The federal government says it will move on to fund other projects if the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia provincial governments don’t accept a 50/50 split in mitigation costs at the Chignecto Isthmus.
The narrow 24-kilometre strip of land connecting the borders of both provinces includes the Trans-Canada Highway and CN Rail line – both of which are only slightly above sea level.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs want the federal government to pay for the entire project. The federal government says it will pay $325 million – half of the project’s projected costs – through its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund program.
In a letter from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston dated Sept. 16, Fraser says “your government is refusing to be part of the solution as you believe that the project is purely a federal responsibility.”
“If Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are not willing to share half of the cost of the project, the project will be ineligible and I will be required to re-allocate the funding to other communities who are willing and ready to partner,” writes Fraser, in the letter. “Such a result would be obviously disappointing.”
Fraser was responding to a letter sent the day before from Houston, where Nova Scotia’s premier writes “we feel very strongly that this is a responsibility of the Federal Government.”
“Despite countless discussions with Federal officials, there has been a refusal to accept the national significance of this connection,” writes Houston. “This is shocking and I am hard pressed to understand how this corridor that connects Atlantic Canada with the rest of the country would not be viewed by the Federal Government as integral to interprovincial infrastructure of national significance and therefore, a federal responsibility.”
In his letter, Houston includes a list of provincial infrastructure projects that would be jeopardized under the federal funding program, including a $50 million seawall along the Halifax waterfront.
“This has backed us into a corner and forced Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to turn to the courts,” writes Houston.
In response to the letter, Fraser writes “what is clear from your letter is not only that you want the federal government to do its part, but that you want the federal government to do Nova Scotia’s part as well.”
“My view is that sometimes, and indeed in this instance, both levels of government have a role to play in advancing solutions, and that we would get further by partnering to do the work than we would by seeking to blame one another when it becomes politically convenient,” writes Fraser.
A letter dated Sept. 16 was also sent from Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc to New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, asking for the province to agree with the 50/50 cost split.
Both LeBlanc and Fraser’s letters conclude by saying “partner with us before it is too late.”
In June, a Senate bill declared the Chignecto Isthmus Dykelands System for the “general advantage of Canada” in a 55-10 vote.
Any mitigation work at the Chignecto Isthmus could take a decade or more to complete.
This is a developing story…
