Tim Houston hopes for ‘adult discussion’ with Ottawa over Chignecto Isthmus, Atlantic Loop

Prime Minister Tim Houston says he and Prime Minister Blaine Higgs will meet with Federal Infrastructure Secretary Dominic LeBlanc to have a “mature discussion” about it.

The meeting will take place on Monday, two days before the July 19 application deadline. Houston wants Ottawa to pay all the costs of protecting the Chignecto Isthmus, which climate change makes more vulnerable to storms and flooding. The project to improve and strengthen the levee system is estimated to cost 400 million dollars. The financing from Ottawa would cover half of the costs.

“We are preparing for the outcome of the meeting, but our main interest is getting the work done,” Houston told reporters Thursday.

Houston said an application for the funding is ready, but it “would not be a good outcome for Nova Scotians” or the country. He reiterated that the province is willing to take Ottawa to court for this.

“The federal government, what they’re signaling here with their stance on the Isthmus, I think is just symptomatic of the way they see their responsibility to maintain nationally important infrastructure to have the foresight to invest in nationally important projects, roads , trains, energy,” Houston said.

“…This is their responsibility and if they force Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to go to court and apply under the existing programs then that money cannot be used for a whole host of other projects that are important are.”

Atlantic Loop on the table

Houston said another major project, the Atlantic Loop, is also likely to be discussed at the meeting with LeBlanc. That project, estimated to cost $4.5 billion, would expand power grid connections between Quebec and New Brunswick and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to provide better access to renewable electricity, including Quebec hydropower.

Houston said his administration is serious about greening the grid, but added that his concerns about that project are the same.

“We could bankrupt our county and I’m not willing to do that,” Houston said.

Protect food security

Zach Churchill, Nova Scotia’s liberal leader, said both the Atlantic Loop and Chignecto Isthmus projects must be completed.

“We will lose our access to food if we lose the isthmus and the prime minister is playing politics about this rather than getting the job done for Nova Scotians. There is currently federal money on the table that he is saying no to,” Churchill said.

Nova Scotia NDP leader Claudia Chender said she hopes the prime minister will work with Ottawa instead of fighting.

“The question of who pays and how much is real,” Chender said. “But we have heard this prime minister say many times that money is not a factor in the objectives of this project. One of the objectives of this province should certainly be to protect food security and another should be to meet our climate commitments.”