Province won't take action until Chatham-Kent state of emergency is lifted, says MPP

The province won't take action in Chatham-Kent until the municipality's state of emergency has been lifted, MPP Rick Nichols said Thursday. 

The Conservative Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP said the province can provide aid through Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance (MDRA) program, but "the first step that has to happen is the assessment of damage."

Chatham-Kent declared a state of emergency Tuesday, as a result of flooding and shoreline damage caused by strong winds and high water levels along Erie Shore Drive. Portions of the road remain closed from Bissnet Line to Erieau Road. 

"I understand that it will be in effect for a few more days yet, because they are expecting some bad weather over the next couple of days," said Nicholls.

He confirmed the provincial government is monitoring the situation along Erie Shore Drive and is in contact with Chatham-Kent officials, adding that there is an opportunity to provide relief to Chatham-Kent's infrastructure. 

"Having viewed what I saw two nights ago, there is infrastructure damage to the roads where it's eroded," he said. "It's unsafe for vehicles to drive down."

Nicholls said it wasn't his place to comment on whether the government should provide pre-emptive assistance to property owners along the shoreline, though he did say "that's a decision the Ministry will have to make a decision on."

Watch Chatham-Kent officials discuss the state of emergency in the municipality:

"In the past, homeowners living along shorelines have been, in fact, responsible for shoring up their property to ensure that major flooding doesn't occur," he said. "At this point, [property owners] have incurred that cost. What the decision down the road would be, I can't really respond."

Nicholls' comments come days after Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff told reporters that provincial and federal assistance would be needed to address his community's state of emergency declared Tuesday. 

Federal candidates split on pre-emptive flood protections

For their part, all three of Chatham-Kent-Leamington's Parliamentary hopefuls offered different responses to whether the federal government should offer pre-emptive assistance to property owners. 

Conservative party candidate Dave Epp said the role of the federal government is to listen to municipal and provincial recommendations and "come in afterward and do what they can and act upon those recommendations."

Epp added that the issues affecting Erie Shore Drive residents "shouldn't be made into a partisan issue right now in the middle of an election."

"As I said earlier the role of the federal government is to come in after the local agencies and governments have made their assessments," he said. "Will I advocate for residents? Absolutely I will, if I have the honour of being elected."

Liberal party hopeful Katie Omstead — who lives on along the shoreline — said provincial and federal governments both have a role to play in helping residents. 

"But at the same time, we as residents have chosen to live there," she said. "So we also have to do our part to ensure that when there is high water, when waves are coming that there is a system in place in our yards … to get the water flowing and then draining out."

Omstead said the current Liberal administration has "big plans on climate change and has put in place funding for flooding mitigation and different things."

"Many places are experiencing flooding, so I think first of all the message has to get back to the federal government this is happening, and the requests need to be paid for the assistance through the right departments," she said.

Omstead added that the issue needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis, adding that the response from each level of government will vary depending on the needs of specific communities. 

"I don't know if it should be a one-third, one-third, one-third breakdown," she said. "I think every situation is unique, but there definitely needs to be programs in place where immediate action can be taken, because people are losing their homes for good."

Tony Walsh, Chatham-Kent-Leamington's federal NDP candidate, said he is in favour of the federal government helping with the cost of shoreline protection.

"I stand with the NDP … our plan actually does have investing in emergency management and climate resilience to make sure that all Canadians are safe from the worst effects of climate change," he said. 

Despite referencing his party's climate change plans, Walsh acknowledged that "we need action right now."

"We need something to take effect immediately, we need help in Chatham-Kent now and it can't wait," he said.

'Don't have any confidence at all'

Chatham-Kent Coun. Trevor Thompson said he doesn't have any confidence that "anybody at any level is going to be able to agree with the climate change issue."

"I don't really care if you want to call it climate change, I don't care if you want to call it changing weather patterns, I just want it dealth with," he said. "But I have zero confidence that [the major political parties will] agree on a climate change initiative."

Kai Chen, a professor at the University of British Columbia's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, said addressing climate change begins with voters, not just political parties.

He said concerned voters need to participate in pro-climate events to rally attention and awareness. 

"The folks who are concerned should be getting ready to participate in this kinds of events so they contribute to this building of a momentum," he said.