Take it or leave it — that is the message from Ottawa when it comes to funding repairs to the Chignecto Isthmus.
Upgrades are needed to the dykes protecting the critical link between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to protect it from rising sea levels and severe weather events.
Ottawa has offered to pay half of the estimated $650 million price tag, but the premiers of both provinces want the feds to foot the entire bill.
Now, the federal government says it will redirect the funding to other projects if the two provinces do not partner with them.
Two ministers from the Maritimes, Dominic LeBlanc and Sean Fraser, wrote a letter to the premiers on Monday.
“If New Brunswick and Nova Scotia do not change course and accept to partner with us, Minister Fraser will have no choice but to redirect that funding towards projects in other parts of the country,” the ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“The cost of inaction will be borne by our citizens, and to let that happen would be a complete dereliction of our duty towards them.”
Earlier this year, a New Brunswick senator’s push to have the isthmus brought under federal control cleared a big hurdle.
Senators voted 55-10 in favour of a bill declaring the dyke network as being “for the general advantage of Canada.”
That means the bill, which was put forward by Sen. Jim Quinn, will now make its way to the House of Commons for debate.
Quinn said his bill has never been about getting Ottawa to fully pay for the cost of safeguarding the isthmus.
“This is about fairness. This is about equity. This is about being treated fairly,” he said.
The senator said the feds should at least pay for 60 per cent of the work, just like they are doing for upgrades to the Quebec Bridge.
