MONTREAL -- The Legault government is already planning ahead for any floods that may come next spring.
The premier announced Wednesday a new ministerial group to come up with an action plan. Eight ministers will bring together different government departments to deal with the flooding crisis in the province.
“We'll have a double mandate for this group. First, short-term: make sure that we reimburse citizens and municipalities having to spend money,” said Francois Legault.
Handling the immediate needs of flood victims isn't enough, he added.
With significant flooding back in 2017 and again this spring, Legault said it's clear the province needs to prepare for what lies ahead.
That’s the second part of the group's mandate: “To try to do the most possible changes for the spring of 2020, in order to minimize the impact of spring 2020,” he said.
Deputy Premier and Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault will be the president of the new action group.
The government response to the flooding is already an improvement over 2017, she said.
“In the region of Beauce, they have already had those public meetings in which they can get all necessary information regarding the program, they can ask their questions, get their answers and some of them already have their cheques, so some money has already been given to citizens who had damage in the region of Beauce. It will be the same for all citizens who have been affected by the flooding,” she said.
PQ environment and climate change critic Sylvain Gaudrault is calling for a full scientific and technical inquiry into the flooding, with advice from experts, something that's been done in the past after natural disasters in the province, including the 1998 ice storm and the Saguenay floods in 1996.
Legault didn't close the door to the idea but said it's not his priority.
“I'm not against it, but what I want is that we take action as soon as possible and I wouldn't like to wait a year for a commission before taking action,” he said.
