'The cost is significant': Premiers to take legal action over isthmus funding

With a day to spare, the premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have decided to apply for national funding to help protect the Chignecto Isthmus, a crucial piece of land that connects the two provinces.

With a day to spare, the premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have decided to apply for national funding to help protect the Chignecto Isthmus, a crucial piece of land that connects the two provinces.

The news came following a leadership committee meeting on the Atlantic Growth Strategy at a downtown Moncton hotel.

Nova Scotia Premier, Tim Houston, and New Brunswick Premier, Blaine Higgs, believe the federal government should pay for all the work to protect the area from future storms, not the fifty per cent Ottawa has offered through a disaster mitigation program.

“We will be applying for it to meet the deadlines that have been put forward. At the same time, we will be seeking clarification and legal interpretation of the Constitution,” said Higgs.

Houston called the area a “nationally significant trade corridor” with $35 billion worth of goods flowing through the Amherst, N.S. and Sackville, N.B. area every year.

On the same page, Houston and Higgs are so convinced that they're prepared to take legal action over it.

“The federal government has dug in and they said no, apply under the program for half. So we'll do that, but it's also important, certainly for our region, just to get a reference from the court on whose responsibility this really is,” said Houston. “It’s a shame that we are where we are. It’s not a good outcome for Nova Scotians to apply under this program.”