NDP says $500 wildfire relief payments not enough for N.L. evacuees

CBC

11 hours ago

Newfoundland and Labrador's New Democrats are calling on the province to double the amount of money available for wildfire evacuees, as residents of Conception Bay North enter their third week of being displaced.
NDP Leader Jim Dinn wants the province to increase the payments to $1,000 per household to cover costs incurred by the evacuation orders in the region.
Nearly 3,000 households have been evacuated due to wildfires in Newfoundland and Labrador so far this year, for a total of 6,094 people.
WATCH | Residents need more money as evacuation orders stretch on, says NDP leader:
Double the payments to wildfire evacuees to $1,000, says NDP Leader Jim Dinn
3 days ago
Premier John Hogan said the $500 payments to evacuated residents are for 'incidentals' and that there's been no pushback on that amount. But NDP Leader Jim Dinn said some people are going into week three of being out of their homes, and they need more help.
"It doesn't take much to spend up to $1,000 of incidentals, especially when we're going on to week three right now," Dinn told reporters on Monday.
He said $1,000 is in line with the amount given to residents of Labrador West during wildfires last summer. The money was paid through electronic transfers or prepaid cards.
At a news conference Monday morning, Premier John Hogan said his government was not considering upping the amount.
"We haven't heard any pushback on that amount," he said of the $500 payments, adding that government was "comfortable with that number right now."
Hogan said evacuees will always have a place to go, and meals to eat.
"This is really for incidentals," he said.
Dinn calls for other measures for firefighters
In a letter written to the provincial government last week, Dinn also called for financial assistance for volunteer firefighters on the ground, and in some cases, their employers.
"Some employers are large enough to pay their employees while fighting the fires. Others are not, which means the volunteer firefighter will have to choose between losing pay or returning to work when their community is at risk," Dinn wrote.
"Some of these firefighters may have already lost their homes. It's causing significant stress and anxiety."
To ease the burden on first responders, Dinn called on the province to cover the cost of annual leave for firefighters who used personal vacation days to fight the fire, and provide compensation to employers who have volunteer firefighters on staff.
"People … literally in the line of fire need to be really sure that their income stream is not going to be taken from them," Dinn told reporters.
Last week, Hogan said volunteer firefighters would be compensated, but he did not provide any details. He said he would have more information on that soon.
As of Monday morning, there were 127 volunteer firefighters fighting the fire in Conception Bay North, which had grown to 9,850 hectares and destroyed at least 98 structures.