Flood victims in Rigaud: Coiteux tries to calm down the game

Archival Photo Simon Clark
The minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux

Pascal Dugas Drone

Wednesday, 30 August, 2017 18:43

UPDATE
Wednesday, 30 August, 2017 18:51

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QUEBEC | The minister of public Safety Martin Coiteux explained, in part, the alleged delays in the processing of cases in Rigaud by the fact that some victims of the floods in the spring have not submitted their claim recently.

“About 3 500 cases, roughly speaking, there are already more than 3 000 who have received their inspection report. The 500 or so that remain, it is because in the majority of cases, they have submitted their application after [the other],” said Mr. Coiteux, during a media scrum on Wednesday.

“There are certain applications [for compensation], which have been submitted there is hardly a week,” he added.

Mr. Coiteux was reacting to comments made earlier Wednesday by the mayor of Rigaud, Hans Gruenwald son, who particularly criticized the slow pace of processing applications to the department.

“We had a good discussion all the time and I think that by working together, we find solutions”, said Mr. Coiteux, to calm the game.

A work of “monumental”, but could be better

The minister Coiteux was assured, moreover, that since the spring of last year, his department conducts a work “monumental” with respect to the management of flooding, particularly in open offices “wherever there was a high concentration of victims”.

He, however, admitted that the way the case was handled was without doubt capable of improvement.

“I’m not trying to say that we cannot improve things in the future, he said. They need to be. And this is why we have the intent to obtain a post-mortem on the emergency measures put in place and the recovery phase that is in progress.”