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![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4316442_web1_260610SwanRiverFlooding10TS.JPG\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA pickup trucks sits partially submerged in floodwaters along Highway 83 south of Swan River last week after sustained rainfall caused widespread flooding. (Tim Smith \/ The Brandon Sun files)<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of that reality of a changing climate bringing forward impacts we\u2019ve never seen in certain parts of the province before, that\u2019s why we\u2019re looking at ensuring this DFA program is going to be there for people so that no one in rural Manitoba gets left behind, and we\u2019re not going to let the rules as posted on the website stand in the way of doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several municipalities declared local states of emergency after torrential rain led to widespread flooding last week. Winnipeg was not among them. The city received dozens of reports of clean water or raw sewage backups, or flooded basements.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy understanding is they need to declare a state of emergency,\u201d Kinew said of Winnipeg\u2019s eligibility for the program.<\/p>\n
Some flood victims or municipal officials were confused after hearing or reading Kinew\u2019s comments during a tour of flood-affected areas in Stonewall last week, when he pledged that financial assistance will be available and no one in rural Manitoba will be left behind.<\/p>\n
The confusion stemmed from the fact that despite Kinew\u2019s pledge, the program\u2019s website and application form said insurable damages were not eligible.<\/p>\n
A provincial regulation states that an expense is not eligible for disaster financial assistance if adequate insurance to cover the expense was available for purchase in the impacted region or community.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Kinew said his government is working with the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization to \u201ccodify\u201d the new approach.<\/p>\n
The website and application forms contained \u201cboilerplate language\u201d when the program was launched Thursday, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to reassure people, yeah, this is going to look different than how it has in the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from Nicole Buffie<\/p>\n
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Chris Kitching Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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