'They're behind': High Level presses Alberta MLA for cash to cover wildfire debts
Nearly three years after a wildfire threatened the northern Alberta town of High Level, officials there are raising the alarm about bills that have not been paid by the Alberta government.
"The fight to save High Level during the Chuckegg Creek Wildfire was epic in scope, and it was successful. But it was also expensive," spokesperson Bill Schnarr wrote in a Friday news release.
The fire, which was sparked by lightning in May 2019, burned an estimated 350,134 hectares of land and destroyed more than a dozen homes in the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement.
High Level spent about $10 million on fire protection for itself and surrounding communities, Schnarr said.
"The Disaster Recovery Program has repaid most of the money, but the town is still sitting on $2.6 million in debt from the event," he wrote.
Town council pressed local MLA Dan Williams for the rest of the money during a public meeting on Tuesday.
'IT IS SADLY A SLOW PROCESS'
"To our community, $2.6 million is huge,” Mayor Crystal McAteer told Williams.
“We are the regional hub and we don't ever get a yes or no answer. So I guess we're just kind of fed up that a lot of money comes out of here and a lot doesn't come back,” she added in an interview with CTV News Edmonton.
Williams did not dispute that the Alberta government owes the money.
Peace River MLA Dan Williams speaks to High Level Town Council on Jan. 25, 2022. (Source: Town of High Level)
"It is sadly a slow process. I'm gonna be honest, I do not understand why. The understanding I have is that it's that forensic level of accounting and they're going through this," he said.
Williams added that other communities are also facing this issue with the government, including Paddle Prairie, Mackenzie County and Northern Lights County.
“It doesn’t bring you any consolation to let you know that you are not alone. There are a lot of disasters and they're behind giving everyone their money back," he said without committing to a date that High Level will be reimbursed.
Schnarr also said High Level has received "no money" for community upgrading, new construction and fire mitigation, but Slave Lake and Fort McMurray did after diasterous fires there.
A spokesperson for Alberta Municipal Affairs said Friday evening that High Level can expect the remaining $2.6 million to be paid by June 30.
“We recognize that the process can seem to take a frustratingly long amount of time and the Minister wholeheartedly sympathises with those who have been impacted by natural disasters and their aftermath," press secretary Greg Smith wrote in a statement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of America's largest jails
An unconventional book club inside one of America's largest jails brings college students and inmates together to tackle books that resonate with the mostly Black and Latino group members.