The West Asks Feds for Disaster Relief

The country's breadbasket has been inundated by floods this year, spoiling countless acres of farmland across the Prairies.

Between wildfires raging in Alberta and British Columbia and floods deluging Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the western provinces have been hit especially hard by natural disasters this year. At the Western Premiers Conference in Yellowknife, those provinces' leaders got together to urge the federal government to set up a disaster assistance fund for families whose livelihoods have been disrupted by disasters. The Manitoba and Saskatchewan floods have ruined millions of acres of farmland for growing crops this year, leaving many owners of family farms in the region wondering how they'll make ends meet. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan First Nations leaders are calling on the government to pitch in some $60 million for flood relief, as hundreds of people have had to abandon their homes in 24 First Nations due to the rising Saskatchewan and Souris rivers.