NDP wants bailout for people forced from homes by massive 2012 landslide
One year after disaster, several residents still can’t move back to Johnsons Landing
VICTORIA — One year after a massive landslide destroyed homes and killed four people in Johnsons Landing, the New Democratic Party is calling on the province to bail out those residents who still cannot return to their properties.
“The people of Johnsons Landing deserve fairness and compassion from this government, it was promised to them and they deserve to actually get it,” said Nelson- Creston NDP MLA Michelle Mungall.
Mungall pointed to a January 2005 landslide in the District of North Vancouver, about eight months after which the province announced it would step in to buy nine affected homes for more than $ 6 million in total.
The provincial government is refusing similar assistance to those in the 35- person hamlet of Johnsons Landing, she said, despite the fact that a recent geotechnical report has shown 12 of the households are at high or very high risk of another slide.
“I want the government to work with the people of Johnsons Landing on a compensation program,” she told reporters Thursday. “( Residents) are currently sitting on property they have to pay taxes for, but they can’t live on — they can’t go home to — because those homes are buried under metres of mud.
“It’s time this government stepped forward, provided leadership and worked with them on a compensation program.”
Justice Minister Suzanne Anton said officials from Emergency Management B. C. have been working with residents for the past year, and have extended assistance deadlines because they realize the adversity people are facing.
“They are applying that program liberally and much longer than usual because they recognize that this was really a terrible circumstance in Johnsons Landing,” she said, adding the program has delivered nearly $ 600,000 in direct benefits to residents who were affected.
A May report on the July 12, 2012 disaster said the landslide was caused by heavy rain and a late- spring snowmelt that set off what was the largest slide to hit the region in the last 12,000 years.
The landslide destroyed Jillian and John Madill’s dream home — a 100- year old log cabin on 17 acres of property.
For residents like the Madills — whose homes were destroyed or condemned — the year has been a nightmare. The family did not receive “a dime” from their insurance company, and the provincial government’s disaster financial assistance program provided very little compensation.
The program is “intended as a hand up, but it doesn’t lift you up very far because things cost a lot,” Jillian Madill said. “At the end of May, ( we) got the word from the government that there would be no further money.”
Because the slide was considered an “act of God,” compensation for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed was limited. Fortunately, the couple was able to buy a house in nearby Howser — the same house they have been living in since they lost theirs — at a manageable price.
Anton said the province does not have a program to buy properties that have been damaged or destroyed by disaster.
“The difference in North Vancouver is that property presented a future possible peril to down- the- slope properties, so it was purchased so that there could be work done on that property to prevent a slide in the future,” she said.
“Once you know there’s a risk there, you do need to take some kind of action. That’s what happened in North Vancouver.”
Asked about the fact Johnsons Landing residents are still paying property taxes, Anton said: “I’d be interested to know what the value of the property is at the moment. There are obviously not going to be buyers for it, so I hope that they are able to work that out with the taxing authorities.”