NS is threatening legal action to force Ottawa to pay the full cost of the isthmus project

An ongoing war of words erupted into a legal threat on Thursday as the Nova Scotia prime minister said his government was considering taking Ottawa to court over funding to protect a vital land corridor between his province and New Brunswick.

Tim Houston says he wants Ottawa to fund the full cost — estimated at about $400 million — to improve and strengthen the levee system on the Chignecto Isthmus against major storm damage and flooding.

In a letter Thursday, the premier implored federal infrastructure minister Dominic LeBlanc to reconsider Ottawa’s offer to pay 50 percent of the project.

“It is difficult for me to understand how this corridor connecting Atlantic Canada to the rest of the country would not be considered by the federal government to be an integral part of interprovincial infrastructure of national importance and therefore a federal responsibility,” Houston wrote.

He said the federal government has a constitutional obligation to pay, citing parts of the 1867 Constitution, in which the federal government is “responsible for regulating interprovincial transportation and communications infrastructure and enterprises.”

LeBlanc has repeatedly dismissed that argument, doing so again Wednesday during an announcement in Fredericton. He said he wanted Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to apply for funding under the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund program, the deadline for which is July 19.

Project is moving forward anyway

Houston said if Ottawa doesn’t change its stance, its county would be forced to file an application with the fund and then try to recover costs in court.

LeBlanc’s spokesman responded in an email Thursday, saying the federal secretary’s position “has always been clear”: protecting the isthmus is a shared responsibility of the three governments.

“It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Houston is willing to spend public funds on a legal battle that will do nothing to protect communities and critical supply lines along the isthmus,” said Jean-Sebastien Comeau. “We remain optimistic that the provinces will apply for funding by July 19.”

Houston told reporters he realizes the urgency of protecting the isthmus, adding that the project will continue whether or not his county takes Ottawa to court.

“I think we should have parallel streams,” he said. “We’re not going to jeopardize the safety of Nova Scotians and we’re not going to jeopardize the province’s trade. We’re not there yet, we’re still trying to get them to take responsibility.”

Houston said while there will be further discussions with New Brunswick, both counties are on the same page on this [funding] problem.”

On Wednesday, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a solution could be found, as he responded to a June 23 letter from LeBlanc offering up to $200 million for the project. His office was not immediately available Thursday for comment on Houston’s latest volley.

During a stop in Halifax on Thursday, federal opposition leader Pierre Poilièvre said he should study the issue before commenting, though he did not say the federal government would have to foot the bill in full.

“We want to work with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to improve this vital gateway,” Poilièvre told reporters. “We want to make sure dollars are turned into results.”

Houston said Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ottawa know what form the Chignecto Isthmus project should take, but declined to say which of the three options is preferable.

In an engineering study published last year, the three options were discussed: raising 35 kilometers of dike, constructing new dikes or raising existing dikes and installing steel sheet piles at selected locations. The study warned that once an option was chosen, it would likely take five years for construction to begin and 10 years for completion.

The isthmus contains part of the Trans-Canada Highway, a CN rail line and communications infrastructure, and any project would aim to protect it from potential damage from major storms and flooding until 2100.