Don't play politics with St. John River floods, Fredericton MP asks Higgs

Fredericton MP Matt DeCourcey has vented his frustration with what he sees as the New Brunswick government's lack of interest in working with the federal government on flood remediation projects. 

"The provincial government doesn't want to invest with us in important infrastructure for fear of having people like me re-elected," DeCourcey said in an interview on Information Morning Fredericton on Friday.

DeCourcey said he reached out to Environment Minister Jeff Carr on May 16 to start the process of identifying and prioritizing infrastructure work that Ottawa has already agreed to fund, but he didn't get an answer.

After learning through "local media" that Carr considered DeCourcey's efforts a political gimmick, the Liberal MP said he decided to write an open letter to Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs.

"Premier Higgs, the St. John River does not care about partisan politics," the letter said. "Catastrophic floods will not wait for our provincial and federal elections cycles to rise and fall."

The letter, published on DeCourcey's website and Facebook page, notes that on May 1, Higgs requested immediate funding from the federal government to address flood remediation. After the funding was confirmed, the MP said, he began working with local municipalities to identify priorities for the community.

DeCourcey said people in Fredericton, Maugerville, Sheffield and other areas are waiting for government to do things, including raising roads, repairing culverts, helping fix sewage systems so they're not backing up into people's houses and yards.

"We need the provincial government to be at the table with us to help prioritize and expedite the application of those projects, so we can review them and get to work on those projects immediately for the people of this community," he said in the interview.

Is flooding along the St. John River the new norm?

6 years ago

Duration 1:27

For two years in a row, floodwater reached historic levels along the lower St. John River system.

DeCourcey said the remediation work will benefit the economy, which has been hit for a second year in a row because of severe flooding. 

The effects are felt by many not only financially but also psychologically, he said. 

"We have the levers here to help remediate that, help adapt the infrastructure and help prevent those severe effects from happening in future years. 

We know we're going to see flooding so let's get to work immediately to help mitigate those effects." 

CBC News has made a request to the premier's office for a response to DeCourcey's letter.