Premiers agree to apply for 50% federal funding on Isthmus project, now estimated to cost $700 million
The provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia will apply for federal funding to help pay for the protection of the Chignecto Isthmus, but they will also pursue court direction on whether or not the federal government should indeed be covering the entire cost of the project.
Premier Blaine Higgs shared the news in a conference Tuesday, along with a number of federal ministers and Atlantic premiers, marking the renewal of the federal-provincial Atlantic Growth Strategy.
“Yes, we will be applying for it to meet the deadlines that have been put forward,” Higgs told reporters. “At the same time, we will be seeking clarification and legal interpretation of the constitution.”
Higgs said that given the deadline of July 19 for the current round of the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, “it would be prudent for us to go both avenues, one notwithstanding the other.”
Premier Tim Houston told reporters he would be seeking an opinion on the matter from provincial appeals court.
The cost estimate for the project has ballooned since the long awaited release of a 2019 engineering study on the project, according to comments Tuesday from Higgs and Houston. What was once estimated to cost between $190 million and $300 million is now expected to cost about $700 million, according to Houston. That means a federal contribution could run as high as $350 million, and the provinces could each be responsible for $175 million in costs.… Continue
Higgs and Houston argument is ‘hot air’ says prof, as federal funding deadline approaches for Chignecto Isthmus
Federal infrastructure minister Dominic LeBlanc has responded to a threat from premiers Blaine Higgs and Tim Houston, who have said they will take the federal government to court over its refusal to fund 100% of the Chignecto Isthmus protection project.
In a letter on July 4, Higgs asserted that the Constitution Act of 1867 outlines the responsibility of the federal government to “maintain and secure transportation links between provinces.” Previously, Higgs compared the Isthmus project to the Confederation Bridge, which was funded by the federal government in the 1990’s.
A spokesperson for LeBlanc says the constitutional argument is “inaccurate”, and a political science professor from Mount Allison agrees.
Here’s the full statement from LeBlanc’s spokesperson, Jean-Sébastien Comeau:
… Continue“Our position is and has always been clear – the protection of the Chignecto Isthmus is a shared responsibility between the Government of Canada, the Government of New Brunswick and the Government of Nova Scotia. It is inaccurate to pretend that the Government of Canada has a constitutional responsibility to maintain the provincially-owned highway that runs through the Isthmus, or to compare this situation to an article of Confederation negotiated by some other Province at the time they joined Canada. It is unfortunate that Premier Higgs is threatening a legal battle which would be a waste of time and public funds. Such a move does nothing to protect communities and critical supply lines along the Isthmus.
Chignecto Isthmus impasse: LeBlanc refuses full funding, gives Higgs and Houston July 19 deadline to apply for 50%
Federal and provincial ministers continue the impasse over who will fund the protection of the transportation corridor along the Chignecto Isthmus, which connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The corridor is at risk from sea level rise and storm surges which could wash out the rail line and highway which is estimated to transport between $35 million and $50 million worth of goods every day.
The latest official communication comes from federal infrastructure minister (and Beauséjour MP) Dominic LeBlanc, who wrote to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia premiers Blaine Higgs and Tim Houston on June 23, refusing their demand for the federal government to fully fund the project.
The premiers, along with their other Atlantic counterparts, made the request based on the idea that the corridor is of national importance, similar to the Confederation Bridge.
LeBlanc rejects that argument in his June letter, writing that “the federal government is not responsible for a complete funding of this project.”
Instead, Leblanc urged the premiers to apply for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, which he says is the only program available to help pay for the project. That fund could cover up to 50% of the cost, leaving the provinces to make up the other half. The deadline to apply for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund is just a few weeks away on July 19.… Continue