Disaster recovery program split "beneficial" for Oshawa

The city has received half of the money approved for relief following the 2013 ice storm. The province has announced it will change the way it handles such requests in the future.

Oshawaexpress.ca
Aug. 25, 2015
By Joel Wittnebel

The way municipalities and citizens interact with the province during and after disasters is set to change, with the sole Ontario Disaster Recovery Assistance program (ODRAP) being divided into two programs early next year.

According to sources at Oshawa city hall, there are real benefits to the split.

One of the new programs emerging from the division is the Municipal Disaster Recovery assistance program.

The new program allows municipalities more time to request financial assistance following a disaster, extending the current 14-day time frame to four months.

Bev Hendry, Oshawa’s interim city manager, says this will allow municipalities to focus on the issues at hand during a disaster, instead of trying to fill out provincial request forms.

“To have to do that while responding to a disaster has always been a real challenge for municipalities,” she says.

The extension was a result of consultation with municipalities, explains Conrad Spezowka, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

“Municipalities have told us they need to focus on emergency response in the early days after a disaster and require more time to assess their costs,” he says.

The new program also publishes clear eligibility limits for municipalities, stating they can receive financial assistance when costs reach a threshold of three per cent of its own-purpose taxation levy.

The complementary program being created from the split is the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians.

This program will take over the work generally handled at the municipal level by the implementation of disaster relief committees.

This program will allow small businesses, farmers, non- profits and individuals to apply directly to the province with their claims following a disaster.

The province will also now be covering all the costs for these claims, whereas the relief committees had previously generated the funds through fundraising.

“This is a slow process that some people feel is unfair,” Spezowka says of the fundraising model. “It means people in a different part of the province receive different levels of assistance, depending on the ability of their community to raise funds.

“By delivering the program at the provincial level and eliminating local fundraising, people will receive the same level of assistance, regardless of where in Ontario they live, and we will be able to pay claims faster,” Spezowka says.

Hendry also says this is a great benefit of the new program, which gives the province the direct lead on responding to individuals.

Ice storm funds

The biggest disaster in recent memory would be the ice storm at the end of 2013.

Through a specialized provincial program, Oshawa applied for $1.6 million in funds to cover the costs of the disaster.

Earlier this year the city received half of the $1.2 million the province had approved.

Acccording to Hendry, the city is still awaiting the second half of the original approval, and is also waiting to hear if the remaining $400,000 will be approved.