It’s a ‘failure of leadership’: Calls for changes to Canada’s climate change funding model
Municipalities, insurers and academics are calling on the federal government to change the way it funds climate change disaster prevention.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government launched the $2 billion Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) in May 2018.
A flagship federal project, the fund provides matching dollars to provinces and territories, municipalities and other organizations for projects meant to help ward off climate change disasters – such as flooding and wildfires.
But there’s a catch. In order to qualify for funding, projects must have a price tag of at least $20 million and local communities must kick in between 50 and 60 per cent of the cost – or 25 per cent in the case of projects in the territories.