Ottawa threatens to pull funds for Chignecto Isthmus if N.B., N.S. dont partner [Video]

Federal cabinet ministers are threatening to pull an offer of $325 million to protect a vital land link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick unless the two provinces agree to share costs.

Letters released Tuesday by Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc say they’ll shift the money elsewhere in the country if the provinces won’t pay their half of the $650-million cost of upgrading the Chignecto Isthmus.

Climate researchers have forecast that one severe tidal storm moving up the Bay of Fundy is capable of overcoming dikes, flooding communities, disconnecting the province from the rest of Canada, and stopping ground or rail transport of goods and services.

Premier Tim Houston sent a letter Sunday to the seven Liberal members of Parliament in Nova Scotia urging Ottawa to fully fund the expensive work needed to protect the Chignecto Isthmus.

In his letter of response, Fraser writes that …