Premier Tim Houston. Photo: screengrab of Maritime Premiers
Emergency Support is on the way for Nova Scotia resource industries impacted by Hurricane Fiona. Premier Tim Houston announced a range of financial supports for the agriculture and forestry sectors. The storm had a devastating impact on farms and woodlots. “Our resource-based sectors are critical to the health of our economy, especially in rural Nova Scotia.” Says Houston. “They need our support right now as they recover and rebuild.”
A one-time grant of $2.500 will be sent to registered farms in Central, Northern, and Eastern Nova Scotia that experienced financial losses due to infrastructure or crop damage, livestock loss, or extended power outages due to the hurricane.
The government is also providing $6 million through the Agricultural Response Program to cover extraordinary operational costs incurred from the storm. Up to $9 Million more will be available if needed in the weeks and months ahead to help with costs to rebuild that are not covered by any other programs.
The Department of Natural Resources and Renewables is investing up to $4.6 million dollars to help private woodlot owners clean up trees that were blown down or left leaning by the hurricane. $150.000 will be used to help the department acquire satellite imagery to help assess the damages, up to $3.45 million will help with commercial tree cleaning, $500.000 will cover repairs to washed out access roads, culverts, and bridges, and $500.000 will be used to reestablish boundary lines.
The new On-Farm Electrical Interruption program will provide $500.000 in federal and provincial funding through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership. This will help to offset the costs to farm owners who installed a backup electrical generator before the hurricane or during an extended power outage.
Minister of Agriculture Greg Morrow says he spent the last few weeks visiting farms and spoke with producers and their families and saw firsthand the impact Hurricane Fiona had on the agriculture sector. “We want to help however we can, and that’s why we’re putting these programs in place and making them available to as many farm businesses as possible- to get them back on their feet so they can keep putting food on our tables.”
More information on disaster financial assistance and other available resources can be found at: Disaster Financial Assistance
