N.S. announces $10 million for Juan relief

The Nova Scotia government announced on Friday it would spend $10 million for disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Juan.

Ernie Fage, the minister in charge of emergency measures, said people who suffered uninsured losses when the storm slammed into Halifax and tore a swath across the province would be covered.

"As a government we make this pledge: we will provide the greatest degree of assistance possible to help restore the lives, the livelihood and the spirit of those Nova Scotians most affected by this disaster," Fage said.

Fage said he expects the federal government to come through quickly with its portion of the aid.

Some estimates suggest fishermen, farmers and woodlot owners suffered $100 million in damages when the storm hammered the province on Sept. 28.

On Thursday, Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm met with Prime Minister Jean Chrtien to discuss disaster relief.

Hamm said Chrtien had been receptive to his proposals.

Among those proposals were requests to speed up the assistance process, and to provide advance funding. Hamm doesn't want those in need to wait the three to five years it takes to go through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program.

Hamm also pressed for changes that would allow the DFAA to provide aid to more industries.

Also Thursday, the provincial government established a hurricane relief fund to provide assistance to municipalities and not-for-profit groups.

Corporations and people will be encouraged to donate to the fund.