Despite a new provincial government, the Disaster Relief Program is still causing grief for many High Riverites.

Council representative for the DRP Advocacy Committee, Bruce Masterman, says they had high hopes when the Notley government was elected, but says so far it's been a disappointment.

"We were hoping with the NDP, which is often thought of as being more of a humanistic-type party with a lot of regard for common Albertans... we really thought they would waltz in and recognize (the problem) right away," he says. "And if they didn't recognize it, we thought they would at least talk to people like our DRP Advocacy Committee or Town Council."

But Masterman says despite numerous efforts to contact the NDP for help, they've heard little response back.

"Basically we're just getting sort of a pat on the head, and we're not even getting a lot of words," he says. "I can't even say we're getting empty words, we're just getting silence."

Masterman says there are still over 700 DRP files yet to be closed, along with many more problems that need to be solved.

"We still have cheques that haven't been sent out, we still have people waiting for closure, we even have people who have been asked to pay money back because they claim that they've overpaid them."

As always, Masterman says if you need help with your DRP claims and appeals, you can contact him directly at bmasterman@highriver.ca