Committee summons Maritime Electric, Red Cross, EMO to discuss Fiona response

Representatives of Maritime Electric, the Canadian Red Cross, P.E.I.'s Emergency Measures Organization and the province's department of housing are all being summoned to appear at a series of emergency meetings planned by a standing committee of the provincial legislature to delve into the province's response to post-tropical storm Fiona.

P.E.I.'s Standing Committee on Health and Social Development sent out requests Thursday for witnesses to appear as soon as possible, to try to gather information before the next sitting of the legislature begins Nov. 1.

"We have serious concerns with how our government has been responding and supporting Islanders during this time of crisis," wrote Liberal MLAs Robert Henderson and Sonny Gallant in a letter to the committee dated Oct. 7.

If this storm would have happened even a month later people would have died because of the lack of access to power, to heat.— Lynne Lund

The storm initially knocked out power to the entire province, and some customers of Maritime Electric were still without power 20 days later.

Meanwhile, many Islanders were forced to wait for hours in line to try to obtain $250 in relief money offered by the provincial government and administered by the Red Cross.

"I've had constituents tell me they were told to go to Montague to prove that they existed," said Henderson at a committee meeting Wednesday.

Henderson represents the district of O'Leary-Inverness. The driving distance from O'Leary to Montague is 164 km.

"I don't even know what the bloody criteria is, there doesn't seem to be any criteria," Henderson told the committee.  

Letter asks about preparations, critical infrastructure

The Red Cross has been asking some Islanders who applied for the relief money to show up in person at various reception centres to authenticate their identification. Others were able to receive the payments via e-transfer after applying online.

The organization set up reception centres in Charlottetown and Montague, and had plans to open a third centre in Summerside Wednesday, which would be closer to Henderson's district.

At their meeting Wednesday, MLAs from all three parties agreed on a plan to move ahead with their investigation into the Fiona response.

The committee took the unusual step of making itself available to meet on weekends, if required, to gather information as quickly as possible.

In the letter the Liberals sent to the committee, Henderson and Gallant said they wanted to know, among other things:

• What preparations were made by EMO and Maritime Electric in advance of the storm.
• Details around the list of critical infrastructure maintained by Maritime Electric and EMO.
• Information around what preparations were made by government "to prepare publicly funded seniors housing units for the hurricane and the response efforts from those responsible for ensuring the safety and upkeep of these buildings."

'We've got a ton of lessons to be learned'

Some of those government-owed seniors' housing complexes were without power for up to 12 days. The province has said some could not be equipped with emergency backup generators because the buildings were too old.

Meanwhile, the Greens put forward their own list of issues they want to delve into, among those:

• Gaps in 911, the province's integrated communications system, and in landline service following the storm.

• The "total lack of support for Islanders displaced from their homes, especially tenants."

• The "complete failure to support the senior population," including "the lack of adequate backup infrastructure."

"If this storm would have happened even a month later people would have died because of the lack of access to power, to heat," said Green MLA Lynne Lund.

Lund said she also wants to hear from Maritime Electric about the cost to bury electric cables, which the utility has repeatedly pointed out would be expensive.

"A lot of the conversation that we've had around changes that might be necessary to the grid come back to questions of cost," said Lund.

"The cost of not upgrading our infrastructure to be climate-resistant is extraordinary. I can't think that it's a cost savings for us to do this on a regular basis."

"We've got a ton of lessons to be learned, and we need to learn them quick, I think that's fairly obvious," said Sidney MacEwen, one of two PC MLAs on the committee.

"The entire response to the storm should be on the table."