Flood victim leery of private firm handling recovery funds

One flood victim in Canmore says he has concerns after learning the province's disaster recovery program is being run by a private company.

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Gus Curtis' yard was washed away by Cougar Creek and his home's foundation is exposed and cracked. Until recently, Curtis assumed he was working with a government employee on a recovery plan.

In fact, Edmonton-based Landlink Consulting has been contracted to process flood claims and calculate and distribute payments.

Curtis said an employee shut him down after he asked a few questions.  

"So I said, ‘Who is Landlink?' He paused and said Landlink is a company hired to administer the fund," Curtis said.

"'Can you tell me how Landlink gets paid and … what is their interest and their position in this?' And basically what he told me is what I need to worry about is my house and getting my house sorted out, not Landlink," he said.

Payments not affected, says government

Government spokesman Cam Traynor said the amount Landlink earns is not tied to the number of payouts approved by the company.

"The homeowner receives exactly what they're entitled to receive under the Disaster Recovery Program regardless of whether Landlink was involved in the processing of their payments or not," Traynor said.

Curtis said he’s not convinced.  

"Now there's a private company in there, private companies got to make money somehow, so their interests could be in a totally different place."

Traynor said any disputes with homeowners about a settlement proposed by Landlink would be reviewed by government employees.