Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee is very proud to have over 99 percent of the Disaster Recovery Program files for residents and small businesses closed.

She says a lot of work has been done to make the DRP program more effective and efficient, and currently there are only 114 files still open.

"Of the 114, 84 are fully funded. So that means the applicant has all the money they are eligible for and we'll close the file for good once we receive some documentation from them. 24 of those require some action on the part of the applicant, so they might need to still submit some more paperwork of estimates or other documents before we can proceed."

Larivee says the final 6 files are in the payment process, with a cheque on the way.

She says she is still committed to improving the DRP program, so Albertans in any future disaster will have access to a high quality recovery program.

"I made a very strong committment to the people of High River to ensure that we got their files closed as soon as possible, to ensure that they got that sense of closure. But also that I would ensure that the DRP proceess was improved going forward so we have a more efficient, effective program."

She says her staff have made great progress, despite the poor transition made by the previous conservative government.

"Essentially, the previous government made a decision to transiton the program in-house. In the midst of dealing with the Disaster Recovery Program. So, I've often described it as being essentially like trying to build the airplane in the air."

Larivee says going forward her staff will make sure the DRP program is well built and meets the needs of Albertans who are hit with disaster.

After going through the fire in Slave Lake, she remembers knowing there were things that they learned about the recovery process that needed to be shared to make it better.

She says she knows the people of High River felt the same way with the 2013 flood, and Municipal Affairs is continuing to improve the program using the report done by the DRP Advocacy Committee among others.