N.S. property owners face delays in trying to make Fiona-related repairs
N.S. property owners face delays in trying to make Fiona-related repairs
For Nova Scotians still waiting for repairs after post-tropical storm Fiona, it’s now been more than five months.
Repeatedly there have been pleas for help, and for some, it hasn't come.
“We were told [a] four to six week wait and we're now going on 14 weeks,” said Thomas Lynk, who lives in Westmount, N.S.
After CTV News reported on a woman from Louisbourg, N.S., who was still waiting to see if insurance would cover damage to her home, help did eventually come in the form of a settlement from her insurance company.
In January, the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated insured damages from post-tropical storm Fiona would reach $800 million. The figure is higher than the bureau's original estimate of $660 million.
The revised estimation makes hurricane Fiona the seventh costliest extreme weather event in Canada's history and the most costly in Atlantic Canada.
“There have been a number of constituents primarily dealing with insurance delays and difficulty getting a hold of their insurance company. We haven't had too many constituents up to this point follow up in the last couple weeks with anything related to the DFA,” said Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg MLA Brian Comer.
The Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) program was announced after the storm to help people and organizations with uninsurable losses.
“I think we still need to work hard on getting the money out and we are working on that. I know people are concerned about that and we're working on it,” said John Lohr, minister of municipal affairs and housing.
Lohr says the province has received 800 applications.
He's met with the federal government and has requested more assistance.
“I did ask for a low income cut off, that if you're below a certain income the insurance requirement is waived. I have no idea if they will do that, but that's something we see as a need,” said Lohr.
He has also asked about the $300 million given to Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and says some of that money still hasn't been allocated.
“The reality is, I think, Ottawa is going in a different direction, which I’m disappointed to say,” said Lohr. “They want insurance involved all the time and how they can backstop flood insurance.”
Meanwhile, the waiting game continues for residents who say they have waited long enough.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
The leader of Ontario's new democrats says she's removed long-time party member Michael Mantha from caucus amid an independent investigation into alleged workplace misconduct.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
April Fools' Day -- better known as poisson d'Avril in Quebec -- is upon us. Some of the province's familiar faces got into the spirit Saturday with a few light-hearted social media pranks.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
Saturday morning has been filled with mainly sunny skies. However, clouds will be drifting in across the region beginning Saturday afternoon, bringing with them a chance of showers.
London police responded to Dundas Street, just west of William Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening for a reported shooting. According to police, one person is in custody.
A U.S. citizen charged with threatening death or bodily harm to Justin Trudeau made a virtual court appearance from a London jail Friday. Jeremy Joseph, 40 — who is living in Sarnia, Ont. — was arrested on Feb. 4, 2023 after Sarnia police were notified of emails containing threats.
Police say the bodies of eight migrants have been retrieved from the waters off the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, straddling the Canada - U.S. border. The people whose bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday consisted of two families of Romanian and Indian origins who were likely trying to enter the U.S. illegally, police said Friday.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
Officials in Vancouver said they plan to meet with the artist and volunteers who are keeping vigil on a children's shoe memorial on the steps of the city's art gallery in an effort to end the tribute to children who didn't return from residential schools.
The sale has started of former Saskatchewan government liquor store buildings. The province got out of liquor retailing earlier this month and is disposing of all assets.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
A Vancouver Island woman managed to capture something on video last Sunday that experts say is extremely rare. Maxine Gillette calls it a once in a lifetime experience.
A Vancouver Island musician and former church pastor will serve three months of house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation, after he was convicted of one count of sexual assault.
