Ottawa is contributing $1 million to the reforestation of a Halifax park that was flattened by hurricane Juan more than three years ago.

Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay said the money will be used to help restore Point Pleasant Park to the "natural treasure" it was before Juan struck Halifax in September 2003.

The category 2 hurricane knocked down or damaged 75,000 trees in the park overlooking Halifax harbour.

The announcement comes several weeks after Ottawa announced $2 million in funding to repair damage at Vancouver's Stanley Park.

Two windstorms in December knocked down about 3,000 trees in the B.C. park.

The federal government's quick response for Stanley Park prompted East Coast politicians, including Halifax MP Alexa McDonough, to question why there was no similar funding for Halifax.

But MacKay argued that Stanley Parked got twice as much money as Point Pleasant because the Vancouver park covers a larger area, and it costs more to remove and replace its older, larger trees.

"I would suspect that the amount that was arrived at calculated those factors, coupled with what I would suspect is already some natural (regeneration) which occurs when there is a blowdown like this,'' said MacKay.

Point Pleasant Park worker Art Sampson said the $1 million for reforestation and silviculture work (care and cultivation of forest trees) will go far: "But it won't quite do it all."

Sampson told CTV Atlantic that a 20-year reforestation program will run about $2.5 million.

The city has already spent $2.3 million on the park since the hurricane.

Deputy mayor Sue Uteck led the charge for federal help to restore the damaged Park. She said the municipality has been following a long process to get money through a provincial claim for federal disaster assistance.

Uteck said she was moved to act after Vancouver received money seemingly without jumping through any hoops.

"The city has followed the process," Uteck told the Canadian Press. "Stanley Park seemed to have subverted the process, and that's when I stood up and said I'm just going to pick up the phone and call somebody."

Meanwhile, the province says it's still waiting for more than $30 million, mostly related to hurricane Juan, though the disaster program doesn't cover the cost of recovering trees.

With a report from CTV Atlantic and files from the Canadian Press