A recently disclosed government report reveals that municipal officials were reluctant to adopt flood map tools out of fear of political backlash and legal liability.
The
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) created a flood mapping tool to determine which areas across the country had the highest risk of flooding.
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But when the subject of the flood mapping system was brought up during the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference last June, some delegates distanced themselves from the tool.
A report from officials at Infrastructure Canada noted that one of the municipal delegates voiced concerns that mapping flood risk could reduce property values in areas deemed at high risk. Another said that local governments were hesitant to map flood risks because they could be liable for damages, “and they may not have the public or political support for infrastructure investments," the report detailed.
The Canadian Press managed to obtain a copy of the report under the Access to Information Act.
IBC vice president of federal affairs Craig Stewart said a number of local leaders were worried that, by releasing the flood maps to the public, they could be exposing themselves to backlash from owners of high-risk homes.
"However, it's our opinion that people have a right to know their risk and, in fact, Canadians should be educated about flood risk so that they can make the right decisions on how to defend themselves against it," Stewart told
The Canadian Press.
"The big business case for this is we can all pay a lot more for insurance and experience the disruption, or we can invest in the infrastructure and experience less disruption to the economy and to families and lower insurance premiums," commented Edmonton mayor Don Iveson.
"We can learn from these disasters and actually model out where it would make sense to get ahead of the problem."
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Only a fraction of Canadians have overland flood insurance: IBC
Everyone is getting flooded and no-one knows about flood insurance
