They say the devil is in the details and Canmore residents along Cougar Creek are finding the same is true when it comes to the province of Alberta’s disaster recovery program.
At a meeting held Monday (July 22) with provincial officials and politicians, residents expressed frustration with disaster recovery plan eligibility criteria and the fact it does not apply for restoration of land that was eroded away, which is what Cougar Creek experienced.
Canmore resident Benny Ryan said he’d like to see the policy paint everybody with the same brush and not discriminate against primary and secondary homeowners.
“I think the policy our government is putting in place is kind of BS because it discriminates,” Ryan said to applause from the crowd. “It is not their (homeowners) fault this flood happened and it is basically saying you can afford the loss and you can’t, but we don’t know who can afford what.”
Second homeowners are not eligible under the program and Alberta Emergency Management Agency representative Jim Cornish stressed the disaster recovery plan is not an insurance policy and will not replace what homeowners had before the flood hit on June 20.
“Unless you are living in the house as a principle residence, the disaster recovery program cannot help you with your financial loss,” Cornish said.
Landlords who rent out their property may receive some relief, however, by pursuing compensation as a small business.
“We treat owners of homes renting out the same as a small business and if the landlord meets the criteria and it is a legal rental suite and uninsurable, then the landlord is eligible for assistance,” Cornish said.
Mary Huerlimann-Christie commented it is unfortunate that residents who have suffered losses have to reconcile the difference between statements made during the flood regarding compensation and eligibility criteria.
“I am sure Premier Redford’s heart was in the right place when she made her initial comments and indeed they were very comforting at the time, however, losses fully compensated and if you are entitled in the program are two very different things,” she said.
Associate minister of recovery Kyle Fawcett recognized there is not a one size fits all plan and the province may have to develop another program that covers the specific circumstances experienced in Canmore and Lac Des Arcs in particular.
The DRP is negotiated between provincial and federal governments for large scale natural disasters and is where decisions about compensation for the overland flooding experienced elsewhere in Alberta will come from.
“There are definitely unique circumstances that fall outside of the disaster recovery program and those are things as a government we are going to have to address in time and I say we are going to address them as fast as we can,” Fawcett said. “You have to understand it is virtually impossible to create a government program that deals with all these unique circumstances like that.
“Under circumstances where there may be gaps in the program, whether through erosion or other circumstances, we will have to make those decisions as we go along. The challenge we have is that there is significant damage as a result, whether personal property damage or public infrastructure… and we have to try and build our communities within the financial capabilities that we have.”
Cornish said the province is working on a definition of what an average family home is and it will then determine the market price of that size of home for Canmore to determine how much compensation will be provided to repair or rebuild homes along Cougar Creek.
Because the creekside homes do not fall within a floodway or flood fringe, homeowners are not eligible to relocate unless they pay for it themselves.
