The MLA for Cariboo North says there should be compensation for Quesnel residents whose homes have been severely impacted by landslides.
Coralee Oakes says it’s time for the provincial and federal governments to come to the table on disaster financial relief for those people.
She says there has never been a better time to lobby the province.
“I absolutely know, because I met with the Ministry of Transportation, that they’ve been approved for disaster financial assistance because of the weather. We also know that the movement in West Quesnel Land Stability, over the last two years, have been significantly impacted by the precipitation.”
Oakes says the Ministry is going to fund 9 of the 10 roads in the Cariboo Road Recovery Project that have been damaged as a result of weather events, and she says the land stability issues that residents are facing, and not just in the West Quesnel Land Stability area, is also because of weather events.
However, she says it is critical that local governments are also advocating to the provincial government that landslides need to be included in the disaster financial assistance program.
“I think the greatest disappointment coming out of that meeting (West Quesnel Land Stability townhall meeting) is that we had always made the commitment that we would find a way to help landowners, who no longer live in their homes, that they would be compensated. Previous Mayors and Councils had made that commitment. And the fact that this local government is walking away from that, I am disappointed by that, because I think there is more than we can do.”
Oakes she says MLA’s can’t do the lobbying on their own, and she says significant advocacy is needed, not just a letter.