N.B. Liberals question erosion compensation for homes in Tory riding

<p>FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s Opposition Liberals are raising questions about the government’s purchase of two homes threatened by erosion in Grand Falls, suggesting the partisan politics may be at play.</p> <p>Liberal Donald Arseneault says there are many homes around the province that are dealing with erosion and the owners can’t get help from the government.</p> <p>He wants to know why the two homes, which are in a Conservative riding, suddenly received assistance after years of erosion concerns.</p> <p>The homes sit on the edge of a 50-metre gully.</p> <p>”To say now that it qualifies under the December storms when MLA Danny Soucy was working with these individuals since last spring … it’s hard to understand there wasn’t politics involved,” Arseneault said Wednesday. </p> <p>”It’s great for them that they’re able to get funding to relocate, but if you do it for them, then you have to be able to do it for everyone.”</p> <p>Arseneault said there are homes in his riding that suffered serious erosion to their property in the storm surges last fall, but the owners haven’t been able to get financial help from the province.</p> <p>Public Safety Minister Robert Trevors said the owners of the homes in Grand Falls applied for help after last year’s flooding and storm surges, but he couldn’t provide details.</p> <p>”When we evaluated it, those properties must have met the criteria under disaster financial aid program to be compensated,” he said. </p> <p>Trevors couldn’t say how much of the damage to the properties was actually caused by the storms.</p>