Princeton has joined hands with Merritt, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Hope to secure funding from the federal government to rebuild after floods that devastated these communities.
The West Coast Resiliency Partnership (WCCRP) is a collaboration between these five cities who have had their transportation, energy, food supply and economic corridor heavily impacted due to floods.
Princeton mayor Spencer Coyne explained how Princeton, Merritt and Abbotsford were some of the most damaged communities during the 2021 atmospheric river, for which they have not received any federal support, despite an immediate application to the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF).
“To date we still haven’t received any federal funding for mitigation work, so no diking work, nothing along those lines,” he added.
Coyne explained how transportation of goods, energy and natural gas would come to a complete halt if these communities ceased to exist.
He said that these towns are not only critical links between the coast and interior but that they are all connected and usually fall back on one another.
“I think the key here is there needs to be a broader plan in place by the federal government to support this entire court, not just one offs. It has to be, it should be all of us, because without one, the whole network falls.”
Princeton falls at the convergence of Hwy 3, the Southern Trans-Provincial Corridor and Hwy 5A. Hwy 5A works as the alternate route to the coast when Hwy 5 is impacted by major events and road closures.
Additionally, two major rivers, the Tulameen and Similkameen, are prone to flooding and sit at the confluence of Princeton.
Three bridges, namely the Hwy 3 bridge over the Similkameen river, Hwy 5A bridge and the original wooden bridge over the Tulameen river are sites of major concern by engineers and consultants.
“A major concern is that the highway 5A bridge abutments impinge upon the water course, putting the integrity of the bridge and the community at risk. The concerns surrounding the Highway 5A bridge need to be addressed in order to secure the economic trade corridor to the coast,” reads the WCCRP website.
Coyne explained that while they have been working on rebuilding on their own as much as they can, they fall short of funding to improve them.
“There’s no funds to move the dikes, change the dikes or rebuild the dikes bigger. There was a lot of talk about build back better, but there was no money put in place to build back better.”
Coyne added that he wants residents to know that they are constantly trying to secure the support they need to do the work needed after the floods, even if it is not in the forefront all the time.
“There just hasn’t been an opportunity yet through the federal government to come up with those dollars and it’s been super frustrating, and I think I can speak for everybody, it’s been super frustrating when we’re told that we have to build back better, we have to do all these things, but there’s no money.”
He explained that Princeton’s diking plan is around $60 million, which he said is not viable for a town of 3,000 residents. Merritt’s is even more than that, and Abbotsford’s even larger.
“These are nation building projects. These aren’t little one offs that small communities can manage on their own and especially fund on their own. I think it’s important for everybody to understand, this is where we’re at, where we’ve had some support from the province. The province can only do so much. The municipalities are doing whatever they can do on their own end. We really are missing that federal piece and that federal piece needs to come to the table for not just our communities, but for our province and for Canada. That’s what’s been falling on deaf ears in Ottawa.”
The team recently went to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities where some of the federal ministers were supposed to be present. Unfortunately, they were not able to secure meetings with them.
The group has had plenty of provincial support with letters from: Kelly Greene, minister of emergency management and climate readiness; Mike Farnworth, minister of transportation and transit; Adrian Dix, minister of energy and climate solutions; Lana Popham, minister of agriculture and food and Randene Neill, minister of water, land and resource stewardship.
“The province doesn’t have the funding to support, to do what we need to do, and it needs to come from the national pocket,” he said.
On their website they have additional letters of support from multiple MLA’s and different industries. Coyne added that residents from Princeton and all around can help by sending letters to their MLA’s and spreading the word.
“I think that’s important because this impacts all of us. It’s not just the the five communities. If you live in British Columbia, this will impact you now and in the future,” he said.