Halifax — Paul Martin says that federal money for Maritimers whose homes and businesses were damaged by hurricane Juan must be delivered as soon as possible.
“Obviously there are going to be disaster monies forthcoming,” Canada's prime-minister-in-waiting said Thursday while touring a devastated area of downtown Halifax.
“I think the important thing now is obviously the amount but as well it's got to come quickly.”
When Mr. Martin was asked what brought him to Halifax, he said he had several roles.
Ed Glanville salvages a lobster trap from what was once a row of wharves and fishermen’s shacks in Prospect Village, N.S. The fishing community lost every one of its wharves to Hurricane Juan. (Tim Krochak/CP)
“One is as concerned Canadian,” he said. “The other one, obviously, is someone who may become the leader of the Liberal party and conceivably prime minister.”
Mr. Martin offered a curt answer when asked why Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wasn't visiting Nova Scotia.
“The Prime Minister is doing his job,” he said, brushing off suggestions he was doing the Prime Minister's job.
“I don't think this is the time to get into that kind of questioning and that kind of debate.”
Mr. Chrétien was scheduled to visit Vancouver on Thursday to announce the opening of a $65-million national park.
Meanwhile, Mr. Martin heaped praise on Maritimers who are rebuilding their homes and livelihoods in the aftermath of a storm that tore across the centre of Nova Scotia and PEI early Monday with wind gusts of 150 kilometres an hour.
“When you see the spirit of people here, it makes you very, very proud to be Canadian,” said Mr. Martin, who also praised the military personnel helping with the cleanup.
Both the premiers of Nova Scotia and PEI have said their budgets will not be able to handle the cost of the damage without Ottawa's assistance.
Nova Scotia's Finance Minister said Wednesday that the province may have to make deeper budget cuts to help people recover.
Peter Christie said a storm assistance program, damage to government property and the setback Juan could cause the Nova Scotian economy may put the province even deeper into the hole.
The Nova Scotia government has not estimated the damage from Juan, but federal Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault said Wednesday it looks like repairs will cost tens of millions of dollars.
More than 300,000 people lost power when the storm hit. Nova Scotia Power estimated that 60,000 people remained without electricity on Thursday morning.
