Isthmus of Chignecto project ‘far from idle,’ Nova Scotia premier says

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston objects to accusations of foot-dragging on the proposed Isthmus of Chignecto project.

“Our government is actively moving forward on the isthmus,” Houston said in a statement.

“Any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.”

The premier said the reality is that reinforcement of critical infrastructure along the narrow 35-kilometre strip of cross-border land that connects Nova Scotia with New Brunswick will take about 10 years.

“There is no overnight fix for this,” he said in the statement. “It’s going to take time, but work is happening every day.

“This project is far from idle. Engineers at Public Works are doing risk mitigation work to identify the weakest areas. As soon as we have that information, we can start work to protect these areas while a larger plan for the Isthmus is finalized between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the government of Canada.”

Kevin Bekkers, an engineer with the resource sustainability branch of the Nova Scotia Agriculture Department, said quite a few people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have been engaged in the project preamble, specifically reviewing the 2022 engineering feasibility report and working to create a team to get mobilized to start the project.

“The key from that engineering feasibility study is that dikeland systems are a practical solution to protect that corridor and we are going to review the options that are described in there and any new information that’s advanced since that time, whether it’s research or fish passage developments and any technical benefits,” Bekkers said.

The feasibility study put forward three best options to upgrade the dike system and the projected cost at the time was $180 million to $300 million. The estimated project cost has since ballooned to $650 million.

“The project is over a 10-year timeframe and people are concerned about what happens if we get a storm event today, are we going to be able to defend it,” Bekkers said. “That’s a good question that both provinces are considering and looking at.”

He said the two provinces are in the process of completing a “vulnerability assessment of the current infrastructure and ways we can mitigate any threats to that.”

An example is a hurricane or a storm of that magnitude, he said, and the provinces want to see if “there is an alternate route for the highway and coming up with a preparedness plan for that and making sure that those communities are protected to the maximum extent possible.”

Bekkers said if there are opportunities to do some upgrades or changes to help mitigate such an occurrence over the next 10 years while the upgraded infrastructure is being built, “that’s currently what we’re looking at.”

Major Trade Route

On average, trade through the isthmus has been reported to be $50 million a day or $32 billion a year. 

The supply chain carries many essential goods, including food to Nova Scotia, which imports more than 90 per cent of the food it consumes.

The calls for upgrading the dike system, constructed by the Acadians in the 17th century and deteriorating with inadequate maintenance, have been frequent and loud over the past several years.

The late Roger Bacon, a former Nova Scotia premier who as a boy helped his father reinforce the dikes near the Bacon farm property south of Amherst, told The Chronicle Herald five years ago “the answer to the question is build the damn dikes higher, that’s the only way you are going to stop the water.”

Bekkers, who respects the Bacon family and what they have invested in the farming community in the Amherst area and the work the family had done on the dikes, said building them higher is likely the way to go.

“We just need to confirm that the geotechnical science that will support those increase in heights is also there,” he said. “There are a couple of water control structures that will also have to be put in place and making sure that the ground will support those.”

‘We understand the urgency’

Bekkers said the majority of the capital spent and the construction work done on the 10-year project will be over a six-year period, years four to 10.

“That will happen after the planning and the regulatory approvals, the meetings with the stakeholders and consultations with the First Nations,” he said.

“We understand the urgency but there is also making sure that we have completed all the right steps so that it not only supports it from a science perspective but also meets all the requirements for environmental and regulatory,” Bekkers said.

“Both provinces are responding to this with the urgency it deserves and we want to make sure that we are collecting that information and making good, sound decisions because we are putting in a solution that will have a 75-year life at a minimum and you don’t want to rush a large project like that and create opportunities for failure.”

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the independent MLA for Cumberland North and a former Progressive Conservative member, says the opportunity for failure will come before the actual work begins.

“What is their timeline,” Smith-McCrossin said. “After this latest flood and the damage and the break in the CN rail line (near Milford), if they are still saying they are not going to have this work done for 10 years, then they have got the wrong people on the job.

“That is borderline negligence for the province and the country to say that they are going to take 10 years to get the work done.”

A vocal and consistent proponent of speeding up the project for which she has introduced legislation in the legislature, Smith-McCrossin said the province has never even met with key stakeholders like CN and Nova Scotia power on the file.

“If they want to give people some confidence, show us a timeline and expedite it,” the MLA said. “The only responsible thing to do is to get the work started now. … Bring together the stakeholders and have a reporting mechanism where they are communicating to the public the timeline and the work.”

Houston said in his statement that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have both applied for funding from the federal government through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaption Fund, but he still believes the federal government has the sole responsibility to “pay for this nationally significant project.”

Houston said the provincial governments have asked the court to determine whether that is the case, “but while we may argue over who is responsible for paying the bill at the end of the day, that doesn’t mean work stops – or even slows.

“This has not slowed down the project in any way.”