[Opinion] — Can politicians stick to tough love on relocating homes from flood plains?
'Finally, politicians seem to have got the message and decided that there’s a limit to the public’s willingness to pay. Quebec Premier François Legault says he doesn’t want to end up next spring facing 6,000 flooded homes and 10,000 evacuees. “We can’t have this every year. We need permanent solutions.”
Quebec is proposing to buy out homeowners in designated flood zones to a maximum of $250,000 ($200,000 per structure plus $50,000 per lot). For those who want to stay, he says the province will pay a maximum of $100,000 for repairs but on a one-time basis only.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, facing a second consecutive year of flooding on the Saint John River, says his province is going to stop “blindly repairing” areas hit by flooding and look for more permanent solutions. “I think we’ve got to look seriously at the impacts we’re seeing with changing weather conditions and how we evaluate building sites, and how we encourage people to actually relocate,” he said.
Federally, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is on the same page, reflecting a rare federal-provincial consensus. “At some point, you’re going to have to say that if people ignore their knowledge base and deliberately rebuild in danger zones, they’re going to have to assume their own responsibility for the cost burden.
“After it’s happened once, then twice and then three times, at some point the taxpayer’s patience runs out,” Goodale said.'
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