FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2022
Statement by Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Official Opposition, on continued gaps in Government’s Hurricane Fiona response
A week after Hurricane Fiona swept through our province, devastating homes, trees, power lines, and our shorelines, Islanders continue to grapple with the storm’s impacts.
I have requested a meeting with Premier Dennis King to share the concerns my caucus has been hearing from Islanders about the government’s response.
For example, many Islanders simply don’t qualify from current financial supports to replace lost food. Most Islanders have already thrown out fridges and freezers full of spoiled food and are now facing the enormous cost of replacing it. The Premier said yesterday that giving money away is harder than it seems, but why was it easy to give tourists gift cards and not Islanders impacted by Fiona?
Tenants who are facing displacement have no access to financial assistance to cover moving and storage expenses and the costs associated with finding a new unit, like rent and a security deposit, nor do they have access to free or low-cost legal aid to assist with IRAC proceedings to recover rents and security deposits. Similar assistance should be made available to homeowners who will be temporarily displaced while their homes are repaired. Government should also consider financial supports for landlords to ensure that buildings are repaired quickly without increasing rents.
We are also hearing that some seniors living in public housing have been left in the dark, with no check-ins from provincial employees and no plan to ensure these seniors can get and cook food, get their medications, and stay warm. This must be corrected immediately.
While the financial supports for workers are positive, our caucus is concerned about the plan to address circumstances where an employer does not apply for benefits on behalf of their employees promptly or at all. In such cases, government should support the ability of affected workers to apply directly.
The Green caucus is focused on meeting the immediate needs of Islanders in the wake of Fiona. In the weeks to come we will be looking at the long-term impacts. We will need to take a serious look at how we provide financial supports, how we replant our lost trees, how we protect our shorelines, the way we plan and build our critical infrastructure, and how we make our communities more ready for climate change.
Peter Bevan Baker, MLA New Haven-Rocky Point
Leader of the Official Opposition
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Official Opposition
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca