Horgan defends PM’s stance on wildfire support funding

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — “We can count on the federal government to be there when we need them.”

Those words came from BC’s Premier late Tuesday afternoon as John Horgan told NEWS 1130 he continues to welcome Ottawa’s wildfire support even if the Prime Minister is not ready to match Red Cross donations dollar for dollar.

“There’s lots of work to do and I think we can count on the federal government to be there for us when we need them.”

Horgan says Justin Trudeau has also offered him assurances of more support from Ottawa.

“An absolute commitment to be there for the people of the Cariboo, the people of BC who have been negatively affected by the fires.”

Horgan spent time with Trudeau as they both visited the fire-ravaged Cariboo region.

“We also talked about the impacts on economic activity, agriculture, tourism and forestry of course critically impacted by the loss of standing timber,” Horgan says.

Emergency Management BC says resources needed in a state of emergency are limitless

Because a province-wide state of emergency is still in effect, Robert Turner with Emergency Management BC says there isn’t a hard limit on spending and only ten per cent of the BC government’s $100-million wildfire fund has already been spent.

“We will continue to extend resources as required. We are careful to be prudent about expenditures, but there isn’t a cap on the budget per se,” Turner says.

“The federal government would be matching the portion that the Red Cross is paying out in financial assistance to families.”

Concerns have been raised because a donation matching program was quickly implemented last year when fires ravaged Alberta and the same thing happens when there’s an international disaster.

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