Flooded Ottawa man doesn’t regret the waterfront, invites Wynne back for a beer

OTTAWA — Michel Bourbonnais and his wife, Maggie, have enjoyed four years of retirement bliss on a piece of prime riverfront property at the end of a short street that ends at the Ottawa River.

Their home is now one with the river, covered with floodwater on three sides.

Life is going on for them on their own mini-peninsula of sorts. They have no electricity but are keeping the house a toasty 26 degrees with a fireplace, and are powering televisions, the Internet and a fridge with generators after their electricity was cut.

“I’m not complaining. We chose to live here,” he said, seated on the all-terrain vehicle he now needs to reach the end of his street — and his house.

The Bourbonnais had a couple of high profile visitors to their neighbourhood on Monday: Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who visited their street on the second of two stops on her Monday tour of flood-affected areas in Eastern Ontario. 

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Michel Bourbonnais invited Wynne and other onlookers to come back in a month, to see what waterfront living is really all about. He said he’d have “a special case of beer and we’re going to sit on the porch” — and then people would understand why he and wife chose to live on the water.

He said that image keeps him going when gets down.

“We are going to ride this out. Things are going to be ok,” said Bourbonnais, before he and his wife drove off through the water in their all-terrain vehicle.  

Heavy rainfall led to high water levels across much of Central and Eastern Canada, with Clarence-Rockland, east of Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency. Wynne stopped in there, prior to visiting the Cumberland suburb of Ottawa, where the Bourbonnais live.

Wynne said she was impressed by how people have pulled together and maintained their sense of optimism. She told Bourbonnais and others to hang on to their receipts.

“I’m here because I want to make sure people know that I’m going to continue to work with the mayors, we’ll continue to work with the municipalities and make sure that everybody has the information they need,” she said.

Provincial assessment teams are in the communities, said Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Mauro, and they will make recommendations. The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program can reimburse both home owners and municipalities for associated costs.

“The program is not intended to be a replacement for insurance, but there is assistance that’s available for essentials to private home owners depending on the kind of flooding they’ve experienced,” he said.

The program has already been activated in Renfrew, so people there will now be making applications and provincial officials will make sure they are aware of the process, Mauro said.

— with files from Allison Jones in Toronto

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press