he said are often located on land vulnerable to flooding.
“The ability of First Nations communities to effectively prepare, respond and recover from natural disasters such as flooding, tornadoes ... or any disaster is critical to our Indigenous communities,” said Heather Bear, vice-chief for the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
She said gathering together is an important way to make stakeholders aware of the issues that impact their communities.
But Thursday’s meeting was just one step toward a large goal.
“Today is only a starting point,” said Goodale. “There’s much more discussion to be had, but this is an important and useful beginning.”