Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in northeastern New Brunswick Friday to express his gratitude to members of the military and volunteers who helped people deal with the aftermath of last month’s ice storm.
READ MORE: NB financial assistance program launched to help residents after ice storm
Trudeau visited a warming station at the Royal Canadian Legion in the community of Neguac to thank volunteers and meet with members of the public who are still there.
He was also scheduled to visit the Military Operations Centre in Lameque to thank military personnel for their efforts and later meet with volunteers and residents at a warming centre in the community.
Trudeau praised the crowd at the warming centre for sticking together during the crisis.
“Everyone in Canada know New Brunswickers, your strength, your neighbourliness … You really, really notice it during the tough times,” he said.
READ MORE: Thousands still in the dark as military mobilized to assist N.B. ice storm cleanup
The storm left tens of thousands of people without power for days. About 3,300 customers were still out Friday morning.
The Canadian military sent soldiers on Monday to help local authorities clear away debris and check on the welfare of local residents.
New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant says the province will review its response to the ice storm, which left 133,000 customers without power at the peak of outages.
Gallant said NB Power expected to restore 90 per cent of customers on the Acadian Peninsula by Friday night.
Gallant said the provincial government’s most senior civil servant, executive council clerk Judy Wagner, will undertake a review to apply lessons learned to future emergencies.
“We are very proud of the work that everyone did during this very difficult time. We need, however, to see what worked well and what could be done better next storm,” said Gallant.
“With the effects of climate change, there will be more events like this in our country. We must be prepared and we must develop a culture of continuous improvement so that we are better each and every time.”
The report is to be issued by July 31.
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