Federal cabinet ministers are threatening to pull an offer of $325 million to protect a vital land link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick unless the two provinces agree to share costs.
Letters released Tuesday by Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc say they’ll shift the money elsewhere in the country if the provinces won’t pay their half of the $650-million cost of upgrading the Chignecto Isthmus.
Climate researchers have forecast that one severe tidal storm moving up the Bay of Fundy is capable of overcoming dikes, flooding communities, disconnecting the province from the rest of Canada, and stopping ground or rail transport of goods and services.
Premier Tim Houston sent a letter Sunday to the seven Liberal members of Parliament in Nova Scotia urging Ottawa to fully fund the expensive work needed to protect the Chignecto Isthmus.
In his letter of response, Fraser writes that Atlantic Canadians won’t be pleased to learn that Ottawa is ready to invest hundreds of millions of dollars but cannot because provincial governments “are making a conscious choice not to help.”
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The letter says if Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are not willing to pay for half the cost of the project, he will transfer the money, which comes from Ottawa’s disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, to provinces willing to be more co-operative.
“We ask that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick do the necessary work to partner with us before it is too late,” Fraser wrote.
LeBlanc’s letter says the two provinces “have refused to budge” from their position that Ottawa should cover the full cost and are causing delays by taking the matter to court.
Fraser’s letter also expresses political frustration with the Houston government over its tactic of “blaming” Ottawa on issues such as the Isthmus. “A quick review demonstrates that you have deployed this specific tactic at least three times in recent weeks,” his letter says.
“We would get further by partnering to do the work than we would by seeking to blame one another when it becomes politically convenient.”
The letter goes on to take issue with Houston’s arguments that the province will have to cut health-care spending if it shoulders part of the cost to upgrade the isthmus.
“We learned that Nova Scotia had an unexpected budget surplus last year of $143.6 million for a number of reasons, including higher-than-expected federal transfers. If you are looking for funds to do both the right thing to protect the isthmus, as well as manage other priorities, you could begin by looking there,” Fraser said.
Last year, the Houston government sought a ruling at the province’s Court of Appeal about whether Ottawa has exclusive responsibility to maintain the dikes and other structures to protect the Isthmus.
In the province’s letter to Ottawa on Sunday, the Progressive Conservative government says its lawyers “are confident that the courts will determine that the federal government is responsible for key infrastructure connecting our country and our detailed, compelling factum has been filed with the court.”
It argues that Ottawa has a history of funding infrastructure projects that are of national importance, citing the example of the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal, where the federal government assumed 100 per cent of the $4.2-billion cost.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
