What Nova Scotians rebuilding from the wildfires can learn from Fort McMurray's experience
CBC
The 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., was one of the costliest disasters in Canadian history and forced more than 80,000 people from the city.
It destroyed or permanently damaged nearly 2,600 homes, according to the regional municipality, and caused an estimated $3.8 billion in insurable losses.
A review conducted at the municipality's request examined what happened and the lessons that could be learned.
Local entrepreneur Marty Giles, who lost his home and had to shut down his businesses due to the wildfire, contributed to the review in its early stages.
Giles spoke to CBC News via Zoom about what he thinks Nova Scotia can learn from Fort McMurray's experience. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
What has it been like hearing about what's happening in Nova Scotia, considering what you went through in Fort McMurray?
It's, I would say, a bit like deja vu. I'm watching on the news just like everybody else is. You see the evacuation, you see the devastation. It takes you back to what we went through. Those are humans and families that are going through this right now.
What advice do you have for people who've suffered damage from these wildfires?
The one thing I would really recommend is get some independent legal advice, no matter how well or how poorly the conversation with your adjuster is going.
We found with some residents that conversation started off very well and they ended up not ending well.
That's the first thing, if I was a resident, I would do.
And the business owners. You need to get some advice as well. What is your business interruption claim? Get that advice and see what you need to do and start planning for it.
I'd also start accruing some expenses as a business owner for things you don't see coming at you, whether they be legal expenses, accounting expenses. You want to start because you're going to have these expenses come at you, and you need to start slowly accruing for them. So if you have something not go your way, you have some money put away for it.
What are the key things to know for people rebuilding after losing their homes?
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.