A bill dealing with flooding in the province has been rejected in the legislature.
Bill 25 would make it mandatory for areas with dams to work with the EMO to get an emergency plan put in place incase of rising waters.
Local MLA Rick Doucet tells Tide News it was a simple amendment that would give residents in flood zones confidence in dam operators. He says, "Furthermore, the operators of the dams following the respect of pre-planned responses -- if they have some pre-planned responses put in place -- they would be well above critism and blame. If anything, let's end some of the finger-pointing that's gone on over the last couple of years." That coming after many residents in the St. George and Boney River areas questioned the actions of dam operators during the Flood of 2010.
Currently, a plan doesn't need to be made until the province calls a state of emergency for that area.
Doucet says the amendment was for people, like those in Boney River and Perth Andover, to have confidence in dam operators that they will do all they can to prevent flooding.
Doucet says he will be having future discussions on the amendment. But, as for trying to table the amendment again, in his words, Doucet says the bill was squashed because the holidays were coming up, and it was easier for the legislature to kill it now rather than deal with it in the spring. He says he is sure they would do it again.
