Ottawa threatens to pull funds for Chignecto Isthmus if N.B., N.S. don’t partner

Federal cabinet ministers are threatening to pull an offer of $325 million to protect a vital land link between N.S. and N.B. unless the two provinces agree to share the costs.

Federal cabinet ministers are threatening to pull an offer of $325 million to protect a vital land link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick unless the two provinces agree to share costs.

Letters released Tuesday by Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc say they’ll shift the money elsewhere in the country if the provinces won’t pay their half of the $650-million cost of upgrading the Chignecto Isthmus.

Climate researchers have forecast that one severe tidal storm moving up the Bay of Fundy is capable of overcoming dikes, flooding communities, disconnecting the province from the rest of Canada, and stopping ground or rail transport of goods and services.

Premier Tim Houston sent a letter Sunday to the seven Liberal members of Parliament in Nova Scotia urging Ottawa to fully fund the expensive work needed to protect the Chignecto Isthmus.

In his letter of response, Fraser writes that Atlantic Canadians won’t be pleased to learn that Ottawa is ready to invest hundreds of millions of dollars but cannot because provincial governments “are making a conscious choice not to help.”

The letter says if Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are not willing to pay for half the cost of the project, he will transfer the money, which comes from Ottawa’s disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, to provinces willing to be more co-operative.

“We ask that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick do the necessary work to partner with us before it is too late,” Fraser wrote.

LeBlanc’s letter says the two provinces “have refused to budge” from their position that Ottawa should cover the full cost and are causing delays by taking the matter to court.