HALIFAX — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced a $300-million fund to help the East Coast recover from post-tropical storm Fiona and rebuild to withstand future damage.
Speaking to reporters in Dartmouth, N.S., Trudeau said the fund will provide assistance over the next two years to help repair critical infrastructure damaged when the storm hit the region on Sept. 24, sweeping away homes, tearing off roofs and knocking out power grids.
The money will help communities and businesses in Atlantic Canada and Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine rebuild, and the fund will also go toward cleaning up fishing gear, ensuring the safety of navigation and protecting marine wildlife, he said.
The goal, Trudeau said, is to distribute the money quickly through the local offices of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, which will work with other federal agencies. Civil servants, he added, won’t wait for “all receipts to be in” before disbursing funds.
“We need to get the money to families as quickly as possible, especially with winter coming,” the prime minister said.
“We’ve gotten much better at rolling out disaster assistance, whether it’s been the historic flooding we saw in British Columbia just recently, whether it was more and increasing wildfires, whether it was heat waves … we are seeing more intense, extreme weather events because of climate change.”
The money will also go toward homeowners whose residences are being rebuilt and to those who don’t have insurance to pay for the replacement of their dwellings, Trudeau said. “We will be there to help with people who are uninsured or underinsured for the kinds of damages they’ve gone through.”
In a news release, the federal government said rebuilding efforts will ensure that infrastructure is better able to withstand future damage.
Nova Scotia Power Inc. issued a statement Tuesday saying some of its customers in northern Nova Scotia will be waiting until Sunday before they are reconnected to the electricity grid.
That will be two full weeks after the storm arrived in eastern Nova Scotia and moved on to wreak more havoc in P.E.I., southwestern Newfoundland and eastern Quebec.
Nova Scotia Power says the latest delays apply to outages in Antigonish, Pictou, Colchester and Cumberland counties, each of which were exposed to hurricane-force winds along the Northumberland Strait.
Those customers who have been told to wait until Sunday will also receive a call from Nova Scotia Power “to talk about the situation.”
As well, the privately owned utility says some customers in Cape Breton will have to wait until Thursday and Friday until they are reconnected.
At the height of the storm, more than 415,000 homes and businesses were in the dark in Nova Scotia. That’s about 80 per cent of Nova Scotia Power’s customers.
“We understand losing power impacts every part of your life,” Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Lia MacDonald said in a statement.
“We also appreciate we’re heading into Thanksgiving weekend, which is typically filled with family gatherings. I want customers to know we are doing everything we can to get your power back safely and as soon as possible.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 12,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were still without electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
